AS IT IS THANKSGIVIG DAY I GIVE THANKS THAT I CAN STILL RIDE TWO WHEELS ,THREE WHEELS,ETC. AND HOPE TO SEE YOU PEOPLE AT A RALLY SOMETIME WETHER IT BE ON 2,3,OR MORE WHEELS. ----HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
> You asked for opinions and you got them. Pretty simple. If you came here trolling for a debate you are probably in the wrong crowd
Well, I certainly wasn't looking for a debate. We are given a limited time here on earth and it is surely a waste (if not outright wrong) to engage in foolish debate. I will admit that I was a bit quick to take offense. Being quick to hear, slow to speak and not quick to take offense is something that I strive for but am not always successful at. My apologies.
At the office I find myself frequently defending my motorcycling riding to 4 wheelers. Frustratingly, I also find myself defending sidecars to other motorcyclists.
I certainly welcome all opinions. Lacking the preface "In my opinion" or "I think that", yours sounded more like statements of fact.
> You missed the point. When attaching a sidecar the bike is not cut in half ( butchered) as when attaching a trike kit. There is a huge difference here. And as far as what trike owners say? What else woudl you expect them to say? They probably never had a sidecar rig and possibly made their final decision to go with a trike from what they heard from others who never had a sidecar rig either. Or whatever. Heck there is big money in doing trike conversions today for a business. Viscious circle
I am still of the opinion that to a trike owner, the conversion of a two-wheeler into a trike is a good thing. Just as I am of the opinion that putting a sidecar on a motorcycle is a good thing. Similarly, I think that riding a two wheel motorcycle is a good thing.
> Again bad argument. To each his or her own. Not THE issue. It is hard to argue a perception people have about most anything. Yes, you are right soem passenegrs woudl prefer to sit behind the operator and be 'in the wind' as on a solo bike. That is their decision of course.
I certainly don't want to have others telling me what is the best device to ride around on, therefore I don't tell others what they should ride around on. To each his own allows each of us to ride what they prefer. I think that trike owners and their passengers prefer to ride their trikes. I wouldn't think of trying to argue otherwise. Goodness knows I've been on the receiving end of that argument too many times.
> .......So much more for your money than a sidecar? You may want to study a little more on that statement
That's not a statement. Please reread. It is a hypothetical opinion of a trike owner. I believe that trike owners think that they got more for their money in purchasing a trike; otherwise I doubt they they'd be trike owners.
Originally written by claude #3563 on 11/23/2006 9:49 AM
I dug up the following post made by Lonnie Cook (Hack'n) here some time back. It fits this 'discussion'. Thank Lonnie...LOL. Lonnie wrote (to sidecar.com):-Now here is something that can compared. Harley vs Harley.Electra Glide with a sidecar:Factory warranty still intact. Even extended if desired, Big item!Motorcycle is a stock unmodified unit.Sidecar can be removed and Motorcycle can be used as a solo ride.Sidecar can be sold and you still have a motorcycle.All three wheels/tires are the same except for tread design givinga comfortable ride.Both motorcycle and sidecar have many decades of engineeringincorporated.Lots of storage and carrying capacity.Room for three (or more if small children are riding).Comfortable passenger seating in both sidecar and on motorcycle.Ability to carry small children and animals safely.Ability to carry odd shaped loads easily (can you say golf clubs?)S/C passenger can wear shorts and sandals safely if desired.S/C passenger can't fall off if they fall asleep.S/C passenger has own windshield for weather/bug protection.S/C passenger has unobstructed view of road and ahead.Great resale value with a wide market sector.Trike conversion:You buy an expensive motorcycle and throw half of it away andsubsitute an expensive rear half conversion.Loss of factory extended warranty option.Not many years of track record and engineering.Mismatched chassis design with a narrow motorcycle wheel/tire infront and two fat automobile wheels/tires in the rear.Large rear wheels/tires and short wheelbase give a choppy ride.With less air in the rear tires, a mushy ride.Less stability both ways if hard braking in turns.Still a two passenger unit.Passengers at risk of falling off.No passenger windshield.Passenger must/should wear protective clothing.Small kids stay at home with the baby sitter.Limited cargo space.Limited resale market.No contest!
This person certainly seems to be of the opinion that sidecars are superior. I still think Volvos are superior in every way.
