Trike Conversion or CanAm Spyder

[Vivo]

A friend shot himself in the head, bullet penetrated the skin, did not enter the skull, detoured, exited at the other side...he's still alive...  my point? If it's your time to go, it's your time... If it's not, no matter what you do to end your life, you will not succeed.... You can trade your scoot for a three or four or even a sixteen wheeler, it doesnt matter, If it's your time to go it's your time....  Mike, the deer was there, and your angels were there, those things happened for a reason...a reason only you can comprehend....

[Mike Green]

Thanks for everyone's comments. 08, you really struck a chord with me. "Partnership" is a central component in a good marriage IMO. My wife and I also consider ourselves to be best friends. We have been for over thirty years. My wife is an athlete. She plays on the community women's tennis team and is going to Gulf Shores to the finals. She usually wins. A few years ago she ran a marathon in Bermuda for Leukemia benefit and finished with the middle group. She runs a 5k or 7k every weekend and wins in her age group. My point is my wife is no sissy. She was really traumatized by this wreck. The day after, she broke down with severe shingles; a direct stress response. Now we both know that an extra wheel is not going to stop collisions with critters. The deer ran out in front of me and was frozen by my lights. I locked up my brakes and then you know the rest. IMO I believe the money would be better spent on a scoot with ABS. So if a three wheeled vehicle will allow me to continue to do what I love to do and lessen my wife's anxiety, I'll do it. ATGATT is my mantra and if i had not been wearing good quality PPE I would not have survived. The only thing I can think of adding to my ensemble would be chest armour. Broken ribs hurt. Once again thanks 08 for your words. You are obviously a good husband and father. I want to truly apologize to you if I offended you the other day. Sometimes you have this exagerated naive cuirosity that's fun to mess with but no harm intended. Thanks, your Kymco brother Mike.
P.S. Axy, try "date night", we do dinner, movie, play, every Friday night schedules permitted. If this does not work I'm sure you know a good divorce lawyer.

[08087]

Mike thank you for your kind words, I was going to PM you half way thorugh reading your above post, then I got to your heart felt apology. You are absolutly correct about my naive way and the dumb questions I can ask, now that I know you never intended to be hurtful Ifeel that much better about moving forward.

I never let one thread carry over into other threads hence my reply about "partnership". I'll go back now and remove my dumbassed comments towards you, sorry I over reacted.

Also glad your OK, take care of the Mrs. My Mom has shingles and they are painfull to say the least, get treatment ASAP and you'll have far better results.

[Vivo]

My reactions and/or over reactions primarily depend on whether or not i've taken my hypertension meds...     Things that were not present during my younger days....

[axy]

Thanks for everyone's comments. 08, you really struck a chord with me. "Partnership" is a central component in a good marriage IMO. My wife and I also consider ourselves to be best friends. We have been for over thirty years. My wife is an athlete. She plays on the community women's tennis team and is going to Gulf Shores to the finals. She usually wins. A few years ago she ran a marathon in Bermuda for Leukemia benefit and finished with the middle group. She runs a 5k or 7k every weekend and wins in her age group. My point is my wife is no sissy. She was really traumatized by this wreck. The day after, she broke down with severe shingles; a direct stress response.

I am not joking, all you said clearly shows her underlying inability to cope with even slightest hint of stress. She would be better off with a few shrink sessions and it would certainly spare you from wasting your money and buying even more unsafe vehicle. Once again, I would be very worried if I was told what to do in form of ultimatum by someone I live with. Marathon runner/tennis player or not, I would show the good lady where the exit door is. Less pain in the long run.

However, YMMV.

[08087]

I am not joking, all you said clearly shows her underlying inability to cope with even slightest hint of stress. She would be better off with a few shrink sessions and it would certainly spare you from wasting your money and buying even more unsafe vehicle. Once again, I would be very worried if I was told what to do in form of ultimatum by someone I live with. Marathon runner/tennis player or not, I would show the good lady where the exit door is. Less pain in the long run.

However, YMMV.

I won't attempt to answer for Mike and I don't know what YMMV means but my guess is that you are not old enough or are single. I don't think Mike's wife would have left him in an attempt to win her way just that she was showing Mike how important he is to her. The fact that Mike's wife cannot take stress is no reason to add more stress to her life. Mike's wife in this case my not be thinking completely logicly but that is how she is wired and that is part of what Mike loves about her.

