trike/training wheels?

jspringator said:
The best I've seen is Dorjet Landing Gear.
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That is a pretty slick bit o' kit. If I were to get a 'Wing at this stage of my life it would probably be wise to at least consider the Dorjet system. Riding to L.A. would be no factor. Neither will happen. But I have to say I just think necessary or not the idea of retracts is just too cool. Reaching V2 and having the gear raise would be freakin' awesome. Or riding up to a stop along near another vehicle and never taking your feet of the pegs.

The Dorjet can be cheap but it looks well thought out. In some circles getting one installed might mean patching a punch in your Man Card but I wouldn't care. It's just that cool. Of course it's also great for someone needing the assist and wanting to ride so I guess there's a practical side.

AND it can put the bike on the center stand. I saw that once on a BMW. Also very cool.
 
I’m thinking about it for riding 2 up. It weighs 24 pounds so there wouldn’t be that much of a weight penalty. A lot easier to deal with than a Spyder. I haven’t called the dealer for a price.
 
ST Gui said:
AND it can put the bike on the center stand. I saw that once on a BMW. Also very cool.
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My Brother in-law had that option on one or both of his BMW K11/1200LT's. It was pretty impressive to watch it lift itself up while he was sitting on it.
 
jspringator said:
I’m thinking about it for riding 2 up. It weighs 24 pounds so there wouldn’t be that much of a weight penalty. A lot easier to deal with than a Spyder.
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I think that one of the reasons that most of us ride motorcycles is the pleasure derived from the way that a single track vehicle handles. If a person can no longer keep a single track vehicle upright, for whatever reason, I think that systems like this are a fantastic solution. It allows the person to keep riding and enjoying motorcycling without having to go to a dual track vehicle and loosing one the greatest sources of enjoyment of motorcycling. For those that look down on this option and think that it is somehow an embarrassing step backwards I say screw them and their small minds. I hope that more systems like this come on to the market so that everyone who wants to keep riding will have options that make that a better possibility.
 
Looked at the Dorjet Landing Gear, shipping to US AND Tariffs make it prohibitive at this time.
 
I met a guy ...a docent actually to be technically correct...at an air museum. I think it was at Port Townsend. He used to ride. One day he decided to hang it all up. He talked to his wife and she agreed that if he quit riding, he could buy a Miata. It sounds like a reasonable compromise. When I get to the point I'm not safe on two wheels, I'll move on. To me, some of these Band-Aids are just that. Delaying the inevitable.

I can no longer climb hundred foot cliffs like I did when I was in my late teens and early twenties. I led rope teams up Mt. Rainier and other peaks and thought nothing of it. Those times are gone, as will be my time for riding a motorcycle safely. The end of my motorcycle riding is not the end of my life.

I can see years ahead of fly fishing in rivers and streams and getting there with my Subaru Outback.

To me, there's a difference between hanging on to what has been and never will be again --- and what is now and can be enjoyed now. I'd love to spend hours on a stream with a fly rod trying to get a trout to accept my fly and bringing it in on a half pound test line. The alternative is to give up.

Ecclesiastes says there is a time for every season. A time for everything. When I try to step out of that I run into trouble. I can't do what I could do before...so I look to what I can do now.

I am fully aware that my time of riding has a shelf life. I'm doing good at 73 to realistically look at cross-country trips. But I'm also aware that this ability is limited and may stop tomorrow. So I treasure all that is given me, and look toward to the future to what can be.

I look forward to the future for what can be, and not for what I'm past.


Chris
 
A Spyder looks like a better option than a convertible, to me, if it's intended to replace a motorcycle when you generally enjoy riding a bike, but you
1-- don't want to deal with the issue (or just have the WORRY) about tipping over at low to moderate speeds...

and / or....

2--- You want a vehicle that has a reverse gear in case you park facing downhill or need to execute a three-point turn on a sloping narrow road.
 
Although a Spyder seems to be a motorcycle that is very expensive ...it looks like they're selling for 3X the price of what a comparable sport-touring bike would sell for, comparing models that are about five years old and have about 20,000 to 40,000 miles.
 
Hopefully we will all live long enough to get to the inevitability of no longer being able to ride. Delaying the inevitable is the very point behind all of these options.
We all will eventually have to make a choice regarding whether or not we continue to ride on two wheels. Each of us will make the choice that we feel is best for us. If we feel that we need mechanical assistance to continue riding, and it can be done safely, what is wrong with that? Nothing- I say go for it.

