FJR Trike

[PopCycl]

I installed a voyager kit on a Suzy 1500 Intruder (big fat pig) for my wife a few years back. She never could get the hang of it. I rode it around a few times but it took some jewels to handle it. It seemd to me that you either needed to go reeeaaallll easy or real hard, no middle ground. It is my opinion, backed by actual riding experience, that you stay away from the Voyager kit.

Steve

p.s. She wants a Spyder so bad she can taste it. I think they are pretty cool also but the price tag doesn't fit the budget at this time.

 

[madmike2]

I looooove a happy ending! :clapping:

Anndd...one of the "free services" of the FJR Forum: Helping others spend their money. :yahoo:

Farkles, bikes, Spyders, whatever.....

 

[dannymax]

I looooove a happy ending! :clapping:

Anndd...one of the "free services" of the FJR Forum: Helping others spend their money. :yahoo:

Farkles, bikes, Spyders, whatever.....

Haha....I can do that well enough all by myself but sure appreciated the additional help!! :lol:

Now, of course, I'm broke! But I can always jump on my 'new to me' Spyder and take a 'get away from it all' cruise! Oh, wait a minute, I can't do that either....we got 1 1/2' of snow Sat. night, the whole area is a mess! Power came back on about 3:00 this morning so I got to look at the Spyder when I went to the barn to shut down the generator. Guess that's about as good as it'll get for awhile!

 

[mferriter]

I just wish you could make the thing lean "into" the turn like the Piaggio MP3

 

[odot]

Get you some chains for the wheels and you'll be awright. Three wheels with chains is like having two birds in one hand.

 

[dannymax]

Get you some chains for the wheels and you'll be awright. Three wheels with chains is like having two birds in one hand.

But only being one-handed....right? :lol:

I would do that, I really would....but, once the snow comes they ladle on the salt to create a nice slushy, corrosive glop that instantly starts to deteriorate any surface it comes in contact with!!

I have been in a life-long battle with that, which I stand no chance of winning!! :angry:

 

[Jon_PDX]

Congrats on the new ride

I looked at one of those at the dealers and they look like a lot of fun.

After reading this thread I checked out their web site and came across a bunch of videos. The even have a safety video you can watch if you did not get it with with the Spyder.

https://en-us.spyder.brp.com/home.aspx

The link to the videos is in the gray section at the bottom of the page.

I had no idea they have reverse, a parking brake, and a bunch of other nice features. I had been thinking of going to a trike or side car when that day comes for me. But after looking over the Spyder I like it even better.

Enjoy your new ride,

Jon...

 

[dannymax]

Thanks Jon, and thanks for the neat video link too.

I think the roadster will be a ton of fun and can't wait to get it across the Hudson River, up into the Catskill Mtns. :yahoo:

 

[Jon_PDX]

You're welcome

Jon...

 

[Phugedaboudet]

looks like I'm too late. But there was a good attempt at a V Max solution, that should be eventually adaptable to the FJR as well. When it comes to be my time to make the decision, and the FJR wasn't a casualty of the event, I hope to be able to use something like this.

https://thekneeslider.com/archives/2007/11/20/tilting-v-max-trike-by-tilting-motor-works/

https://www.tiltingmotorworks.com/

 

[dannymax]

looks like I'm too late. But there was a good attempt at a V Max solution, that should be eventually adaptable to the FJR as well. When it comes to be my time to make the decision, and the FJR wasn't a casualty of the event, I hope to be able to use something like this.

https://thekneeslider.com/archives/2007/11/20/tilting-v-max-trike-by-tilting-motor-works/

https://www.tiltingmotorworks.com/

Not too late at all Phuged, there's always time to chat about bikes 'n trikes 'n things.

I looked at the Tilt-cycle but just couldn't bring myself to do that to my V Max! They're on the money about the stability of the wheels being up front tho, the Spyder has tons of stability and once the 'go-cart quick' steering is mastered they're huge fun. Altho the 45° lean angle of the Tilt-cycle would be really nice.

The Spyder riding position is worse on my knees than either the Max or FJR but has a very comfortable seat/bars arraingement and won't fall over on me at the red lights. :huh: I'm working on either buying or building some highway peg brackets and with my Symtec heated grips (added yesterday) and throttle lock that will hopefully be coming for Christmas she should be pretty rideable.