Mike is not a kid and I suspect neither is his wife, who wants to see a person you've spent most of your life with laying in a hospital bed or even worse, dead over somethung she preceives as preventable.

My wife has expressed to me her concerns about my riding, not as drasticly as in Mike's case but I'm sue that would all change if I had to lay down my bike for any reason. I'd be hard pressed to go against her reasoning too, life is too short to be sending it in a hospital bed. I currently have little protective gear, a full face helmet and good gloves along with reflective vest. I should wear some other things to protect me in case of a fall. If all I drove was 25 mph or so I wouldn't have many worries but much of the time I'm at 45 mph and even higher, a fall could spell the end.

In short our actions have far reaching effects. If I were killed there goes my daughters college funding, our summer home, the boat, maybe even one of our investment properties or in other words part of our retierment income. My wife would make it through but things would change, and my daughter would suffer greatly having to be raised in a single parent family, partners have a say.Sorry for being so long winded.

[axy]

I won't attempt to answer for Mike and I don't know what YMMV means but my guess is that you are not old enough or are single.

"Your Mileage May Vary".

I am 38 and not single. The person I live with also drives Kymco, as I have stated many times on this forum I do not know when is one "old enough".

As for riding a motorcycle or scooter, "Per vehicle mile traveled, motorcyclists' risk of a fatal crash is 35 times greater than a passenger car."
Undertaking risk is a matter of personal choice, of course.

Btw. we all die, sooner or later, so it is better for our significant others, families, friends etc. to get a grasp on that unpleasant concept. Nobody has ever survived life.

If someone is bothered by all this, forget the wifey - p. whipped story and just concentrate on the fact that moving to trike from scooter in order to increase survival rate on the road would be similar to receiving 7.62 bullet in your head instead of high velocity 5.56 hoping for less damage.

[ce]

Well, the mileage on Green's Kymco is less than 200, and he's already dropped it on either side, and then dumped it with an improper reaction to a traffic hazard, resulting in serious injury.

Since he lives in a forest full of deer and rabbits and foxes, he should get a 4 wheeled all terrain vehicle and stay off paved roads and below speeds of 25 miles per hour.

Kymco makes nice ATVs.

[streido]

Just keep the scoot, double up the life insurance policy value on yourself and keep on riding.

[08087]

"Your Mileage May Vary".

I am 38 and not single. The person I live with also drives Kymco, as I have stated many times on this forum I do not know when is one "old enough".

As for riding a motorcycle or scooter, "Per vehicle mile traveled, motorcyclists' risk of a fatal crash is 35 times greater than a passenger car."
Undertaking risk is a matter of personal choice, of course.

Btw. we all die, sooner or later, so it is better for our significant others, families, friends etc. to get a grasp on that unpleasant concept. Nobody has ever survived life.

If someone is bothered by all this, forget the wifey - p. whipped story and just concentrate on the fact that moving to trike from scooter in order to increase survival rate on the road would be similar to receiving 7.62 bullet in your head instead of high velocity 5.56 hoping for less damage.

Your disposition to life is not one that is shared by all, maybe half but certainly not all. I'd like to know what the numbers are for 3 wheeled veh. vs 2 and then 2 fronts vs 2 rear. (thanks for posting the numbers you have)

While it's true we don't survive life we can prepare ourselves to survive it longer or in better tact with a few modifications, if you can buy a better car for added protection in an accident (more air bags, antilock brakes etc) why not get a bike that offers greater stability?

If Mike in fact has 200 iles on his scoot and has put it down twice or more maybe a scoot is not for him, Mike can you confirm this?

[LoveMyKymco]

You gotta learn sometime, first scooter I had was a battle scooter that probably spent more time on the ground or falling over than upright. Ghost riding that bitch wasnt a negative thing it was a fun past time.
Either way its not being P whipped to listen to the advice of your spouse. I think marriage is different from dating in about.. oh say a billion ways. I can never understand why someone would want to do it but hey to each their own.
But honestly in the end 2 or 3 wheels seriously wont help you if you dont maneuver correctly. What is the extra security in someones mind if it still results the same way.

