High Cost of Triking a Motorcycle

[den1953]

I investigated having a trike conversion done on my 2012 Victory Cross Country at a local shop 30 miles from home. This was to be a Roadsmith conversion with all the goodies. I emailed them with my inquiry and they replied with an itemized list of what I wanted and what was and wasn't needed with labor, shipping and sales tax. The total was over $17,000 and I already have over $19,000 in my bike already making the total cost over $37,000. When a new 2014 Harley Davidson Tri-Glide Ultraclassic goes for about $34,000 converting my bike would be a very stupid move in my opinion. Not that the Harley is without any drawbacks of it's own either!! That brings me back to the 2014 Can Am Spyder RT models which my Victory dealer also sells. He has several, all SE6s with one being the base RT in black and three RT-Ss in black, white & cognac as well as four RT Limiteds (black, white, cognac & silver). With MSRPs running from $24,499 to $30,499 none are even close to the cost of a new triked motorcycle. Right now I still owe a little over $2,300 on my Victory and could pay it off right now (tempted to) to save on interest. My Utopia backrest might help me get through this summer's riding season so I can get a jump on getting a 2014 RT late in the year and possibly with some discount. My back & knee joints are making this move inevitable and the economics of being retired and on a fixed income force me to watch my spending in regards to the amount going for monthly payments. Even if it winds up being a base RT it will still be a 1330 six speed which is good.

 

[Bob Denman]

Unfortunately; there's more to this, than the dollars... :shocked:
If you're going to compare "Top-Shelf" equipment; you're not going to save yourself any money, no matter WHAT you do.
(The fact that you didn't mention a Triked GoldWing, tells me that you pretty much knew what those numbers looked like also... :yikes
But; you mentioned the Base RT; it's got all of the important parts in place, and you can accessorize as needed later! :thumbup:
That's the direction that I'd be looking at this stage... :2thumbs:

 

[den1953]

Thanks Bob

The fact is that spending money isn't really saving money but spending less of it is the best I can hope for. The old saying that you can't take it with you, you might as well enjoy it is what drives us to spend on our "toys". It's just the reality that we still have to eat and keep a roof over our heads with all the bills & taxes that go with it. As long as I'm healthy enough to keep riding I will but the aging process is just dictating that I'm going to need to change what I'm riding on in the near future. I appreciate your feedback. Yes I've been doing my homework and yes I know about those Goldwing trikes, even demoed a couple of them.

 

[TuckMiddle]

Exactly the situation I was in 3 years ago.i had a 12 year old Road Glide with 38,000 miles and exactly as I wanted it. $20,000 to trike it as I wanted and it did not make sense. And that does not include the fact that a Spyder has handling and many other advantages. Pretty easy decision.
You will not regret it. Maintenance support for the Spyder is more important than where buy it. I have too much arthritis and too many back issues to do any real maintenance. A 3 year event based mx agreement has saved me thousands of dollars. Every item on the BMP inspection is done every time. I know it is considered overkill by some forum members, but that is too bad, that is the way that works for me. 43,000 miles with a few minor glitches, but never been stranded and I am happy as can be. Good luck on how you work it all out
Tuck

 

[bodymanpainter]

That's the same thing the wife and I were looking at and after test riding all three bikes (Goldwing trike, Harley Triglide. and Spyder RTS)
it was a simple choice--- the Spyder RTS as it handled better and more safety features and much better price and just as dependable
and a heck of a lot more fun to ride!
Toby

 

[den1953]

Great Replies All

That was another thing on those two Goldwing trikes, the steering effort in sharp cornering around town required a lot of upper body strength. Conventional trikes have to be muscled to turn. The power assisted steering on the Can AM Spyders (I demoed two of those too, a 2008 RS and a 2013 RT-S) was a whole lot easier. I didn't push any of these demo rides very hard as far as handling limits go but that 2013 RT-S rode and handled very nicely with much friendlier ergonmics than the earlier GS had. By the way I think I'm going to my credit union this week and getting that Victory paid-off. Thanks all.

 

[Chupaca]

Direction..!!

Looks like you have done your homework and are headed in the right direction expense wise. There is a lot more to it and once you really ryde the roadster you will see the difference. Out of the many that have come from the two wheeler world very very few have gone back. Many that maintained both have sold the rest and kept the best (just had to say it ryhmes) but this is where I came from and see it here...good luck and hope it all works out and your on a roadster next year..:thumbup:

 

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

AND THERE'S THIS

The Spyder concept ( reverse trike ) is hands down the only TRIKE worth anything in the handling department. I have no trouble keeping up with most " crotch rocket " type riders. Try that with with a Harley Tri-glide or Gold Wing Trike and you are going to end up up in the ditch...........SPYDERS RULE ...Mike :thumbup:

 

[Pennyrick]

Well thought out and certainly better than the way I did it.

In 2010, after dropping my '99 Valkyrie Interstate for the second time because of my arthritic left hip, I traded it plus $10,000 for a '2002 Gold Wing trike with a Motor Trike kit and 38,000 miles on it. I should have looked into the Spyder instead.

The GL trike plowed into turns and I finally added a $1,500, 6 degree rake it to kick out the front end a bit so it would steer better... it still turned like a truck. I tried to buy my Valkyrie back but by then the place I traded it to had triked it. What a waste of a perfectly good Valkyrie!!

Then I saw the light and traded the Gold Wing in on my first Spyder RT.

If I had gone the Spyder route in the first place I probably could have saved myself a lot of wasted time and energy not to mention money.

 

[Bob Denman]

When the light went on in my head...

, I was debating: a Tri-Glide, or a Motor-Trike conversion on a smaller Japanese bike...\
Then the RTs caught my attention. :2thumbs:

 

[flaggerphil]

When my wife and I decided to go to three wheels we looked at triking my V-Star 1300T (not really worth the effort, IMO), a Tri-Glide, a Goldwing trike, a Lehman Victory Vision conversion and the Spyder. We really liked the look and feel of the Vision trike (before going to three wheels we looked VERY closely at getting a Vision) and I absolutely hated the Goldwing. My wife liked the comfort of the rear seat on the Tri-Glide, but we both absolutely loved the comfort and stability of the Spyder. And I REALLY liked the SE5. It also helped that, by getting the Spyder, we saved near $10k over all the trikes but redoing my 1300T. So the Spyder it was, and we haven't regretted it.

And with the SE5, my wife also got her trike endorsement.

hyea:

 

[Bob Denman]

Here's an option... :thumbup:

http://www.mtcvoyager.com/kits-available/?gclid=CI29nOerzL0CFRFnOgod63oAYQ

 

[den1953]

Training Wheels (sort of)

I've seen quite a few of these quick attach/detach wheel kits in action on different runs I've been on. I actually followed one for over 100 miles on one of those runs and I am not impressed with both the handling (which is worse than a conventional trike conversion) and the fact that the single rear drive wheel of the motorcycle can become high centered and lose traction altogether. Saw it happen once where the training wheel trike got itself stuck and had to be pushed to get the middle rear wheel some traction. Thanks but no thanks.

 

[ARtraveler]

If your going with a "trike" the :spyder2: (reverse trike) seems to be the best option. Not cheap, but ready to go out the door. You can buy it as farkeled, or not, as you want. It's made for riding on three wheels, so handling issues are also solved.

:ani29: gets my vote. :thumbup:

 

[Oldmanzues]

I was going to trike a VTX 1300, partly for the money over a wing or HD conversion (before tri-glide). I had ridden all kinds of other trikes, had concerns with all of them. Demo'd a Spyder08 GS and that was that. Sold my ST1100 and the VTS and bought a GS (now RS). Decided I was to old for the seating position on a RS, bought base 2010 RT and love it.
Agree on the tow pac set up.
Real reverse can be handy on PGR Missions. three wheels can be real nice in old country cemetarys. We need more spyder in the Ohio PGR
Good luck and ride safe
Oldmanzues

 

[den1953]

ALR & PGR

I'm primarily an American Legion Rider but have participated in some flag lines for the Patriot Guard Riders. Even helped them demolish a house for the mother of a disabled Iraq War veteran here in Fostoria. She got a new house out of that and I'm kind of proud to have been a small part of the group that made things happen. Our ALR does lots of things for veterans and their families too. We just gave the old vets at the Ohio Veterans Home in Sandusky a new 60 inch flat screen TV for their rec hall a couple of months ago. The Ohio Legion newspaper had a picture of us donating it in the last issue. I'm looking forward to continuing my riding for good causes, even if it's on three wheels.

 

[Highwayman2013]

There are some great used spyders available now too, If you want to save some cash.

 

[Frank G]

A nice low mileage 2012 RT Limited showed up in the for sale listings tonight. Only $18500.00 and it is located in Columbus. That is a steal accessorized as it is.

 

[SXSMachine]

The Spyder concept ( reverse trike ) is hands down the only TRIKE worth anything in the handling department. I have no trouble keeping up with most " crotch rocket " type riders. Try that with with a Harley Tri-glide or Gold Wing Trike and you are going to end up up in the ditch...........SPYDERS RULE ...Mike :thumbup:

You'll be watching the back-end of this every time you step up. The Spyder CANNOT engineering-wise keep up with this. Even if you turned off Nanny you would reach V-max and flip. pps:

Weve built 5 specials so far last over the last 3 years learning a lot. We hope to build 4 standards starting July 2014. :thumbup:

 

[IdahoMtnSpyder]

Money, plus the exclusive features of the Spyder such as VSS, is why I bought my 2013 RT. My first plan was to convert my '05 Wing. It was in great shape with only 52,000 miles. What I planned to do was buy a wrecked Wing trike and move the conversion part to my Wing. Sadly, there are getting to be quite a few GW trikes on the insurance company salvage auction sites. I figured if I spent $4000 on a wreck, + about $1000 to ship it, maybe upwards of $1000 to paint it to match, and maybe $700 for a new triple tree to get the rake that really is needed for a Wing trike, I could easily be up to $7000 to $8000 out for just the parts. And then there would be all the hours. I sold my Wing for $11,400 so I was looking at upwards to $19,000 to $20,000 investment for a used trike without ABS and VSS. After watching a few auctions it looked like wreck prices were mostly $6000 plus. At that rate I was getting close to a new conversion price tag of $12,000 to $14,000. So I started looking for good used Spyder. I lucked out and last November got a 2013 base RT with 615 miles for $14,000 + $1000 shipping.

I don't miss my Goldwing at all, and I loved it! When it comes to riding, the move from my Wing to the RT was one smart move, both financially and enjoyability! :clap::yes:

Trikes can be expensive! A member of our GWRRA chapter traded in his 2012 Goldwing trike on a 2013 HD trike, plus trailer. He added a few extras like high intensity LED headlights. Total investment was around $52,000! :yikes: