Living in Florida, we trike riders are lucky to be able to ride all year based on the milder winters. Back in late October, 2019, I traded in my 2017 TGU for a new Burnt Orange/Black Denim 2019 TGU and the dealership kindly transferred all of my extra farkles over to the new trike. I was scheduled to have rotator cuff surgery 2 weeks after purchase and so rode the hell out of the 2019 meticulously breaking it in but not babying it and then performed a slow and methodical 1000 mile service at the house. It wasn't until 7.5 weeks later with 1k on the odometer that I gingerly began trying to ride the new 2019 TGU. Today marked my 600th mile since having shoulder surgery (1600 miles total on the odometer) and I have been working the shoulder hard in therapy to regain the strength I lost from fairly extensive surgery.

It is pretty busy in South Florida this time of year with all of the snowbirds and "blue hairs" that can barely see over their dash boards so one has to ride alertly and defensively. Coupled with those tasks, I have been getting re-acquainted in a way with my latest Tri Glide. I had previously put a combined total of about 22k on a 2016 and the 2017 Tri Glides. On another forum, I had discussed some of the significant differences I was experiencing with the 2019 versus my 103c.i. TC and 107c.i. M8 Trikes.

The new suspension, clutch, transmission and engine on the 2019 all contribute to a slightly nicer ride with more low end grunt than any of the previous iterations of the TGU that I had owned. On a ride this afternoon, I was cruising down the coast toward Stuart, Florida on the East Coast along Hutchinson Island and then was coming back on I95 running about 75 mph. What surprised me after not having ridden much in the past 3.5 months was how much mass the Tri Glide seemed to feel to me in terms of braking. Steering inputs are as light or lighter than my two other trikes where I had the DK Customs Custom Lift Kit installed that changes the rear shock geometry such that the stock steering becomes noticeably lighter with improved front wheel braking over stock configuration. However, I kept noticing in traffic how much seeming mass was represented by the trike's and my combined weight of about 1425 pounds. The new ABS braking system is quite different from the previous models and pulsing in the front brake lever lets you know that modulators are at work linking both the front and rear brakes when you grab the front brake lever.

As I was mentioning, the tranny is more like rowing through butter than any other Harley I have ever owned and the clutch engagement is beyond smooth. This coupled with the low end grunt of the new 114 M8 engine makes for a really pleasant ride. Since I had been mostly off the trike for 3.5 months, the differences between my previous trikes and this new one were more evident but also the sheer size of the trike seemed a bit larger and that is likely due to continued strengthening I am achieving in my right shoulder/forearm. Pretty strange stuff but as always, a hell of a lot of fun!

 

 

Hey, I showed a pic of me holding up my left and right arms making a peace sign. It was not an easy feat at that stage in my physical recovery. Here is a before picture days before surgery and still breaking in the trike before completing the 1k service. You will notice the Love Jugs that I installed on the left side of the 114 M8 engine to keep it happy during slow moving times in warm weather.

 

Sorry Capt. Bob, but my cell phone don't show the first pic. Very nice trike, this color combo is amazing! Get well soon and enjoy these beauty

 

Hey Bob, glad you are back from surgery. That trike looks fantastic! I see you have Love Jugs on there, wondering what mounting system you have. I am thinking black Mighty Mites for my black Tri, not sure I want them to "stand out" as much as chrome. I am thinking about a frame mount for the MMs, but saw a video talking about having to remove the brace between the tops of the front & rear jugs. Seems to me the Moco put that brace there for a reason. Your thoughts please.

 

Graygoat, You are headed in the right direction with the Mighty Mites from Love Jugs as Kevin from DK Customs found that they are actually more efficient than my larger Cool-Master Love Jugs that you can get in chrome or black. I think the reason that the Mighty Mites are more efficient for cooling is that the fans spin at a significantly higher RPM than my larger LJ's. I think with your trike, the black would look awesome. I mounted my Love Jugs on my 2017 M8 and 2019 M8 on the existing horn stud. The reason that I went this route was that the M8's tend to shake less than the 103c.i. Twin Cams. OTOH, the Mighty Mites are much smaller and lighter in weight than mine and should likely not pose a problem mounting them on the horn bolt. Additionally, I think that Mighty Mites (Love Jugs) have a horn damping unit that fits right on the horn stud. Just as an exercise in caution, I would contact Love Jugs directly and ask them if my thinking is correct? Knowing how hot our Harley trikes run, I would now never be without a set of Love Jugs on my Harley to keep my engine temps down. Most of us know that Harleys inherently run quite hot and heat is not a friend to our engines. Please let us know what Love Jugs advises you on the mounting for your 103c.i. Twin Cam. I forgot to mention that I used the Harley supplied auxiliary power cable (Part Number 91843-97) that you can buy from a dealer that allows for simple plug and play with the spare bus located under the right hand side cover.

 

I had the Love Jugs installed on my 19 triglide last weekend at an event in St Petersburg, and they elected to use the horn mount. I took that to show their approval.

 

Thanks, Bob. I will check with Love Jugs and see what they say and post up.

 

Talked to Love Jugs this am. They told me that on the TC 103, that I should definitely go with the frame mount. So, I placed the order with Zook today. Black MMs on my black trike.

 

Graygoat, By getting suggestions from Love Jugs directly that they recommend the frame mount for the Twin Cam engines, that tells me that the amount of engine vibration is such that the horn mount is insufficient for safely mounting the Mighty Mites on bikes other than those equipped with the smoother, less viby, M8 engines. Thanks for letting all of us know.