Is it a comfortable ride for you and your passenger?

 

It is the most comfortable bike we have had, but we came from Honda Shadows & VTX, then HD Switchback to now the Tri. I was comfortable as the driver on all of them (after seat changes, ect) but my wife (as passenger) was not and it got worse with age (me 67, she 62). She is very happy with the Tri with the stock seat, no wonder from what we rode before. I'm sure it would not have been so noticable to her if we had ridden touring bikes prior. I also think she rides more relaxed with the more stable 3 vs 2 wheels, & I think that adds to her comfort factor. As has been said, rent one for a day (even travel some to do that if needed) then you will know if the Tri is for you. Good luck!

 

Yes! I'm glad to hear that it's a good ride. A comment on youtube was that it was a "thrown around" experience for the passenger.

That would be a problem for my wife. She has some back trouble. Currently she would rather travel on our Goldwing rather than take a car. She says it doesn't hurt her back.

My local Harley Dealer has said we could take a trike around the block but he said it won't be the new tri glide. I would rather rent a tri-glide for a weekend to make sure we won't miss the Goldwing. A trip around the block may not be an acceptable amount of time on the trike for me.

If my wife doesn't like the "thrown around" ride it will be a very expensive mistake.

Thanks for your replies!

 

Renting one is a great plan, I did the same when I went from a Triglide to a Wing. I rented a wing for a couple days and road the snot out of it, made sure the wife would be happy. She has back problems and hearing issues, I had to make changes in the tour-pak on the Triglide to keep her back from hurting. I had to install Tour-Box rails from http://www.tglidestuff.com/ to level the tour-pak, The way Harley has is mounted it isn't very level, which caused lower back issues for the wife. Once I installed the rails which leveled it, the wife had not more issues with her back.

 

Not sure about the "thrown around" issue, we probably had a little of that in the first few miles, as I was learning how to steer the Tri. I was a little "twitchy" on the handle bars at first. But no issues after that.
I was solo once on a twisty road with some uneven pavement, I was pushing it in a corner and the uneven pavement made the Tri a bit bouncy for a couple seconds but that was it, again it was my learning curve.

 

I think the thrown around comment is in regards to how straight axle trike will bobble side to side on certain types of bumps, vs a IRS which doesn't.

 

Ahhh I see your signature picture now! So, you went from the Harley Triglide to the Goldwing? I have the option to trike out my Goldwing but it seems to me that it might be best to have a trike that was engineered to be a trike as opposed to modifying a motorcycle designed to be a motorcycle?

Beyond that, I'm still thinking Harley is more than 50% American made. That puts the Harley at the top of my thinking due to wanting to ride with the Patriot Guard in my retirement.

Having said that, the Goldwing seems to be a mechanical marvel. Zero problems with the bike.

 

Rent a Triglide and ride the snot out of it, I didn't think the Patriot Guard cared about brand?


I went with a Hannigan conversion on my 2012 Wing, I have to say it does everything very well. Power is great, I pull a trailer and only once did I ever have to down shift, normally I set the cruise and enjoy the ride. The ride of an IRS is real nice if you get onto some bump laden roads, handling is also very good. The way I have my Wing setup now, it'll get into and out of corners quicker than my Triglide ever could. I like hammering the corners from time to time.


The biggest thing the Triglide does have going for it is the dealer network, if it needs serviced while on the road, any Harley dealer will do. With conversions it's a mixed bag.

 

I'm finding a lot of 2013 Tri-Glides for sale. I'm wondering why that is. Are there any major problems with the 2013?

Does anyone think I will miss not having the Rushmore package? It seems there are lots of GPS systems I can add to the bike for not a lot of money.

Buying a 2013 lowers the cost buy a few thousand but not as much as I'd like to see.

I want the best model for the bucks.

Thoughts?

Thanks,

Brian

 

In my poking around the forums before I bought mine, it seemed like there were folks moving from the earlier models (13 & older) to the Rushmores (14 & up). I wanted the Rushmore so went with it. Having never had or ridden the earlier ones, I can't compare. But I am sure others who can, will. If you don't get a response in this thread, start a new thread below, perhaps more folks will see it there.