If Honda built a better tryke, would you buy it ??

[Mikey]

if I was interested in a one in the front, two in the rear, trike I would pick Honda all day long, over HD! Was out in New Hampshire with a couple friends and got to put my eyes on one for a while, was quite impressed with that set up, wide in the rear but looked very plush and comfy!

 

[troop]

I'd look really hard at any Spyder type machine from the Japanese Big 4.

 

[Ex Winger]

Agree. Even if Honda was several thousand more, folks would flock to it, and Can-Am would have trouble with market share.
I owned a BMW R1100RT, and a bit later on in my "career" I owned a Honda ST1300. The Honda was in many respects superior. The Honda was thousands less than the highly touted Beemer, and got better fuel economy, and was smoother. Rheostat smooth. Deceptive. You knew you were running 85 or 90 on the Beemer, you came to that conclusion gradually on the Honda... "holy smoke I gotta slow down" when you realize you are moving along at a good clip. Honda makes quality stuff. The folks at Honda would never let a product go with ill fitting panels or goofy interfaces with phone and entertainment. Or heat problems, or alignment, or......(fill in the blank)

I agree with you.I have owned several bikes over the years and 3 were Goldwings.I can't believe a company like BRP would release a bike with panels being held by nylon ties because of fit issues.Had 2 RT,s 2015 and 2018 water pump starting leaking on my first one Then paddle shifter on the second one.They have a great design but quality is subpar
Bill

 

[south GA Farm Boy]

I think I would buy any brand that would get me away from the poor Spyder dealers and from the slow response from BRP! Spyder reliability (#10 on a scale of 10) and the poor service that most Spyder dealers give along with their high price per hour to work on our Spyders, just sometime make me want to quit riding a Spyder! I love them until they have problems like with the control modules left and right on the 2018 year models up! If you have a quality problem with a supplier, change suppliers! O'well enough on the soapbox!

 

[ARtraveler]

Didn’t know Hannigan made such a machine.

For $11k ?!?!

Do you have to supply the Honda engine and drivetrain ?!?!

http://www.hannigantrikes.com/products/hannigan-honda-roadster/

Still, I’d want Honda to build one from the ground up.

By the time you get the Hannigan kit you will have invested over $45K. Also, triking will void the Honda warranty, AND, many of the Honda dealers will not touch it for servicing.

 

[ARtraveler]

Very interesting topic. It has been mentioned before...ask me how I know? :roflblack:

Around 10 years ago, I mentioned the very same. It is a shame that the big 4 Japanese brands did not jump on the concept. I am thinking they developed a wait and see attitude and the wait has been going on to long.

I do not like the "feeble" attempts at the concept. EG: The Yamaha three wheel concept. To much like a Piaggio, which never really caught on.

Honda, Kawi, Yamaha, or Suzuki would all be worth a try, IF, they resembled the Spyder or F3 (concept wise) as we know them. Cost would be a big factor too. A couple $K more would be okay, a $10K premium (because they can), would blow the deal for me.

10 years ago I would have jumped right away. NOW, I am retired, the money flow is gone, and I am enjoying Spyder #6. For me, sadly, I am afraid the time has passed me by.

Happily, there are many of you out there that may be interested also. It sure sounds like it so far. :bbq:

 

[nslowmotion]

I will have to say, from all the bikes I have owned, the Japanese bike are ALWAYS great quality and are very reliable.

 

[ARtraveler]

I will have to say, from all the bikes I have owned, the Japanese bike are ALWAYS great quality and are very reliable.

:agree:x 2 . Over the years, have had at least five of each of the four flavors offered. NEVER had a major mechanical problem with any of them. Oil changes, filters, tires were the main expenses.

Never owned HD, BMW or any of the Brit or Italian flavors.

 

[Rob Rodriguez]

If they built something I was interested in I'd buy it. It would have to be a "sporty", performance minded bike. Something the Goldwing or Spyder RT isn't.

One of the BRP dealers in my area is also a Honda Dealer. Not sure how they handle their Honda customers but they suck with BRP customers so........in that case I'm not sure owning a Honda would be any better than owning a Spyder.

