I'm trying to help a lifelong friend of mine to get back in the wind again so that he can enjoy what time he has left with us and create some lasting memories for his lovely wife to keep in her heart... He owns a beautiful 2006 FLHRCI Road King that he's owned since it was brand new but he's only been able to put a couple hundred miles on it in all of this time! Please... If anyone has any suggestions or knows of any existing solutions to his situation, we would love to hear them!

My friend has diabetes and has had to have both of his lower legs amputated because of it, he has limited upper body strength and requires the use of a motorized wheel chair to get around. Shortly after buying the bike of his dreams, he had to have his first leg amputated so he has never really gotten to ride his pride and joy and it's absolutely heartbreaking to see the look on his face as he talks about ways to make his bike accessible with his condition. He is completely open to trading it for a different Harley-Davidson, if necessary, to be able to ride with a few of his friends a few more times and we have kicked around various options on how to do this with everything imaginable from adding a side car that he can haul his 600+ lb. wheel chair in to going with a Trike and a trailer scenario - but we have yet to stumble onto the absolute perfect combination to meet his needs that is already on the market without engineering and fabricating a custom package with the skill and grace of the old trial and error method and an unlimited vault of cash to experiment with...

Like most of us who ride, he doesn't want to sit in the back of a pickup truck like an ol' hound dog and simply feel the breeze - he wants to be independant and have the ability to get on his bike and ride if he feels like taking a cruise through the country or running to the store real quick on a beautiful summer's day!! That's all any Harley rider wants, right..??

So, please... Help a downed brother get up again! I'm new on this website and wasn't really sure about where to post this thread to get the best number of views so even the least bit of information such as that will be greatly appreciated more than words can express... Thank you for taking the time to read this post and we are looking forward to hearing from anyone who can offer their help.

Ride safe and keep the shiny side up...

 

There used to be a fellow in Cincinnati, O that setup bike's for motorized wheelchairs, don't know if he's still around though, it's been 20+ years since I've seen his work.

 

Basically what you have to do is engineer a new design for a Chariot. It can be done but it takes a lot of imagination and some serious skills when you go to fabricate the mechanics of it.

 

Don't have to reinvent the wheel here.. Counting cars did an episode for this..
A place to start at least

 

My buddies ride! Works great for his chair

 

Go to Trike Talk Forum. Look up a member named Wheels. He has no legs at all and there are tons of pics of his trike with him on it. It's a modified Goldwing trike and he can and will point you in the right direction. He hauls his chair around on his trike and he is a wealth of knowledge on where to go, and what to do to enabe people to remain in the wind.



The guy rides it everywhere. I don't know how many miles he logs but it's a lot.

 

Hey! Thanks, you guys!! Y'all are awesome! scasey - your friend is a hero in my book! That's just way too cool... roadking2000 - I registered at TrikeTalk Forums and even found a very informative category there called: "Enabled Trikers" that had several interesting threads. I don't know if Jack has had a chance to go on there yet but I know he's going to be very excited once he does! This brings such an overwhelming feeling of joy and optimism that words can't describe it... I'm really looking forward to the day when we can post the results of your efforts! Again - thank you all so much for restoring hope to this solution!

 

That forum has a ton of great stuff for trike riders of all makes. If he logs on and posts in the enabled section, I'm sure he'll get all the advice he needs. There are a lot of trike riders on there that have all manner of ailments they have overcome. Everyone on there gets along and there is no back biting or bashing at all unlike this and most other forums. Just a lot of good info and advice. Many trike conversion and parts suppliers also frequent the forum so often you can get specific advice about products straight from the horses mouth.

 

He text me a while ago and said that he registered there and saw the "Enabled Trikers" section and said that it had the information he was looking for to finally make a decision on how to accomplish this! He also found a guy that owned a Harley Trike earlier today that was considering making a trade for his! That makes me feel so much better because I was never sold on the Custom Side Car creation at all. The Trike just looks comfortable and totally practical for what he needs, in my opinion... All it takes is one lethargic day and a sharp left corner sneaks up on him and that's a disaster! Maybe I've watched too many old war movies with the Marx Bros or something but it made me nervous and I wasn't even on it... I hope it works out that way - I've got a couple of custom trailer ideas that would work out nice - remote tailgate that lays down and his remote chair rolls off and over to him... There was even a thread on getting on/off the trike, too!

 

Bonzo,

Welcome to the forum. First of all, you're a blessing to your friend to try and make his life better and improve his well being.

I can't offer any helpful solutions other than what has been posted here, but where there's a will, there's a way. There must be a solution to help our disabled friends that won't break the bank. Please keep us posted on your efforts.