Many of us choose to ride when it is too cold to ride, when it is raining, when it is too dark to see, and we do so regularly and often. The only reason that we are able to ride under those conditions is because of the assistance of technology that artificially manipulates the environment to mitigate the effects of the cold, the rain, the darkness. None of the water-proof gear, the high-tech clothing, the electrically heated clothing, the artificial lighting, etc., that allows us to do this are natural either. They are all man-made interventions. They are tools that allow us to manipulate conditions enough to allow us to enjoy motorcycling in these conditions. Without them doing so would often be impossible. Systems like landing gear, trike conversions, three wheeled bikes, and whatever other aids that might be available, accomplish the same thing. They are a tool that allows a motorcyclist to motorcycle under conditions where they might not otherwise be able to unassisted. The only difference is that these tools manipulate the conditions of the person rather than the conditions of the environment. If it can be done safely, there is nothing wrong with that.

Many people who have deminished stability adopt the use of a cane, or a walker, or a wheelchair. There is nothing wrong with any of those choices. Disabled people use vehicles that have been modified to allow them to operate that vehicle using hand controls only. Without that intervention they would not be able to drive a vehicle. These systems accomplish the same thing for motorcylists. If that is what a person needs to be able to continue riding, what is wrong with that? Nothing I say.
 
gunsmoker said:
Although a Spyder seems to be a motorcycle that is very expensive ...it looks like they're selling for 3X the price of what a comparable sport-touring bike would sell for, comparing models that are about five years old and have about 20,000 to 40,000 miles.
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But a Goldwing trike kit is even more expensive. $20,000 plus the cost of the Goldwing. And the guys in my Goldwing group complain about how hard the steering is on curvy roads. The guys on the Spyder centered utube channels (Coach Bob 3 and others) seem to really like the Spyder. But riding the Spyder is very much a learning process. I have test ridden a couple, and at least initially, I did not like the ride. Coach Bob says that it takes several hundred miles to get the hang of it. They don't exactly enjoy Japanese reliability either. When I took my WIng into the multi line dealer for the bolt recall I discussed the Spyder with the service advisor. He advised not to go any older than 2020 with low miles. If the Dorjet installed is in the $5,000 range, it would be reasonable to give it a try.
 
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Daboo said:
When I get to the point I'm not safe on two wheels, I'll move on. To me, some of these Band-Aids are just that. Delaying the inevitable.
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Not being safe on two wheels and adding landing gear to support a bike when stopped are not the same thing. Health care is delaying the inevitable. Band-Aids help. Can't walk up stairs? Use an escalator or report to the carousel. Stop the escalator in its tracks? Report to the escalator.

Andrew Shadow said:
These systems accomplish the same thing for motorcylists. If that is what a person needs to be able to continue riding, what is wrong with that? Nothing I say.
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This. The cherry on top of an excellent post.
 
ST Gui said:
Not being safe on two wheels and adding landing gear to support a bike when stopped are not the same thing.
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I'm probably being rather short-sighted when looking at this. :o-o: There are only two reasons I can think of for needing training wheels. One, I lack the strength to hold the bike up. Or two, I lack the balance. I feel like if I don't have the strength to hold a two-wheeled vehicle upright at a stop, I should probably give it up. Likewise, if I've lost my balance to the point where I can't keep the bike upright as I'm coming to a stop, or pulling away from a stop, I'm an accident waiting to happen.

On the NT-Owners forum, there was an older gentleman that everyone loved. He decided to buy his dream motorcycle. An FJR. When he got it, everyone celebrated him getting his dream bike. About six weeks later, he wrecked it. He didn't lose control going around a corner at high speed. He wrecked it in town at probably only 25-30 mph. He ran into the back of a delivery truck. He couldn't see it.

When I was learning how to ride a bicycle, my Dad put training wheels on my bike. In that case, I didn't have the strength, balance and confidence to ride without them. as time passed, I was able to grow out of those training wheels. At the opposite end of the age spectrum, if I'm resorting to training wheels...I'm not going to be getting stronger or gaining better balance. I'm going to need and depend on them more and more.

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Chris
 
The inability to hold a motorcycle upright at rest or low speeds does not equate to a rider being unsafe on the road or unable to otherwise expertly control it. Most motorcycles that are not of the cruiser style have a seat height that makes riding them challenging, if not unachievable, to a significant percentage of the population. I know a motorcyclist who is 6'5" so seat height is not a problem. He suffered an injury to one foot that has left it in a permanently weakened state. As a result he rarely uses his motorcycle anymore. He only uses it under certain conditions. Neither of these scenarios are ones where the rider is a danger to himself or other road users once the motorcycle is moving more than a couple of miles per hour. In both scenarios there are no other limiting factors to them being good riders. Both scenarios do present significant challenges to these riders at very low speeds or when stopped. Having a landing gear system would solve the problem completely in both of these cases. I am certain that there are other scenarios where a landing gear would be beneficial to people who are not a danger on the road once the stopped/slow speed issue has been overcome.
 
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