DIY 'Tow Pac' Trike Mod

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MagnAndy

MagnAndy

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Brampton, Ontario, Canada
Have a DIY trike mod installed on my GL1200 on loan for assessment to purchase. It seems to be a quality build and the builder and I are forging a friendship over it. For those that followed my Jello post, his was the other bike. A good guy.

As an "I love the leanines" biker - a trike is not natural. A traditional trike may not be so unsettling as the 2 rear wheels are pretty stable but the 'Tow Pac' style with torsion suspension is FREAKY! Bolt it on and the lean in your turns reverses!!!!

Yes, turn left is no longer lean left - it is carve left and it leans right !!!! I took my rig out to a parking spot and ran tight turns - it 'U'ies in 1-1/2 parking spots. I ran it in full lock circles at some speed and it lifted the inner wheel but kept carving the corner.

The other thing that surprised me was how heavy the bars became - you really have to muscle them! and I mean EFFORT, not like the sweet carve into a free-bike turn.

Anybody have similar experiences?
 

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sounds like a trike to me. i rode a harly trike it was the same way. i fond it a fight to steer and corner. very uncomfortable
 
Three wheel ATVs are a bit worse do the the locked rearend,however you have described a basic three wheeled vehicle,it being a trike,instatrike sidecar rig...only with the hack lefts are differant than rights,and and the pulling right and pushing left and all.

I dont care for three whells to much but do enjoy the third seat with the hack.

I have heard that the reversed trikes (CAN AM spyders) handle much much better.
 
Just came back from running the 'Forks of the Credit' twisties. The roads were wet and covered with leaves so I was glad to have the outriggers but there is no way to hold anywhere near the speed that is possible with 2 wheels.

I have tried in the garage and there is no ay I can tip the bike no matter how far I hang off the side and bounce BUT in those corners it feels like it is about to tip.

Maybe I better go try it again :music: :moped:
 
MagnAndy":22zeh7sv said:
Just came back from running the 'Forks of the Credit' twisties. The roads were wet and covered with leaves so I was glad to have the outriggers but there is no way to hold anywhere near the speed that is possible with 2 wheels.

I have tried in the garage and there is no ay I can tip the bike no matter how far I hang off the side and bounce BUT in those corners it feels like it is about to tip.

Maybe I better go try it again :music: :moped:
Click to expand...


:music: What a great ride the forks of the Credit is.. if they put a Tim Hortons in Belfountain it would be a dream ride!! :salute:
 
I did it twice today with the Contour mounted on my side fender - BOTH TIMES I screwed up with the camera and got no footage - bugger. Guess I am just going to have to do it again Tuesday afternoon - only day this week when no rain is forcast. The OPP were at every turnoff all along the road today - never seen that before! IDKY unless they got a tip about a rally planned or sumpin'
 
I went for a ride state side earlier in the summer - along the lake to Rochester and back, not one cop. In Canada I would have went through half a dozen radar traps. We must be the most policed country in the world, and I have no doubt police are the biggest workforce in southern Ontario
 
THIS WAS DEFINATELY SOMETHING UNUSUAL - there were OPP in every turnoff and layby and not one donut in sight - on my back-trip the first time I did see about 16 same model rice cars all in a line on the shoulder near the east end of the twisties - all with after market rear spoilers installed. I think that some club called an impromptu ralley run and the OPP got wind of it. The Cops were all grim like they were expecting a huge issue - and a speed run that day would have been a HUGE DISASTER. Wet and leaf covered roads = no traction corners = car meets tree, tree wins.

My second trip they were all gone - Coppers and Ricers both.
 
> The other thing that surprised me was how heavy the bars became - you really have to muscle them! and I mean EFFORT, not like the sweet carve into a free-bike turn.

I have no trike experience but I drove rigidly mounted sidecar rig for a while.
The heavy handling is due to too much trail (steering geometry term). Solo (2wheel) motorcycles need that for stability. There are triple tree mods available to rake the forks (not the steering head angle, like choppers) to reduce the trail and makes the handling lighter.

Please be very careful. Rigid sidecar rigs and trikes do tip over easily if cornered too fast.

Reverse trikes don't tip over. They are far more stable.
It's funny that reverse trikes are categorized as motorcycles so you need to wear helmet whereas "regular" trikes are categorized as cars thus no need for helmets. That should be the other way around.
 

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