Originally written by ural3wheels on 11/23/2006 9:09 AM
Originally written by claude #3563 on 11/23/2006 9:49 AM
I dug up the following post made by Lonnie Cook (Hack'n) here some time back. It fits this 'discussion'. Thank Lonnie...LOL. Lonnie wrote (to sidecar.com):-Now here is something that can compared. Harley vs Harley.Electra Glide with a sidecar:Factory warranty still intact. Even extended if desired, Big item!Motorcycle is a stock unmodified unit.Sidecar can be removed and Motorcycle can be used as a solo ride.Sidecar can be sold and you still have a motorcycle.All three wheels/tires are the same except for tread design givinga comfortable ride.Both motorcycle and sidecar have many decades of engineeringincorporated.Lots of storage and carrying capacity.Room for three (or more if small children are riding).Comfortable passenger seating in both sidecar and on motorcycle.Ability to carry small children and animals safely.Ability to carry odd shaped loads easily (can you say golf clubs?)S/C passenger can wear shorts and sandals safely if desired.S/C passenger can't fall off if they fall asleep.S/C passenger has own windshield for weather/bug protection.S/C passenger has unobstructed view of road and ahead.Great resale value with a wide market sector.Trike conversion:You buy an expensive motorcycle and throw half of it away andsubsitute an expensive rear half conversion.Loss of factory extended warranty option.Not many years of track record and engineering.Mismatched chassis design with a narrow motorcycle wheel/tire infront and two fat automobile wheels/tires in the rear.Large rear wheels/tires and short wheelbase give a choppy ride.With less air in the rear tires, a mushy ride.Less stability both ways if hard braking in turns.Still a two passenger unit.Passengers at risk of falling off.No passenger windshield.Passenger must/should wear protective clothing.Small kids stay at home with the baby sitter.Limited cargo space.Limited resale market.No contest!
This person certainly seems to be of the opinion that sidecars are superior. I still think Volvos are superior in every way.
2 words....He's right!!
I used to believe those who rode on three wheels did so because they couldn't handle two wheels. Or had lost their confidence to ride on two wheels. At the time I also firmly believed that I'd never ride on three. But I rode for a lot of years and a lot of miles on two wheels and a lot of that time was towing a trailer behind the bike. I listened to plenty of people over the years that told me how unwise I was to tow a trailer with a bike. Their opinion never deterred me from doing my thing my way. Then when my wife decided she no longer wanted to travel on the bike with me, and having been intrigued with the looks of the Ural rigs, I bought a used Ural to see if she'd like riding in the sidecar. And thinking maybe my K-9 buddy Archie would like it when Barb didn't go. Well, Barb didn't take to it and stuck to her guns about giving it up. But Archie loved it and to my surprise, I found riding with the sidecar a real thrill. So, as I've said before in various posts on various boards, the Harley sat for a couple years as Archie and I rode around on the Ural. But on the rare occasion that I'd take the Harley out after riding the Ural for a few months or so, the power of the Harley would amaze me anew! Finally realizing that my desire to ride on three for the thrill and to be able to have Archie along outweighed my long time thrill of riding on two, I sold the Ural and a few other toys to raise the necessary funds for the Liberty. Haven't regretted it for a second.
I have no desire to ride a trike and no interest in them. But to each his/her own... I don't try to convince anyone to do things the way I do but I do my best to clarify the differences when someone lumps the two into one category!
Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!!
when i first went to work at Hannigans,i had never been around a sidecar,and only had one experience riding a trike. after Dave let me borrow the shops VTX/classic rig to go to a CMA meeting one day,i have been hooked on these things since. i know people like trikes and that is good,but for my wife and i,the sidecar has been the ultimate solution to our needs.the storage space and stability pulling our camp trailer,plus the fact she can nap if she gets bored is the reason the next toy will be a rig also.
A sidecar rig preserves the motorcycling experience to a grater extent than a trike would. I've ridden both and I prefer the sidecar action and feel.
There is an additonal factor - that of cost. The trike installations that I've seen seem to cost in the area of $10K or so.
That's a lot more than a sidecar setup. You can get a Liberty or a Harley for around $7K delivered. Admittedly you may have to install it yourself but that's not all that bad.
Just my 2 cents.
Ya Shure, ya betcha and "This person" also thinks Volvos aren't the epitomy of un weird. I like Chevy trucks. Don't own any car.
Vell, got to get back down to the Ballard locks, The Lutafisk are yumpin' early this year. LOL
Happy Turkey day all,
Lonnie
Ya Shure, ya betcha and "This person" also thinks Volvos aren't the epitomy of un weird. I like Chevy trucks. Don't own any car.
Vell, got to get back down to the Ballard locks, The Lutafisk are yumpin' early this year. LOL
Happy Turkey day all,
Lonnie
Hey Lonnie! You can say that again!
As a newcomer and a novice to the sidecar scene, I never considered a trike. Many of my Valkyrie riding friends tried to convince me that a trike was the way to go. It never made sense to me to pay all that money to have your motorcyle converted to a trike and having to take off a goodly portion of the original parts to do the conversion. I guess that I'm a motorhead at heart. the sidecar rig is a mechanical wonder on display for everyone to appreciate. Yeah, i also enjoy steam locomotives!
In addition, I don't take kindly to trikes. There is nothing wrong with them or the people that ride(drive)them but trikes look alike to me. Sidecaring is very unique and more challeging IMHO. The more that my friends told me that I could never learn to drive a sidecar at 78 years, the more that I thought that I'd prove them wrong, it's the stubborn Dutchman in me, LOL.
Now that I've made the committment, I'm satisfied that I made the right choice. I will be doing further mods to get my Valk/Spyder the way that I want it. The sidecar won't be coming off unless I sell.
After all, I have two Valks and a Pacific Coast in our family. I can ride two wheels any time.
Wayne
Don't know what I did wrong, but . . . my vote didn't go where I meant for it to go! OOPS!
