Bonneville America Forums Forums Technical Forums Custom Corner Triumph America Trike

Well it appears my next project will be a trike kit on the old America. My wife has ostiparosis (bad bones)and we are both scared of her falling off a normal bike. I know power may be an issue but I think gearing may make up for the weight increase. On a Trike I doubt we will ever exceed 55mph so a hot gear should keep us happy around town. I still have my 1200 Sportster so I'm still going to be on 2 wheels, but the Trike will be for my wife and I to go on color tours and such. I'm looking into the kits now and it looks like I have several choices for the axle and swingarm. Good fun coming up, I like building things.

I would do a differential like an old servicar not a modern style rear, you will have less weight and less power loss that way. Our bikes really don't have the power for a modern rear and suspension.

Wouldn't a side car be a much easier project and get her next to you rather than behind?

I did a Sidecar build a few years ago, I detested the handling and the wife felt to vulnerable out on the side of me. I test rode a Harley Trike a month ago and loved it, if I had an extra 35K laying around I'd have one of those. But I think for our needs the Triumph will do just fine. We are not big travelers and speed is not really an issue for the Trike. A simple DNA axle and swingarm without over size wheels and tires should not drag us down to awful much.

I have a sidecar rig and it's really a different animal to drive as left turns and right turns are not even slightly similar. I've always though a trike would be more "even handed" as it were and might take less time to learn and master but I can't say that is true from personal experience. I, too, have a wife that's suffering from onset of osteoporosis and I haven't attempted to load her into the tub yet (still a sidecarist in training) but that might be a deal breaker if entry/exit isn't easy.

oldroadie, You know of what you speak. I'm sure the BMW and Gold Wing rigs must handle ok, I see them flying down the highway at a good rate of speed, but my old rig was based on an Ironhead Sporty and it sure was a handful, same as my brothers URAL only with twice the power. The new Harley Trike I tested rode like a Limo, I can only guess how nice an independent suspension trike must be, both are out of my price range.LOL

TowPac www.towpacusa.com makes a pretty stout kit. they keep the rear wheel for traction but add a couple extra wheels. Their kit can be installed/removed in about 20 minutes tops. If it interests you, try and find one on Craigslist. The mounting kits are bike specific and can be ordered separately from the manufacturer for a couple hundred dollars.

I put one on my Honda PS250 for the wife. She started having some troubles, but wanted to keep riding.

Nope, when I do this I'm going all the way. The resale value of my America is so low that I can do anything I want with it. The commitment to a true TRike will do nothing but improve the bikes utility for the wife and I. I work with Fiberglass fabrication and building the body work is something I want to do, most trike kits go way overboard on wide tires and oversize fenders giving a cartoon look to the finished product. This I will avoid, I want a functional factory look to the project.

Big problem is quite a few people set a sidecar up wrong, the orientation is counter intuitive.

I guess it's been done a few times. I kinda like the 02 red one and the Blue one in the bing images.


http://www.bing.com/search?q=bonneville+america+trike&form=IE11TR&src=IE11TR&pc=LCJB

Well now you have some good ideas and they do have smiles on their faces so they are happy with the outcome.

NO, No, No, I will build a fully integrated body on my red 02 America,or die trying. On eBay there are several manufacturers selling axle kits with optional body kits. I'm thinking of ordering the DNA axle and swingarm kit for $2100 and maybe using their body kit for $1300 with my modifications. I do not like the overwide fenders on the kits so I could section them down and use a narrower size rear tire, maybe adapt two factory America rear wheels and tires to tie it all together. This will look as good as"factory"or it will not happen.I've got all winter to build this thing and I work in a Boat/RV collision shop that does a lot of Fiberglass work so my fellow workers will kill me if I do a hack job.LOL

Hey Dog 33, You seem like a guy who builds things, there is a Ton of info on setting up a Sidecar on the ADV Forum. I used this when I built my 1st Side Hack Rig in 2011. If you care to look it up my Rig was featured on pg.9 in the May issue of "The Horse,backstreet choppers", kind of a shame my wife hated it, but the fun is in the building anyway. Regards,Tin Man.