 

[Wahrsuul]

I think you'll run into dealer issues no matter what "bike" you have. The Honda dealer here seems to rotate personnel like they rotate stock. Seems I can't gon in there three times in a row and see the same people. They also won't touch a 10+ year old bike, even if the model hasn't changed in 15 years.

The wife wanted a GW trike. One of the issues I ran into what that the local dealer doe4sn't like working on them. Then there was cost; the trikes that were around what I paid for the RTS were past the 10 year mark so I wouldn't get support for the thing anyway. The main issue is that I couldn't see myself riding that thing by myself. The wife is disabled and can only ride on rare occasions so I ride mostly to work and occasionally with my brother. I just couldn't see me riding that thing for fun.

I do most of my own work anyway, as I don't trust the dealership here. I go to them for parts and not much else. A 'Wing Trike would be nice, but not at the price they want.

 

[Fatcycledaddy]

This poll question is asked in a way to provoke a certain answer. "If Honda built a BETTER trike would you buy it?"
If it was better, of course most people would.
"No I'm too much of a BRP fan boi".
At this time nothing else out there is even close to it, so yes I am a BRP fan. BRP and dealer have been nothing but good to me.

Now if you ask if Honda made a trike that had a few years under its belt showing it was a better trike, yes I would consider it. But just because the name Honda is on it does not mean it won't have problems or be trouble free. I have tried to wait a year or two to let the bugs be worked out of a new product before purchasing, because there will be some.

I purchased a PT Cruiser Turbo the first year they came out, the drive line and suspension were not strong enough for the power it put out, it cost me several hundred dollars every time it went back to the shop, and that was alot.

Therefore I waited until the 1330 was out for a year before I purchased the 2015 RTL.
I truthfully find it VERY well thought out, the quality is there, I have had a couple of issues the dealer took care of in a very timely manner, and we have put on almost 45,000 miles, the majority of that towing a camper.

So if there is a market out there for trikes, and we know there is, all motorcycle sales are slumping, per all reports, if a trike would help with over all sales numbers, why aren't more bike manufactures jumping on board? Some are making the conventional trike, and a couple have experimented with a "leaning" reverse trike, but none have taken it head on and developed anything like the Can Am Spyder. Is it because it is too involved, too difficult, the potential of problems are there. or perchance they know perfecting it and getting it to production will take too much money, and too much time, for the amount of sales out there?

If the CAN AM Spyder had been around as long as the Honda motorcycles have been, or sold as many as Honda had, I am sure the research and development dollars would be more, this would lead to better production, and better quality. It is a viscous circle however, sales must be there to have those dollar, yet if the quality and dealers aren't there sales suffer.

JMHO

 

[fulltimer]

Speaking for myself. Full disclosure here. I rode Gold Wings for 33 years. With that said.
If Honda built a, 2 wheels in the front, I would consider it. I cannot say I am a big BRP fan. I have a '13 ST that we have put 51,000 miles on that we just love. A good part of that has been due to the Baja Ron sway bar and Elka suspension. "We" because most of our riding is 2 up. The quality of the bike is very poor in my opinion. I admit I was spoiled by the Wings. But the handling of the 2 in front is the convincer for me. I have had several instances where were it not for the handling ability of the motor cycle, I would have had some serious accidents.

 

[ARtraveler]

All great comments above. :bowdown:

RE: Dealerships. When I lived in AK, I made at least two attempts to buy Hondas. This was before BRP came out with the Spyder in 08. PS, I got the first Spyder sold to a customer in AK (2008 SM5).

Back to Honda...they had their set price and it was take it or leave it. They would not work on triked versions and they said the warranty would be voided.

In those days, I really wanted a Gold Wing. They had a one year old, (new), and were willing to take off $50 from the MSRP. No trade involved either. I ran from them that time. Ran into the same issues on a cruiser.

Ended up dealing with the Kawi dealer (who later also sold Spyder). I bought five Kawi's from them as well as five Spyders. The sixth spyder was purchased when I moved to AR last summer.

