trikesaustralia.com

Disclaimer

If you have never ridden or owned a Trike, it can all be very confusing and it could cost you a lot of money to find what's right for you. I have spoken to People who spent a lot of money and time on a project to find later that is not what they wanted and very hard to sell again.

Even though all of them have one thing in common… they all have three wheels... there are big differences from one Trike to the next. In some cases, the third wheel is the only thing they have in common. 

There are two main groups of trikes.

Converted Motorcycle Trikes

There is the converted motorcycle, which is just that.  A two wheeler that has been adjusted to have a third wheel on the back.  The engine still sits under and to the front of the rider as in a motorbike. They are easier to balance than a two wheeler and the don't fall over if you don't park them right, but converted motorcycles have a smaller wheel base at the rear and the weight distribution is very different to that of the purpose built trike with a rear engine.

You can tip a converted Motorcyle if you corner too fast or for any other reason that you get too much side force and lose the straight line. Tipping over on a Trike would be even more dangerous than losing balance on a two wheeler.  

(Check out the Live to Ride article on the geometry of a trike by clicking here)

Rear Engine Purpose Built Trikes

The purpose built Trike like the Bon Trike HS3, Rewaco HS4 or the OZ Trike, has a rear mounted engine and the wheel base of a beetle car, which makes it impossible to tip. Rear engine Trikes sit on the road like a go-kart and if anything you can make them slide sideways or do donuts, but you can't make them tip over no matter what you do.

I have proven many times that our Trikes go faster around corners than any other motor-vehicle on the road today. On a tight corner race track no motorcycle or sports car can go as quick as a rear engine Trike.

These Trikes were born nearly 20 years ago, based on the VW beetle. The Beetle has the motor where it should be in a Trike and is a very reliable air-cooled motor. Just perfect for a Trike.

The standard Beetle Motor is not a racing engine and not the most economical motor ever build, but it is simple and spare parts are cheap and easy to get.

The other advantage is that you can turn a harmless Beetle motor into a racing engine which can give even super bikes a hard time on the track. There is an old saying in the beetle racing industry, Horsepower is only limited by money, not by possibilities.

There is a lot of discussion going around that some Trikes are too light in the front and others are too heavy. My advice is, ride as many different Trikes as you can and make up your own mind.

I have ridden a Bon Trike (Rewaco) for more than 7 years now and have done over 300,000km working at the Melbourne and Sydney Motor Shows and visiting customers up in Cairns and I find my Trike is just right for me. But as I said, you have to find out for yourself and talk to lots of Trikers who have been riding for a while to find the one that suits you.

(Check out the Live to Ride article on the geometry of a trike by clicking here)