Never dreaming the V Max would sell this time of year, I listed it on C/L anyway....wouldn't you know it, some guy is coming up from the DC area a week from Sat. to drive it back. She's a great bike and I'll miss it!

The Brownie Run is a V Max run we host here every year, my wife makes several dozen brownies (sans green specs :lol: ) and we sit around laughing & lying for a couple days. :yahoo:

Hmmm....think I hyjacked my own thread....sorry!

 

[deanw]

Has anyone successfully installed a trike conversion, such as the Voyager or similar, on their FJR?

https://www.mtcvoyager.com/voyager-standard.html

Reasons not to:

1) The engineering is suspect. See "failures" mentioned elsewhere.

2) Trikes, as a class, are unstable. Overcook a corner and you're cooked. This is worse. I can't imagine a good outcome of doing something that made it want to pick up a wheel.

3) Sidecars, at least, can fly the chair. If you'd do this, look at a hack.

4) Steering geometry on a bike is designed to work in a lean. It's HARD to make a converted trike or sidecar steer unless the front end has also been converted to leading link. There are triple-tree kits that alter steering head angle to relieve this. You'd have to design, engineer, etc. your own.

5) These things- specifically- are not legal in some states. At all, and explicitly. In those states, a trike is OK, these are not. It changes the legal definition of the vehicle from "motorcycle" to "automobile", which opens a big ugly can of worms (Helmets? Seatbelts? Bumpers?), so they just made the outrigger setup illegal.

My thoughts:

Keep the FJR- side car. I don't know if it's been done, but I have a lot of interest in an articulated sidecar where the car stays on the road but the bike still leans into corners. Keeps the bike from flopping on it's side, and you can stand it back up w/o as much leg strength. Good hacks aren't cheap, though.

Sell the FJR- Can Am Spyder. You're already looking at that.

Sell the FJR, still get your lean on- Piaggio MP3 500cc. Two front wheels, but leans. What the Can Am Spyder should have been. Lighter than an FJR. Can be laid on it's side, but you have to work at it. Has a locking mechanism to keep it upright at stops, on newer ones it engages automagically.

Hm. Keep the FJR, still get your lean on- there's a guy in Seattle-ish that makes similar front-end kits as the MP3, for full-size motorcycles. Dunno how much that helps you though.

 

[deanw]

looks like I'm too late. But there was a good attempt at a V Max solution, that should be eventually adaptable to the FJR as well. When it comes to be my time to make the decision, and the FJR wasn't a casualty of the event, I hope to be able to use something like this.

https://thekneeslider.com/archives/2007/11/20/tilting-v-max-trike-by-tilting-motor-works/

https://www.tiltingmotorworks.com/

Yeah, that guy. He's done a lot of work on a V-Max because that's what he had...

 

[TestPilot]

I have just skimmed this thread, but here is something for info on an Aussie FJR 3-wheeler: https://forum.fjr13.org/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=3291

 

[Bustanut joker]

Late to the game..

The wifes "motorcycle dumb" boss bought a Voyager trike a few years back. The short lil fuker needed three wheels. I tried to talk him out of it but he didn't listen. That was the biggest POS I've ever had the misfortune of piloting.

He brought it by the day he got hosed and told me to ride it as something was wrong. Yep he was right the whole concept of training wheels on this and any bike is clearly flawed. The bouncing of the outriggers was unsettling at the least. I told him 'sorry dude that's just the way this POS is going to handle'. He gave it a week and put it up for sale.

Poor fuker took a 2 grand bath on it. Seems everyone in these parts was well aware of these things.

Good on ya an yer Spyder.

 

[dannymax]

I have just skimmed this thread, but here is something for info on an Aussie FJR 3-wheeler: https://forum.fjr13.org/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=3291

Wow, that's quite a machine.....longer'n a weekend end jail, and that's fer sure!! :lol:

Late to the game..

The wifes "motorcycle dumb" boss bought a Voyager trike a few years back. The short lil fuker needed three wheels. I tried to talk him out of it but he didn't listen. That was the biggest POS I've ever had the misfortune of piloting.

He brought it by the day he got hosed and told me to ride it as something was wrong. Yep he was right the whole concept of training wheels on this and any bike is clearly flawed. The bouncing of the outriggers was unsettling at the least. I told him 'sorry dude that's just the way this POS is going to handle'. He gave it a week and put it up for sale.

Poor fuker took a 2 grand bath on it. Seems everyone in these parts was well aware of these things.

Good on ya an yer Spyder.

That Voyager thing really never made any sense to me, just too damn stupid looking....and as one poster said, it isn't a good idea to try and retro-fit some goofy thing to a high performance motorcycle that wasn't designed to be there in the first place.

If you gotta go the 'tripod' route get a machine that is purpose-built....choices were, the Spyder, pretty sporty and sounds good with the Hindle....Goldwing, a nice one that I may consider someday when I get 'really old'.....and the Harley, probly not in this lifetime!!

So the Spyder got the nod....just a couple peices of 1 1/4" pipe to extend the sides out so it'll fit the lift table and we're GTG! :yahoo:

 

[allrider]

I looooove a happy ending! :clapping:

Anndd...one of the "free services" of the FJR Forum: Helping others spend their money. :yahoo:

Farkles, bikes, Spyders, whatever.....

Haha....I can do that well enough all by myself but sure appreciated the additional help!! :lol:

Now, of course, I'm broke! But I can always jump on my 'new to me' Spyder and take a 'get away from it all' cruise! Oh, wait a minute, I can't do that either....we got 1 1/2' of snow Sat. night, the whole area is a mess! Power came back on about 3:00 this morning so I got to look at the Spyder when I went to the barn to shut down the generator. Guess that's about as good as it'll get for awhile!

Put some snow tires on it and let us know how she handles!!!

 

[dannymax]

I looooove a happy ending! :clapping:

Anndd...one of the "free services" of the FJR Forum: Helping others spend their money. :yahoo:

Farkles, bikes, Spyders, whatever.....

Haha....I can do that well enough all by myself but sure appreciated the additional help!! :lol:

Now, of course, I'm broke! But I can always jump on my 'new to me' Spyder and take a 'get away from it all' cruise! Oh, wait a minute, I can't do that either....we got 1 1/2' of snow Sat. night, the whole area is a mess! Power came back on about 3:00 this morning so I got to look at the Spyder when I went to the barn to shut down the generator. Guess that's about as good as it'll get for awhile!

Put some snow tires on it and let us know how she handles!!!

Well.....if you think it'll work!!

 

[Phugedaboudet]

there's some local ditz who, a few years back, went out of her way to buy a MP3, then put a Voyager type conversion on the back. So now the scooter has FIVE wheels. Because she had a dog carrier on the back and apparently the leaning would "disturb" the thing.

Completely obliterated the point of paying a premium for the MP3 in the first place, when they had just been released.

https://smrfcop.com/Smrfmobile.html#current

Drugs are bad, mm'kay? they do cause issues later in life, apparently

I have just skimmed this thread, but here is something for info on an Aussie FJR 3-wheeler: https://forum.fjr13.org/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=3291

Wow, that's quite a machine.....longer'n a weekend end jail, and that's fer sure!! :lol:

Late to the game..

The wifes "motorcycle dumb" boss bought a Voyager trike a few years back. The short lil fuker needed three wheels. I tried to talk him out of it but he didn't listen. That was the biggest POS I've ever had the misfortune of piloting.

He brought it by the day he got hosed and told me to ride it as something was wrong. Yep he was right the whole concept of training wheels on this and any bike is clearly flawed. The bouncing of the outriggers was unsettling at the least. I told him 'sorry dude that's just the way this POS is going to handle'. He gave it a week and put it up for sale.

Poor fuker took a 2 grand bath on it. Seems everyone in these parts was well aware of these things.

Good on ya an yer Spyder.

That Voyager thing really never made any sense to me, just too damn stupid looking....and as one poster said, it isn't a good idea to try and retro-fit some goofy thing to a high performance motorcycle that wasn't designed to be there in the first place.

If you gotta go the 'tripod' route get a machine that is purpose-built....choices were, the Spyder, pretty sporty and sounds good with the Hindle....Goldwing, a nice one that I may consider someday when I get 'really old'.....and the Harley, probly not in this lifetime!!

So the Spyder got the nod....just a couple peices of 1 1/4" pipe to extend the sides out so it'll fit the lift table and we're GTG! :yahoo:

 

[dannymax]

I showed my wife a photo of the MP-3 to see what she thought of it.

She said "You have bad knees, not bad taste!" :lol: