i think i want a trike....

[gavin]

i know...please dont laugh


a few years ago, a very close mate of mine brought round his latest shag on her v-max trike, it was stunning, and so was she, she let me take a ride on it and it damn near killed me, was poorly set up and slapped all over the place. great fun though.


anyhoo.... a couple of years later he got killed by some twat in a white van, riding home from another birds house.....and i inherited one of his bikes, a mid 70's benelli quattro. like everything else he owned it is rare and could have been something, but its a heap. ive been looking at it languishing in the garage for the last three years, wondering what to do with it.....and now im wondering about triking it......any ideas where to go?

its a brick of 70's il4 design....and ive got this idea if it sitting really low, squat, fat, narrow axle, wide rear rims, flat bars etc....
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1988 TZR125 : 1990 RD350YPVS/ RGV250 HYBRID : 1982 RD80LC : 1983 RD80LC : 1994 RGV250 : 1991 TZR125 / CR500R HYBRID : 1976 BENELLI 500 QUATTRO : 2006 TRIUMPH 675

[Gradog]

For fucks sake have a beer, and think about this. Turning it into a trike sucks. Expensive, unmanouverable, slow, taking the size of a car without any of a cars comforts. Stupid idea.
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Grey haired bikers don't get that way from pure luck. Only a biker knows why a dog sticks his head out of the car window.

[Kickstart]

Hi

Thought the Benelli engine was a Honda clone? Rare enough bike so I would be tempted to leave it until you can sort it.

All the best

Keith
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Traxpics, track day and racing photographs - Bimota Forum - Bike performance / thrust graphs for choosing gearing

[Ariel Badger]

Turn a Robin Reliant into a trike if you must (doing it legaly is a huge pain in the arse BTW) Do not abuise the poor old Benelli
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Bikers make great organ donors, get 115 on your licence today.

[Flip]

A trike? Why would anyone take the worst thing about bikes and combine them with the worst thing about cars?

Oh yeah. Posing.

[yambabe]

Wouldn't have thought that would be a particularly good bike to trike to be honest, but then again anything can be changed if you put your mind to it and do your homework.

I suggest you go and speak to Mr Ireland and the Britchopper Crew where they have a forum section specially dedicated to bike-engined trikes and will be able to tell you how feasible it is, how much it is likely to cost, what you will need etc.

A well-built trike can be just as much fun as a bike, it's just a diferent kind of fun. Himself used to ride one that him and a mate built from a stage3 1375 Austin engine with a metro-turbo diff and a competition clutch. The wheelbase was 10ft long so when he used to wheelie it (at between 50 and 85 in 3rd gear ) and the towbar was scraping at the back the front end would be about 8.5-9 feet in the air.......... Will have to dig out his old albums sometime and see if I can find the pics! It would do 100 no problem with 4 people on it (if all the wheels were on the ground) and could also do 40 in reverse. They also used to go off-roading on it.......... did some brilliant muddy wheelspins in 2nd gear cos it had huge rallycross tyres and no mudguards.
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Sod falling in love, I wanna fall in chocolate.

[0ddball]

Don't worry, it's just a homosexual phase. It will pass.

[Ariel Badger]

Homosexuality is permanent, the wish to fuck up Benellis is hopefully not.
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Bikers make great organ donors, get 115 on your licence today.

[mr.z]

In all honesty if you did want a trike you'd be as well to sell the benelli off and buy one... (not to mention its a travisty to bastardise certain bikes) i can PROMISE you building one will cost you allot.


problems..

Registering: SVA test you'll need it to pass one to be able to use it and its VERY expensive, probably the bigest problem and why even shitboxes go for a fair bit..

Building: Getting the gearing right isn't straightforward

Suspension: Getting it to ride properly with rear suspension is a nightmare and again very expensive to do properly, usual solution is to hardtail it, dont expect a comfy ride!

Power: certain engines are better suited to them, somes that are already shaft drive are helpful since they can be fitted into the diff without some chain/drive shaft box affair..

The slow/bad handling argument is utter bollocks i'm afraid, no you can't lean it but it doesn't mean they aren't fun, just different fun, i'd liken it to a roller coaster but less safe.. you can filter allot more than you'd think (weather you should or not is another matter)

As often is the case "i've never riden one... but they're shit" theres plenty of damn good reasons to have one, you could as easyly say most of the bike fun but without nearly as much chance of falling off.. still personal preference a lot of it but you dont know shit till you've tryed one.
/controversial
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>RidingSkills<->Tech Tips<->MyBikes<

[Jamie S]

for gods sake DO NOT get a trike there sh1t

[SoND]

Gavin you'd probably be safer fixing up the benelli and it might be worth a few quid in the end. Easier than building a trike out of it.

[gavin]

this is just the sort of response he would have got. we once built a lowrider chop out of an ETZ125 and a pair of iron garden gates. i kid you not.

i dont know what else to do with it, its not getting restored thats for sure, that wasnt his thing and in this case it isnt mine.
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1988 TZR125 : 1990 RD350YPVS/ RGV250 HYBRID : 1982 RD80LC : 1983 RD80LC : 1994 RGV250 : 1991 TZR125 / CR500R HYBRID : 1976 BENELLI 500 QUATTRO : 2006 TRIUMPH 675

[G]

[Bendy]

Trike it!

Trikes are cool. People who ride trikes are cool.

People who diss trikes are too stupid to have worked this out, and stupidity's never cool.

[map]

IMO there are good reasons to have a trike. I'd have one should I ever be unfortunate enough to be unable to swing my leg over a bike and control it. Of course that'd be only after exhausing all the conversion options for a bike first. I'm already thinking hammerhead style because they're more stable and can be narrower than the usual Reliant Robin style conversions/axles.

However, to hack what could be a running motorcycle and what some consider to be a rare potential classic into a trike is not a good move. FWIW I'd restore the Benelli to sell and use the proceeds for something else. There are other bikes that lend themselves to a trike conversion more easily, think shaft drive BMW, Honda ST100 or even the Deauville and ancient Kwak GT550/750 (but do not ever think Goldwing )

As ever, just my thoughts
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...and the whirlwind is in the thorn trees, it's hard for thee to kick against the pricks...
Gibbs, what did Duckie look like when he was younger?

[mark83]

Are you out of your mind?!!!

You have a piece of history in your hands. You could restore it to its former glory and proudly rumble down to Ace Cafe and the likes only to drown in admiration.

And what's even better, there's a story behind it. You inherited it. If you wanna try and convert something to a trike, get a crap bike and do it on that. But please don't do it to your 1970's machine.

That would be like finding a pristine 1970's Jimi Hendrix original guitar and covering it in stickers!
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Kawasaki ER6n -> Honda CBR600RR -> Honda VTR 1000 -> Moto Guzzi Norge 1200
Buy my Mercedes 350 Sport AMG Evo

[NickD]

Seems there's an awful lot of people who feel the need to register their horror, who have clearly never ridden a trike. If you want to trike something, trike it, I'm sure you'll have a ball.
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I was only doing what it said on my licence officer....
Tear along the dotted line!

[G]

[NickD]

[Jamie S]

your probably send it flying down the road on its side !
but hey

[mark83]

[shaun_04]

I'd advise against it, for many a reason: I would have thought your mates old bike had some sentimental value and you wouldnt want to change it, apart from restore it a bit. I know someone who is making a Virago trike and it seems like a lot of hard work and a too much hassle, just to prevent something which is tremendously ugly, not to mention pointless. For me, trikes are things for old ex-motorcyclists who have had their legs amputated to ride, just so they still look bikerish.

[NickD]

[map]

[Nath]