Helped a friend today and he scared the kaka outa me

[old2soon]

And in the process he managed to scare the livin chit outa me and him. We rolled in my cage about 0745 found a place for breakfast and the went to the H/D Dealership to pick up my friends 2016 H/D trike. The Dealership is on the far west side of Springfield Mo. We pulled in and he gave them a LARGE check and they did the paperwork and about the time they brought it out they found a problem with the front brakes which required 2 hours so we went to lunch. Git back and his New H/D trike is ready to go!  So we head on out we are in the left lane-did I mention he hasn't ridden in about 3 years or so-and we are not 2 miles from the dealership and it gets squirrely and veers into the center median which at that point is a grassy ditch!  He RIDES dat bitch out but I'm watching-helplessly-from my cage and I had to go up a bit as the left shoulder ain't wide enough for a cage git parked walk back and my friend is PALE. And this Brand Spanking new Harley is now dusty and dirty but NOT pranged! BUT dis damn thing has to be in neutral to start or restart!  Leave him go back o the dealer bring back the sales rep but as I'm coming back he calls and informs me he FINALLY got it restarted!  But as I'm talking to him I see him on the shoulder. Sales rep looks bike over tells him like I told him-you HAVE to drive a trike!  We rolled 90 miles to the house-he lives 2 doors down from me-and NEVER exceeded 56 M P H. If you've EVER driven/ridden U S 60 in Missouri you KNOW it's posted 65 M P H but you can roll all day at 75 M P H and not be bothered. So he has his new trike he's going out 2moro to get more familiar with it and HOPEFULLY keep it OUT of ditches!  B T W-this IS his very First trike. RIDE SAFE.

[Valkorado]

Best luck to your wealthy friend.  May his guardian angel continue to ride -- rather, drive -- along with him.  

[cookiedough]

I take  your trike neighbor friend has driven a normal 2 wheel cycle before??  Sure hope so.

Plus,  I would think he would have test rode a few trikes BEFORE deciding to shell out 25-30K++ on a brand new HD trike?

Spring has sprung though finally got the 2 wheels out myself for a short ride around the block.  I see more and more cycles on the road but the darn 30-35 degree morning temps if driving to work is too darn cold out to take it M-F to work yet, hopefully in another 2 weeks morning temps are above 40?

[Oss]

And that Dennis my friend, is why after riding MGM around the block
I decided that discretion is the better part of valor and declined his
kind offer of using the independent suspension enabled beast to ride 90 from DesMoines to Spearfish and back

Between the speed limit of 80 and the cross winds I know I made the right decision   I had never even been on a trike before but did ride a Can Am Spyder for about half an hour once.  It aint the same  lol

Best of luck to your friend !

[old2soon]

My friend had a LOT of surgical steel put in his back bout 2 or 3 years back. He had I believe one of those large Kawasaki V-twinkys that he got rid of right after surgery. He is a decent rider. He told me on the way to Springfield that he was as nervous as a long tailed cat in a roomful of rockin chairs!  And after following him for 90 miles I pointed out a few things that need addressing. After seeing and helping him with rehab after the surgery I KNOW he will whip this particular mountain. That back surgery and all that surgical steel is the WHY of him being on a trike. I could tell by the grin on his face when I walked back to his place that him and the wind HAVE missed each other.  The trike he bought is plain Jane-no W/S or fairing no trunk mounted behind the seat just a speedometer-no tach. It chewed up near 30 G price wise. In another post I said I had seen a new Harley 2016 alphabet soup "something" right at 42 G. Course it wuz a full dress bagger!  AND I was in that H/D Dealership a LONG time in my black I-14 shirt and  white Honda ball cap!  RIDE SAFE.

[solo1]

Wow! Dennis your friend was lucky.

When I put the sidecar on the Valk I came out of the garage and tried to turn right,  Right then I thought "I've ruined a perfectly good bike."  You're right! It is totally different to go from two wheels to three. You DRIVE it, not countersteer.   Both a trike and a rig are the same in that.  However the rig is even more weird since it is asymmetrical in its response to braking and accelerating AND it easy to 'fly the chair'. which then will make the rider do the wrong thing to correct.

If your friend had been on a rig, the story might have been worse. About 8 years ago, the editor of Roadrunner magazine rode a Ural rig probably for the first time.  He merged into a cloverleaf on an interstate, probably 'flew the chair' ,corrected for it by TURNING left and was run over by a truck, he didn't survive.

Your friend needs a lot of practice on back roads before he can handle a trike like Tracy (Lady Draco) in Virginia.