[streido]

You gotta learn sometime, first scooter I had was a battle scooter that probably spent more time on the ground or falling over than upright. Ghost riding that bitch wasnt a negative thing it was a fun past time.
Either way its not being P whipped to listen to the advice of your spouse. I think marriage is different from dating in about.. oh say a billion ways. I can never understand why someone would want to do it but hey to each their own.
But honestly in the end 2 or 3 wheels seriously wont help you if you dont maneuver correctly. What is the extra security in someones mind if it still results the same way.

+1 from me. I came off 4x in my 1st year of riding scoots, learned something every time from it.

On the stability 08, 3 wheelers tend to have a less stability due to most having a higher centre of gravity. I know a guy locally (i say hello to him) who bought one of the Piaggio 3 wheelers after a dealer advised him that would be great for his needs as he is a little older. After 3-4 months of riding it he had enough and sold it for a huge loss but was happy to see tne back of it he said. "Performance"(or lack of it) was the major issue for him, he said it seriously lacked power.

Personally i like the VW trikes but have also seen 2 of these "flip" over from a standing start by the front coming right off the ground and over the top 

If you def had to give up 2 wheels for some reason i would consider an ATV/Quad but i think i would prob end up buying an open top small sports car instead tbh 

As for wives/death............ Like Axy says we all die at some point, its not something that ever really crosses my mind tho. If i considered the risk involved in my everyday activities i would end up staying in bed all day. Am accident is just an unexpected occurance, unexpected being the key word, and since you cant really prepare for the unexpected you just have to deal with it at the time. sh** happens no matter how safe or protected you are or feel. The stress and worry will likely kill you sooner than the actual incident if you spend time worrying about it all every day, so i dont.

And the wife gave up giving me advice years ago, now she just lets me do as i want and shakes her head or laughs at me if it all goes wrong, fair trade off in my book and hers 

[ts1]

In Germany, riders of motorbikes experience 0.055 - 0.075 letal accidents per million kilometres travelled or 0.017 - 0.023 per 100 bikes owned (years >=2005, statistical bureau).
Even if you are an excessive rider or collector, you will probably die another death.
(Numbers for 50cc are ~1/3 of motorbikes, even bicycles are not without any danger).

[axy]

Well, the mileage on Green's Kymco is less than 200, and he's already dropped it on either side, and then dumped it with an improper reaction to a traffic hazard, resulting in serious injury.

Since he lives in a forest full of deer and rabbits and foxes, he should get a 4 wheeled all terrain vehicle and stay off paved roads and below speeds of 25 miles per hour.

Kymco makes nice ATVs.

I did not know that he dropped it twice and had serious injury, all in few 00 kms.
Could be EXTREMELY bad luck, if not, maybe it would be better to skip anything else than a car.

I have two ATVs. I would NEVER recommend them as a road transport vehicle, EVER.
I think that ATVs are the most dangerous vehicles on the road. Absolultely most dangerous.
Whoever tried to drive them, knows why I am saying this. Driving ATV that has 20-40 hp on balloon offroad tires inflated at 0.8-0.9 bar is close to having an accident in virtually EVERY corner. There are infinitely more ways to go off the road in every corner than go through them.

[axy]

Your disposition to life is not one that is shared by all, maybe half but certainly not all. I'd like to know what the numbers are for 3 wheeled veh. vs 2 and then 2 fronts vs 2 rear. (thanks for posting the numbers you have)

I hope that you know at least something about transmission and traction. "Three wheels" does not mean much. For example, one wheel can be in the front and two in the back or vice versa. Three wheeled ATVs were banned in USA in 1988 and the ban is still on, guess why?

Conversion of the bike or addition of the passenger side-car can be done in a way that the traction is only on the rear wheel of the bike, or on the entire rear axle. With or without differential. If the traction is only on the bike side wheel, when you add throttle, the bike will turn into the curve on the opposite side of the steering and vice versa. It requires great skill to drive a side-car motorcycle with single wheel traction. Three wheeled vehicles have different handling depending on the rear suspension, solid axle or independent. Also, if there is no differential on the driven axle, both wheels will turn at the same speed, and the vehicle tends to turn over easily in the curve, especially on vehicles with under inflated tires. Ask me how I know.

If a guy drops the scoot twice and overreacts once in few 00 kms, I would recommend wholeheartedly a monthly bus ticket and good insurance policy, not even more dangerous vehicle.

Under all circumstances and for all purposes, give me two wheeled vehicle over 3 wheeled vehicle in any configuration, and in any hazardous situation I might encounter on the road.