Motorcycle Pictures of the Week - Bad Billy Mayfield

Here are my Pictures of the Week as displayed on the Motorcycle Views Website. This feature has been expanded to include Bikes Only and Trikes Only. These pictures are taken from the Moto Pic Gallery. See Bad Billy Mayfield's 2003 Custom Trike under Trikes Only. There are no Men on Motorcycles, Women on Motorcycles, or Bikes Only this week. We need more pictures of men and women with their motorcycles. Get your picture in. For details, see Motorcycle Pictures of the Week.

Motorcycle Pictures of the Week - George

Here are my Pictures of the Week as displayed on the Motorcycle Views Website. This feature has been expanded to include Bikes Only and Trikes Only. These pictures are taken from the Moto Pic Gallery. See George's Custom Trike under Men on Motorcycles. There are no Trikes Only, Women on Motorcycles, or Bikes Only this week. We need more pictures of men and women with their motorcycles. Get your picture in. For details, see Motorcycle Pictures of the Week.

Motorcycle Pictures of the Week - Norman & Dorothy

Here are my Pictures of the Week as displayed on the Motorcycle Views Website. These are taken from the Moto Pic Gallery. See Norman & Dorothy with their 2009 Harley-Davidson Tri-Glide Ultra Classic. We need more pictures of men and women with their motorcycles. Get your picture in. For details, see Motorcycle Pictures of the Week.

If you'd like to see your bike as Picture of the Week, submit a picture of you and your bike along with a description of the bike.

Harley-Davidson Introduces the Tri Glide Ultra Classic for 2009 - a Trike

Yesterday, Harley-Davidson introduced its models for 2009. One of them is a motorcycle trike called the Tri Glide Ultra Classic.

Harley-Davidson hasn't made a trike since the Servi-Car that started out as a vehicle that could be attached to a customer's car so a mechanic could deliver the car and then use the Servi-Car to return to the garage.

Later the Servi-Car had other uses mainly for police use. Here's a YouTube video of a 1954 Servi-Car now owned by an enthusiast. He shows off the trike with the siren blaring.

Servi-Cars were made from 1932-1973. 35 years have elapsed since then without a trike in the product line -- until now.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has an article by Rick Barrett that gives more details about the new Tri Glide trike. Here's an excerpt:

"There’s a Harley-Davidson coming for those of us seeking more comfort or who have a fear of falling. Harley-Davidson Inc. has introduced a motorcycle for those of us with a taste for comfort or a fear of falling. The Tri Glide Ultra has three wheels and a brand-new chassis design. It retails for $29,000. The maker of Fat Boy and Softail bikes has sized up its customer base and found that many riders would rather be on three-wheelers than two-wheel behemoths that are too tall and too heavy for some people. Starting in the next few weeks, Harley will begin offering three-wheel touring bikes called trikes." -- Rick Barrett

Here's what Harley-Davidson has to say about the Tri Glide in a Press Release on its Website.

It appears that trikes are now more than just kits added to an existing motorcycle. They have attained a new level of acceptance as Harley-Davidson embraces them in its product line and, more importantly, backs them up with Harley-Davidson service.

I've been riding a motorcycle trike for eight years. My wife got hers before I got mine. I wrote an article about her experience in getting her trike.

In the beginning there weren't too many of us out there and we got a lot of attention on the road, in parking lots, and especially at gas pumps. I even wrote an article with standard questions I get and my answers.

I also wrote a How To about learning to ride a trike.

Then I created a Trike Picture Gallery.

Maybe trike riders are becoming mainstream after all. Thanks Harley-Davidson. Let's hope that Harley's 42 year run of Servi-Cars will be surpassed by a 50 year run of Tri Glides.

Picture ©2008 Harley-Davidson

2008 Can-Am Spyder Roadster Road Test

On the Motorcycle Views Forum there has been a discussion of the Can-Am™ Spyder™ Roadster. This is a so-called reverse trike with two wheels in front driven by one wheel in the back. I decided that I would test ride a Spyder™ at Americade 2008 at Roaring Brook Ranch (RBR) and report on it here.

The Spyder is made by a Canadian company, Bombardier Recreational Products, Inc. (BRP), located in Quebec. Another of their products is the Ski-Doo® snowmobile. In fact, I had commented before in the forum discussion that the Spyder looks strangely like a snowmobile.

The Spyder was launched in February, 2007 and has managed to strike a chord in many riders. It appeals to riders wanting to go to a trike but wanting more power, traction, and sportiness.

I hadn't realized just how devoted to safety the Spyder is. It has a Vehicle Stability System (VSS) that includes an Anti-Lock Braking System (ABS), a Traction Control System (TCS), and a Stability Control System (SCS) all integrated to keep the Spyder flat footed and stable at all times. They make you watch a video before you go out for the demo ride that demonstrates the VSS. It's a system you can't turn off. However, for purposes of the video, they did turn off the system and then ran through some cornering and swerving maneuvers -- some in the rain. For the most part, these non-VSS maneuvers resulted in disastrous results with wheels coming completely off the road and the rider having little chance to stay in his lane. When the VSS was re-activated, the performance was rock solid with the rider in no trouble at any time.

The riders' meeting held before the demo ride was a complete run-through of all the controls with special emphasis on how the Spyder steers. It may be a motorcycle but it does not countersteer. No push-right go-right for this baby. You have to steer it like a car, except it doesn't have a steering wheel. It steers using the standard handlebars. Now this requires a temporary rewiring of your brain to make steering the Spyder work. I know from experience that you have to reprogram yourself to go from a two-wheeler to a three-wheeler. Otherwise, the first time you have to make a quick correction to avoid another vehicle, you'll think countersteering instead of steering. That usually takes you right into the object you're trying to avoid.

The Spyder also uses a variable power steering system. At low speeds, it provides more power to help you turn the handlebars. As speed increases, the power effect diminishes so you have near normal road feel.

They also require that you pass a simple road test before you join the group to go out for the demo ride. You have to pull forward and swerve around a traffic cone either right or left depending on a direction indicated. You had to then stop next to the stop sign stationed there and then pull forward and swerve around the next cone and stop. Then this was repeated one more time until you could pull forward and join the group. They just wanted to make sure you knew how to steer the Spyder.

Also, as part of the riders' meeting, the complete safety card was covered. This card is built into the top of the dash. You pull it out to read it and we were read every word on the card. One of the last words on the card was how you start the Spyder. If you only know how motorcycles start, you might never figure out how this thing starts. Most everything in the start up procedure is the same as a motorcycle except you need to release the side emergency hand brake and then press the "M" button on the dash to start the machine. There is an initial system start up process that you view on the dash.

There is no front brake lever. All brakes are controlled by a right foot brake.

The engine is a Rotax® 990cc, liquid cooled 106 hp V-twin.

I found myself slumped slightly forward in the seat. I understand that there are some accessories that allow for a more straight up seating position.

As we traveled in a group around the interior road at RBR, we were encouraged to steer right and then left to move the bike back and forth across the road much like the Indy cars do to warm up their tires. Our purpose, again, was to get used to the steering before we hit the highway.

On the last stretch of interior road there is a particularly bad, uneven, section that I always have trouble with when I ride my traditional trike. With my trike, I feel every bump and jolt, some very violently. With the Spyder, I felt only a very smooth ride even though I was weaving across the road and hitting every bump with force. I was impressed with the ride.

When we hit the highway, the speeds quickly rose to 45-55 mph on a two-lane road. I was soon aware that the high speed power steering was just a bit too fast for me. I wasn't getting the road feel I had expected. I guess one could get used to it though.

The Spyder handled very well. I did feel that I was sitting a little high on the machine. I also had a very low windshield. I'd call it a fly screen. Twice at speed I was hit smack in the middle of the face shield on my full face helmet by a large bug. On my own Gold Wing trike with the standard windshield, that never happens to me. I found out later that taller windshields are available.

The gas tank for the Spyder is under the seat. You have to release the seat and it rises up so you can reach the filler.

There is a storage compartment in the front. It opens forward to contain two full size helmets with a little room left over. The headlight hits the top of the opened compartment and shines down so you can see inside. Handy.

There is a full-gear reverse on the bike activated by a lever on the left handlebar grip.

The Spyder sells for $15,000-$17,000 depending on who you talk to.

With the popularity of the Spyder, I'm told that a touring model is being planned. When I was at Tour-Expo, the vendor area of Americade, I noticed a Spyder in the Corbin area. It had a tall windshield, hard saddlebags and other storage areas, and a two-person Corbin seat. I thought I was looking at the new Spyder Touring model. When I asked the Corbin rep, he said, "Nope, it's our accessories all integrated together to turn the bike into a tourer." Once again, Corbin was ahead of the curve. See Corbin website. They even give a demo that shows how I got hit by the bees.

At the end of the demo ride, the Can-Am folks take your picture as you sit on a Spyder and make it available to you in two days on the Internet. Here's my picture. Note the slightly forward riding position.

While waiting for my Spyder demo ride, I took a short video of another returning Spyder demo ride group as they sped by me on the corkscrew road leading to the Spyder demo area.




Most everyone taking the demo seemed very impressed with the Spyder, as was I.

See Americade 2008 - Day 7 for all the rest of my activities on the day I rode the Spyder.

My complete activities for Americade 2008 may be found on Americade Motorcycle Rally Day-by-Day Blog for 2008.

2008 Thoroughbred Stallion Road Test

This is a review of the 2008 Thoroughbred Stallion trike. It's based on a demo ride I recently took at Americade 2008. The Stallion is made by Thoroughbred Motorsports whose parent company is Motor Trike. I currently own two Motor Trikes. I converted my 1998 Gold Wing 1500 to a Motor Trike for my wife in late 1999. I then bought another Gold Wing for myself and converted it a Motor Trike in late 2000. My wife's trike currently has 53,000 miles and mine has 38,000 miles.

After Motor Trike created the Stallion and formed a separate company to manufacture it, we saw it at the Americade rally several consecutive years. It was more of a prototype then. This year the Stallion was at Americade in force. A Stallion fleet was located at Roaring Brook Ranch (RBR) where most of the other demos took place. I decided to take a test ride and convinced my wife to go along and ride pillion.

When we arrived at RBR for the demo, the Stallions were all lined up by the side of the exit road ready to go. They looked very sharp. From the back, they look like small cars but then there is that small roll bar just behind the pillion seat.

It can be a bit of a struggle to get into the Stallion. Our guide was CEO, Jeff Vey, who gave us the tips necessary to easily get in and get seated. Seating is similar to that on a regular motorcycle, with the passenger seated directly behind the rider.

Once inside the Stallion, I didn't feel like I was on a motorcycle anymore. There were no handlebars, only a steering wheel. There was no open space in front of me as in a car. My left leg was on the left side of a raised tunnel where the transmission and drive train was. There was a brake pedal down there. My right leg was on the right side of the tunnel. There was an accelerator down there. On the far right of the cockpit was an automatic shift.

Underneath the sleek body work was a Ford Motor Company supplied 2.3 liter 4-cylinder engine developing 150 hp. All the running gear was Ford. The body, frame, and suspension was Thoroughbred designed, engineered, and manufactured. Since it has three wheels, it's classified as a motorcycle. To add doors and a roof would push it over the edge and turn it into a car, having to then meet all the government standards imposed on cars. This kinda looked like a sports car convertible but in reality it was a more sophisticated motorcycle trike built without the usual motorcycle platform.

The steering wheel column had a place for windshield wiper controls as in a car. For a moment I looked for the wipers but there were none. This is a motorcycle, I reminded myself.

There are two switches that have to be used before you start off. First is an air pressure control that allows you to set the pressure in the Air Lift suspension system to match the load in the Stallion. The other switch controls the brake and accelerator distance away from your feet. Just decide where you want your feet to touch the pedals and push the control until the pedals move towards you the correct amount.

I was told that the power disc brakes can be a bit sensitive and that I should try them a few times before we got on the road so "I wouldn't throw the pillion rider out over my head" -- a bit of Stallion humor I guess, since I had no trouble with the brakes.

There was a slight misty rain as we moved out for the demo ride. We hadn't bothered to put on our rain suits. I had no trouble seeing out the tall wrap-around windshield.

This vehicle also has heat and air conditioning for both rider and passenger but I didn't have time to test either.

There was no problem with the power steering other than it was a little quick at times.

The engine noise was much greater than I'm used to on my Honda Gold Wing Motor Trike. I thought maybe they had a modified muffler but was told later that it was stock.

The transmission has a way of shifting when you least expect it.

On the slick surface it was especially easy to spin the tires when starting off. The rider in front of me did just that on a quick left hand turn from a stop sign. I tried to watch my own performance after that to ease the throttle on gradually. I'm told that the Stallion has almost sports car performance on dry surfaces.

It was easy to drive the Stallion. You can pretty much forget all the controls you have on a motorcycle. The brake pedal controls all the brakes. There is no shifting. Just put it in Drive. There is no clutch. There are no handlebars, just a steering wheel.

I found the side view mirrors to be slightly hidden by the sides of the vehicle. Maybe that could have been adjusted.

The ride was a little rougher than I'm used to with my trike. Again, the air pressure adjustment for the Air Lift suspension might have corrected that.

The trunk capacity was 7 cubic feet, about half of what I have in my 2005 Honda Accord 4-door sedan.

The fuel cell holds 9.5 gallons. The EPA mileage rating is 35 MPG City / 45 MPG Highway.

For the die hard touring motorcyclist, the absence of a CB for group rides is a problem.

My wife once hit the back of her helmet on the roll bar when I started up a bit too quickly.

She did say later that the prospect of having heat and A/C in the Stallion would be a great selling point if she were buying it for herself. She doesn't tolerate heat on hot summer days.

I enjoyed my test ride on the Stallion and so did my wife, Jane.

I did see one Stallion around town and took its picture to show in this review.

The Stallion is being shown across the country in rallies. Check out its rally schedule and go take a demo ride yourself.

The Stallion lists for $32,995. That's comparable to buying a Honda Gold Wing 1800 for $22,000-24,000. and having it converted to a trike for an additional $10,000.

The Stallion is a new kind of motorcycle trike from the same people who continue to bring you the Motor Trike. It's a trike that will appeal to many who don't ride motorcycles at all. Also, licensing requirements may vary depending on where you live.

If you belong to a Gold Wing Road Riders Association (GWRRA) chapter and want a Stallion, you will find that you suddenly become an associate member since members are supposed to ride Gold Wings or Valkyries. Perhaps if the Stallion really catches on, GWRRA will make an exception.

See Americade 2008 - Day 8 for all the rest of my activities on the day I rode the Stallion.

My complete activities for Americade 2008 may be found on Americade Motorcycle Rally Day-by-Day Blog for 2008.

Motorcycle Pictures of the Week - TRIX on his BMW K1200LT Trike

Here are my Pictures of the Week as displayed on the Motorcycle Views website. These are taken from the Moto Pic Gallery.

See TRIX on his 2000 BMW K1200LT trike. There is no female winner this week. Please submit your picture to be considered for Picture of the Week.

If you'd like to see your bike as Picture of the Week, submit a picture of you and your bike along with a description of the bike.

Americade 2008 - Day 8

This year I'm publishing highlights of my activities at the 2008 Americade Motorcycle Rally, day by day in a blog. Americade is scheduled for June 2-7, this year. The blog will also include my preparation in getting ready to take the ride to Lake George, NY, my observations while there, the ride home, and getting back to normal.

The trip will now also include intermediate stop-offs at at our son's house in Boonton, NJ (three grandsons) and daughter's house in Middle Grove, NY (grandson and granddaughter). Our daughter made a move to the Saratoga Springs area last year after Americade. Since her house is now 25 miles south of Americade (and on the way), we now have a fringe benefit of making the trip.

On Wednesday we had breakfast early at the restaurant located in the motel. The weather was misty rain. We debated whether we should ride to the demo with rain suits on but decided to wait until we got there to decide. We were going to take a demo ride in a Stallion made by Thoroughbred Motorsports. The Stallion was designed by Motor Trike CEO, Jeff Vey. The drive train is made by Ford Motor Company. It has one wheel in front and two wheels behind. It's a trike by definition even though it has a steering wheel, automatic transmission, heat and A/C. Here's my 2008 Thoroughbred Stallion User Review that I did after I returned from Americade.

Just to show the different kinds of riders you see at Americade, I shot this picture while sitting on the porch of a pizza restaurant at noon. You can keep riding even if you are disabled. Just take along a wheelchair.



Our neighbors at the motel were Harley guys. They didn't seem to know much about Americade but they sure knew how to have a good time. Here's Jane posing with one of their Fat Boy motorcycles that they had parked on the porch next to our door to keep it out of the rain.