Both the Suzuki and the Yamaha dealers were also take the price or leave it. It worked all right for me though, I have had a total of 8 kawi's over the years...all great experiences.

 

[IdahoMtnSpyder]

Lehman Trikes out of Westlock, Alberta used to build one. They were not just limited to the Goldwing....they also did Harley’s as well as Kawasaki’s. They outsold any other markets in the U.S. and Canada combined. Then they sold to a company in the U.S., I believe in New York state (but I could be totally mistaken on that) and in just a few short years they shut down. They made the best looking conversions of anyone.

I believe HD contracted with and then bought out Lehman and brought the trike production in-house.

 

[Greven]

Simple question, way to simple to give an answer
For me it would depend on how it looks, handles, power/performance and price point.
If Honda (or any other brand) made something that would compete with the Ryker, but with a more powerfull and prefereably turbo charged engine, then I probably would be very interested.

 

[jbim]

I would consider it. I love my Spyder and I haven't had any issue with it. My main concern is the dealer network. Too small. Find it difficult to have maintenance done. Like right now, I'm having difficulty finding someone to service my brake fluid. I need to change it as it has been two years. Honda has a significantly larger network and reach further in less populated regions. My first bike was a Honda.

 

[billythekidd]

I have already jumped ship... so to speak. I still have my 18 RTL but it just doesn't get ridden as much as it once did...

 

[NoahMercy]

Hello out to the Spyder riders out there. My dad and I are both avid Spyder enthusiasts, although, we are keeping an active eye out for the new Neo Wing already showing in Japan. Here’s the link to some incredible High definition pictures... note the hybrid 4 cylinder wing motor...

https://www.hondaprokevin.com/new-2020-honda-neowing-motorcycle-trike-patents.

Enjoy

The NEOWING looks an awful lot like the Tilting Motor Works kit already on the market, and available for the Goldwing as well as some HD models. Not sure what is so different about it that would allow them to patent it.

 

[cjohnson44546]

If Honda actually released the Neowing (which has been talked about for like 5 years... but they never will) I’d throw my money at them right away. I doubt I’d dump my Spyder though.

 

[ozarkryder]

I believe HD contracted with and then bought out Lehman and brought the trike production in-house.

More than you probably want to know about Lehman Trikes: Lehman began in a Canadian garage in 1985, and was one of, if not the first to be building trike conversion kits. Most trikes were automobile based, most using a VW bug engine, into the 1990's. HD had the Servicar based on a 45ci Flathead which was built from the '30s until 1973, but it wasn't really sold for the general public.
Harley did contract with Lehman to build the Tri-Glide for the first few years of production. Lehman started in Canada, and in 2004 after they started to build HD trides trikes they moved to Spearfish SD. HD decided to build trikes on their own and dropped Lehman. (In my opinion HD sort of screwed Lehman over - Lehman was invested in building trikes for Harley) More trike conversion companies were innovating and the market for trike kits for Harleys pretty much dried up, leaving just Gold Wing by far the most triked motorcycle on the market. There are kits for other brands like BMW, Yamaha, etc, but they are relatively rare. John Lehman died in January of 2012, and later that year Champion trikes bought the brand.

Before we got the RTL we have had 2 Trike Shop VW trikes and 2 Gold Wing trikes since 1992. The 2 Trike Shop (Now called Road Smith) were quality units, both automatic transmissions, and Gloria had a foot accelerator pedal on the first one that she road for 10 years. They were hot rods, and we got the 'Wings for touring - we'd put 600 miles a day on the GW, not doable on the VW trikes. She never got used to using both arms and both legs to operate a trike after the Trike Shop trikes, so she was always a rider on the Wings. She rode a RT in 2018 at the Davis Rally in Iowa, found she could pilot it and we got one on our own later that year. We did consider the new automatic Goldwing with a conversion, but they were new (we never buy any first-year vehicle so the bugs can be worked out of them) and the cost of the bike, then the conversion was prohibitive.