Three-wheeled or trike motorcycles are becoming increasingly popular, but does the third wheel make the bike harder to ride than a standard motorcycle?
Trikes have no oversteer. They are easier to get started on but less fun in the twisties.
Sidecars / hacks have the same problem.
Motorcycles if you want to go left at speed you press on the left handlebar it makes the wheel geometry bend the other direction. It is an awesome and powerful feeling to lean into a turn.
You don’t get that with things with three wheels no matter which direction the triangle is facing.
you can fly the sidecar/outside wheel I suppose in a turn … that is a form oversteer but super not safe.
That’s only if your 2 tires in the back. Trikes with 2 wheels up front and one in back are a completely different animal. I got to take one of the Can-Am Spyders around an autocross track and it was a blast.
At least you can break the back wheel loose on a Spyder or Ryker and not instantly bin it, I suppose. I’ve ridden one briefly and it felt exactly like being on a four wheeler that was too heavy and too long. Whatever it is, it’s not for me.
The main thing the two-in-front machines have going for them is not immediately throwing you right over the hypotenuse as well as the handlebars if you lock up the rear while in a hard turn.
I think there is a certain appeal to the thing for a specific demographic, which are by and large people who wouldn’t buy a normal motorcycle. It’s the same with Harley trikes and Goldwing conversions and so forth. Some guys (and probably gals) are either intimidated by the notion of falling over on a big heavy motorcycle or have health issues that now prevent them from standing up a bike, or are simply too short.
The front wheelers solve the specific problem of the rear-dually trikes being bloody dangerous in basically any kind of adverse situation. On a Ryker you may very well understeer yourself straight into a tree, but at least the front of your trike will hit the tree first rather than the alternative, which is to hit the tree first with your face and then have your upside down trike land on top of you.
The thing that I really don’t get are things like the Slingshot, which is an inexplicably three wheeled contraption with a passenger seat but no real roof. At that rate and for that they cost you really may as well get a Miata and be done with it. It’s not like they’re any cheaper, either. A base CanAm/Polaris Slingshot is $25,000 but a base Miata is only a few grand more at $29,830 and comes with, like, a roof and a trunk and stuff.
Trikes have no oversteer. They are easier to get started on but less fun in the twisties.
Sidecars / hacks have the same problem.
Motorcycles if you want to go left at speed you press on the left handlebar it makes the wheel geometry bend the other direction. It is an awesome and powerful feeling to lean into a turn.
You don’t get that with things with three wheels no matter which direction the triangle is facing.
you can fly the sidecar/outside wheel I suppose in a turn … that is a form oversteer but super not safe.
Sidecars are even weirder.
That’s only if your 2 tires in the back. Trikes with 2 wheels up front and one in back are a completely different animal. I got to take one of the Can-Am Spyders around an autocross track and it was a blast.
At least you can break the back wheel loose on a Spyder or Ryker and not instantly bin it, I suppose. I’ve ridden one briefly and it felt exactly like being on a four wheeler that was too heavy and too long. Whatever it is, it’s not for me.
The main thing the two-in-front machines have going for them is not immediately throwing you right over the hypotenuse as well as the handlebars if you lock up the rear while in a hard turn.
Exactly, if you want a CanAm Spyder, just buy a convertible car. The entire motorcycle industry was shocked by how many Spyders were sold.
I think there is a certain appeal to the thing for a specific demographic, which are by and large people who wouldn’t buy a normal motorcycle. It’s the same with Harley trikes and Goldwing conversions and so forth. Some guys (and probably gals) are either intimidated by the notion of falling over on a big heavy motorcycle or have health issues that now prevent them from standing up a bike, or are simply too short.
The front wheelers solve the specific problem of the rear-dually trikes being bloody dangerous in basically any kind of adverse situation. On a Ryker you may very well understeer yourself straight into a tree, but at least the front of your trike will hit the tree first rather than the alternative, which is to hit the tree first with your face and then have your upside down trike land on top of you.
The thing that I really don’t get are things like the Slingshot, which is an inexplicably three wheeled contraption with a passenger seat but no real roof. At that rate and for that they cost you really may as well get a Miata and be done with it. It’s not like they’re any cheaper, either. A base CanAm/Polaris Slingshot is $25,000 but a base Miata is only a few grand more at $29,830 and comes with, like, a roof and a trunk and stuff.