That's it. A friend of mine and I were riding in my car talking about his bike and I asked him what he thought about trikes. He pointed to the bike in the lane over from us that just happened to have those retractable wheels on it and said, "You mean like that?" Caught me totally by surprise because I had never seen them before.
'just curious, but would you use them just for training and take them off when you feel confident? Or for just short time periods? Should my father run beside me and hold my hand when I'm ready to take them off? Okay, scratch that last sentence, but you get the idea...
I feel the cynic in me rising up... and that is highly unusual. :?
If you have a handicap, or some problem that makes it difficult to handle the 'Wing at very slow speeds or just when stopped the retractable wheels are an alternative to triking the bike. With the retractables you still have a motorcycle when moving rather than the car-like operation of a trike.
There were two different makers of retractable wheels for big bikes. The neatest one with the most discreet wheels was Landing Gear. Unfortunately the guy who made them went out of business after Katrina.
There are also some easily removed auxilary wheels that convert the bike to a more trike like unit. Insta-Trike like Night Flyer has (he has a thread with pictures in the archives) and the Voyager kit.
There are quite a few people out there that don't want to give up their bikes due to physical problems and I salute those who make the equipment to keep our riding bretheren on the road.
Good answer. Very good answer, I hadn't considered that. My apologies.
When I was first practicing slow speed maneuvers I wondered how in the HECK do you get the front wheel turned at such a severe angle to allow me to do a U-turn? Now I can do one easily but the initial few days just scared me half to death.
I can see how a disability could reduce the range of motion and this could allow someone to do something they love. I am humbled.
That is exactly why my Father has his. At 74 he has good days and some days not so good. But he and Mom still love to ride and they do most every day. He has the Insta Trike kit and puts it on and off as he see's fit.
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Steve Saunders Goldwing Forums
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