We rode up to Roaring Brook Ranch (RBR) two-up this evening to attend several seminars. We had a quick supper in the coffee shop before making the short walk to the seminar building. Pete Woodruff was speaking as we entered the room a bit late. We took seats in the back. This was a seminar on triking.

As the hour came to a close more and more people were entering the room and getting seats in anticipation of the seminar by Fred Rau. Fred writes for many motorcycle publications but is most known for his articles in Motorcycle Consumer News (MCN). Currently, Fred is also operating a motorcycle touring service in California.

As usual Fred confessed that he came unprepared to talk but would wing it. The audience didn't seem to care since Fred is usually a pretty funny speaker. He proceeded to place emphasis on his touring service especially personal experiences of the participants. The double room was completely full of people and laughter.

An hour or so after the seminars were over, there was a Balloon Glow. I saw this last year also. Basically it's three hot air balloons that are tethered to the ground with intermittent bursts of flame to light up the balloons. The whole thing has background music and a certain amount of narration by one of the balloon pilots to egg on the balloon keepers to fire up their flames so people can take pictures. Here's a picture of one of the balloons. I also took a short video of all three balloons going strong. (This video loads slowly. Let it complete in slow motion and then replay it to see full motion.)



After the Balloon Glow, we returned to the motel, parked the trike, and walked down Canada Street for a little night life. Here are a few pictures.

I got this picture of a Ward's Riverside motorcycle. Probably bought it right out of the catalog.





More to follow. Read the blog each day for further reports.

An evolving blog index to these Americade 2008 blog entries is also available.

More Efficient Motorcycle Trike Engine - It's About Time

I got an email from a company in Australia that makes GTM trikes. I was not familiar with GTM but am interested in trikes.

It seems that GTM has been making trikes for awhile using VW engines and has just signed a deal with another company, Revetec, to provide them with a new type of engine called the X4v2.

The X4v2 provides much higher torque than the VW engine, especially in the lower RPM ranges. This results in much greater acceleration and increased fuel economy. That caught my attention. I was beginning to wonder if anyone out there was even thinking about engine efficiency to help us poor riders try to beat the high price of gasoline.

I know when both my wife and I take out our Gold Wing trikes we end up getting killed with double gas cost as well as double toll costs. Our governor here in New Jersey is now proposing a plan to help pay off the state debt by raising tolls 800 percent! To even manage my costs I may have to go to a single trike, take the back roads more often, and try to trade the trike in on something that gets more than 28 mpg.

I don't know if the Revetec technology will pay off in Australia but I thought maybe you'd like to take a look at a video of the trike in action. Maybe someday, we can get some more efficiency out of our own trikes. I'm not holding my breath.

Take a look at what I currently have on trikes. If you own a trike, send me a picture of it and I'll put it in my Trike Gallery.

The picture above is courtesy of Revetec Holdings Limited.

Falling Leaves and Motorcycles

I have a great view out the window where I work at home. It's my view on the world. This time of year, the view is pretty spectacular as the final leaves continue to fall. Today, the leaves were falling rapidly and piling up on the grass. I decided that I needed to do a little raking.

I went out to the garage where my two motorcycle trikes are parked and moved the car out so I could get at the electric leaf blower. I told myself that I needed to be careful how I handled the blower. Two years ago, I developed a severe case of arthritis right after I used the leaf blower to clear the front yard. I just over-exerted myself and developed shoulder, knee, and hip problems that caused me no end of grief for the next 18 months. I had only recently got back near normal and I didn't need a relapse.

I hooked everything up and started on the side yard. I grasped the blower with both hands keeping my arms close to my body so as not to put extra pressure on my arms. I had my ear plugs in that I use when I ride my trike. I blew the leaves out to the street and then started on the main yard where I can see the beautiful tree through my window.

I had noticed that the local leaf machine operated by the township was out and about and quite possibly might be by to pick up my leaves if I could get them all to the street. But, I was in no way going to push myself to get the leaves out to the street. I got about half of the remaining leaves to the street when I heard the machine approaching. Then it came into sight and started sucking up my leaves. Well, I still had lots more to do and if I missed getting them all picked up, well, the leaves would just have to wait at the curb until another day. Of course, it was also possible that the two workmen would show me some mercy and make another run around the block.

