Trike vs Sidecar

I've owned both. I still ride sidecar rigs. I'll doubt I'll ever own another trike.

I've had both and prefer the sidecar.
My wife likes the trike better as a passenger.
My kids like the hack better.
In a perfect world I'd have both.

PS I'll never give up my HACK.

Sidecar: More storage
More comfort for passenger
More fun to ride
You get to meet more wacky sidecar folks

Trike: None of the above

Pet peeve !!
Teaching that you have to be a gymnist to ride a sidecar at any speed other than a creeping arong corners deal has run some good people away from sidecars. This teachiung is simply false! CRYING SHAME..PITIFUL!

SCLenny, why does your wife like the trike better? And why do you and the kids like the hack better?
What is it about a trike that you dislike SCMike?
Claude, is a trike ez’r to handle vs hack?

What’s interesting is the statistics of this site, it appears there are a lot of visitors checking out the site, my guess is most don’t post a question but are simply looking for experienced folks sharing there knowledge, and I would also suspect they are looking to make a comparison (pros/cons) between the trike and sc before they make a decision to buy one or the other.

Would anyone mind desdribing what it's like to ride a trike? It looks to me as if the handling would be the worst of three options.

Wife likes the trike because she is higher, more of a two up position,and claims less bouncing around.
Kids like the hack because its fun and cool when I take them to school.
I like the versatility the hack offers over the trike.
I also like looks of the sidecar and the history behind sidecars.
Thats it in a nutshell.

Originally written by LDuck on 10/23/2005 7:19 PM

What is it about a trike that you dislike SCMike?

Every thing Lenny said, plus the fact that if you find you don't like a Trike conversion, there is no going back without a major hit on the pocketbook. If you don't like the sidecar, you pull four bolts and sell it.

I also found that the trikes, at highway speeds, rode like tractors and on cornering your passenger has to really concentrate on staying on the seat.

I never rode a trike...they are scary just looking at them, thinking about the passengers and twisty roads.
My sidecar rig is great in the twistys,for me and my wife.

Mike brought up a great point about the cost and conversion back to solo rider if you don't like the hack.
In addition to that with the hack to can make it better in phases.
You build a basic hack and love it. You're hooked!!
Now you add a leading link or change the trees to reduce trail.
You change the tires/rims. You can upgrade as you go.
Much safer money wise than building a great trike.

with a trike your choice of bike is limited. trikes all look like they came out of the same cookie cutter. sidecars look much more individual. trikes steer like a truck unless your put raked trees on just like a sidecar..............fly

Here in The Netherlands there are not many trikes, I think they better fit on the long and wide highways you,ve got in the States.
I think a trike is more for fun than it is useful.
A sidecar is much better in handling and if you are experienced in driving it I think it gives more fun than driving a trike.
A sidecar for me means adventure ( driving to the elephant rally in Germany which is the biggest rally for sidecars in europe, driving a thousand kilometers freezing your fingers off and still saying to yourself: this is fun !!!).
No it is possible to do with a trike, but it just would not be the same , I think the trikes better stay on the beach, thats were I think they were made for.
(only exception: The German Kettenrad, okay it has tracks but it is still a trike isn´t it)

Greetings from Holland,

Ingmar

Now that the door is open, let us define exactly what a TRIKE is. It is a 3-track vehicle. That would include the very first auto/cycle ever that no one can figure out exactly what it was back in 1865 or whenever it was that created both the auto and cycle???

That led to the Forecar and the Rearcar of the 1895-1910 era.

The Forecar was the forerunner of the Servicar of the 1940s to 1985 HDs

It was also the forerunner of the 2-wheeler ATV of the 1960s to 1980s.

And there are also hundreds of other vehicles spawned along the way in almost every country with three wheels - from humble 50 cc units to massive units designed for heavy duty construction usage and drayage and for serious people transportation.

When one even suggests that there are "good" or "bad" features of or about "trikes", please be so kind as so precisely describe which specific type of trike you are referring to. Without such information it is like describing the precise length of a piece of string. Or saying you can empty the ocean by dipping the water out by using a baby bucket.

Of course, when one has defined the specific type of trike then we can agree, or disagree, on those features, or not.

I have driven BIG RED, the older 3-wheel trike and found it extremely enjoyable and safe when driven in the manner it was designed by its manufacurer on the type of terrain it was intended for. However, when driven by those unskilled in its behavior and on surfaces it was not intended to be used on and when driven at unsafe speeds in a reckless and dangerous manner it was a deadly beast and given an unjust reputation.

If I remember right my trike rode rough with the 22” over stock springer or a stock springer. Sort of like riding in a narrow rear end in a slammed mini truck with big over size tires…..looks good but rides like hell….

The ATV industry seen fit, after the amount of accidents that occurred while riding a three wheeler “Trike”, to STOP making them

So far the side car is still legal regardless of the size or brand.

Also Harley Davidson makes its own side car. They quit making their trikes. I am sure it was not because no one was buying them.

Again - see above - the H-D Servicar, and vehichles like it - only resembled the Japanese 3-wheeled ATVs by sharing 3 wheels and three wheel tracks. There the similarity ended. As I said in my previous post, you must be extremely careful NOT to compare ANY particular type of three wheeler with any OTHER thype of three wheeler.

That is the same as saying that a HPS sidecar rig should be classed along with a Bambi scooter rig. Each type of 3-wheeler MUST be defined for its good points and its bad points within that class and not with any other class. To do so is to put us that know better in the same class as those that do not.

The H-D Servicars and similar rigs built by Indian, also later rigs built for extreme heavy duty like the Rico, and yes, even Honda built one or two, cannnot be classed with the smaller 3-wheelers that were used indiscriminately by immature idiots who wrecked themeselves and their machines. It was those idiots as much as the attitutudes of the big 4 that led to the destruction and eradication of the trikes of the 70s-80s, not the trike per se which got a very unjust bad rap.