When they got to the end of my street, they turned around and came down the other side of my street and stopped in front of my beautiful tree. The driver headed across the street toward me and said, "I'd be glad to come back in 30 minutes and pickup the rest of your leaves if you'll show me your trike." That took me by surprise.

"Sure," I said. "You wanna do it now." Then the other workman came over and the three of us headed across the yard toward the garage.

The guy said, "I've seen that trike every year when I'm out on the leaf pickup runs, but this is the first time you had the garage door open so I could get a good look."

"Well, let me tell you all about my trike," I said. "Actually there are two trikes in there."

Thus began a 20 minute break for the two workers as we talked motorcycles. Turns out he had a bad motorcycle accident in 1993 and hadn't ridden since. He had thought about converting his bike to a trike though. I gave him my complete trike story. I think I got him interested in going back into motorcycling. He'll probably tell this story to his wife tonight and she'll try to discourage him. She's done it before, he said.

After he had looked over both my trikes and got all his questions answered, he and his buddy returned to the truck and headed off down the street. That was my cue to get back to leaf blowing and finish getting my remaining leaves out to the street. Just as I finished, he returned and removed the remaining leaves.

The leaves continue to fall outside my window. It takes awhile for the tree to drop all its beauty and then stand naked against the sky waiting for the snow to start falling. Meanwhile, I'm sure I'll be out there raking a few more times trying to stay ahead of the steady downpour of leaves.

Winter is coming. My tree's beauty is fading fast. But, my trikes will be getting used during the winter. The Polar Bear Grand Tour will take care of that. But, maybe the tree and the falling leaves have helped at least one motorcyclist to dream again of getting his own bike back on the road. The leaves have done their job.

Motorcycle Trikes Becoming Popular

I've been riding a motorcycle trike for seven years. My wife got hers before I got mine. I wrote an article about her experience in getting her trike.

In the beginning there weren't too many of us out there and we got a lot of attention on the road, in parking lots, and especially at gas pumps. I even wrote an article with standard questions I get and my answers.

I also wrote a How To about learning to ride a trike.

Then I created a Trike Picture Gallery.

I spent yesterday on the road traveling to Lewes, DE for the second Polar Bear Grand Tour run. I'll be blogging about that later today. As usual, I was asked at every gas stop about the trike and heard the same questions again.

Today, I see that the Wall Street Journal has a piece about trikes and it has a few pictures too. It's called The Easier Rider: Baby Boom Bikers Defect to the Trike by Jonathan Welsh. Maybe we are becoming mainstream after all. Take a look.

Motorcycle Trike Lifts Off the Ground

Some people think that a modern motorcycle trike is inherently unstable. They are actually thinking of the old 3-wheeler ATVs that were banned. Modern motorcycle trikes came after that with most built on stable Honda Gold Wing platforms that have a low center-of-gravity.

I took a trike training class that had an exercise to show how stable a modern trike can be. Trikes driven in a circle at high speed or making quick 180 degree turns will not tip over. They will possibly lift the inside wheel off the pavement but as soon as the wheel leaves the ground, the power to that wheel stops and the trike returns to the ground.

Here's a very short video I took. The instructor is standing inside the circle as the trike moves faster and faster around him. When the instructor hears a slight slipping sound, he knows that the trike is lifting off the ground. He signals the student so the student can see that the trike then returns to the ground and then the student slows the trike.

My Motorcycle Trike Video on YouTube

I started working on a video about two years ago while I worked on the old site. It was a two-minute video that melded motorcycle trikes and the young kids favorite, Flat Stanley. I never got to put that video up. I just created a much longer -- 9 minute -- video based on that old video but with much more detail. I put the video up tonight on YouTube. Take a look.

Motorcycle Trikes - A Gallery

I've have just released a new Motorcycle Trikes Gallery. The initial release includes the best of my Trikes Gallery from the old site. I know there are a lot of trike owners out there since both my wife and I have been riding trikes for seven years and have watched the steady increase in trike ownership. So, if you have a trike, submit a picture and description of it and become part of the Motorcycle Trikes Gallery.

Don't forget to read my trike articles too. They give you a flavor for what it's like to own a trike and also let you in on my experiences in buying a trike and learning to ride it properly.