So who's new with an RT?  By  new2scootn (Read 1,135 times)

Hey Dave, this is a post I put on another forum a while back that tells the story of this trike pretty good. I have not had any wheel alignment issues(yet?) and she handles pretty well after you get to know her. I have had many, many other issues but I'm pretty handy and have been able to fix her up and keep her on the road. Do NOT think this would be a good choice for your girlfriend(depending on how much you like her . Well here's my 2 cents of a review:
I've been ridin' motorcycles for over 25 years and yes this trike does countersteer like a motorcycle... but it does NOT handle the same. I mean if you just jumped on the thing with no previous experience(riding a tilting RT) other than ridin' motorcycles you could ride it but here's the note of caution: on a motorcycle the only thing limiting your lean in a turn is your nerve, your footpegs, or your knee. This thing has a limit of 40 degrees or something like that and when it arrives at this mechanical limit, if you're in the middle of a high speed tight turn... well let's just say there could be trouble. The first time you experience this limit in a turn it's very unnerving... especially if where you're turning has opposing traffic. Picture this('cause I lived it!)... you're cruising along a let's say 45 mph and you begin to negotiate a fairly sharp right turn. So you instinctively begin the turn by countersteering to the left and the trike starts leanin' over. Hey, this turn IS kinda tight so you instinctively countersteer more aggressively to tighten up your turn and... ?... you hit that lean limit but you need more lean to make this turn. So guess what you now instinctively do? Turn harder to the RIGHT 'cause your brain says we're turnin' right and we need more turn action. This of course is the WORST(and scariest) thing you can do midway in a turn because the effect is to pick the trike up out of the lean, INCREASE your turning radius(remember the oncoming traffic?), and if you're not carefull throw your lean(and you) in the opposite direction. NOT fun. But just like my cruiser bike has it's limits leaning,(the scrapes on the chrome footpegs will attest to that!) once you learn these limits from practice you quickly realize what your maximum safe speed will be in any particular turn. So yes, it does handle a lot like a motorcycle(which is why it appeals to me more than something like a Can-Am that doesn't tilt) but it's unique enough that you really need to practice a bit on back roads or a parking lot to get comfortable and safe before joining the cagers. Oh yeah, low speed hard turns are kinda different too. You need to lean your body into the turn a bit more to get the trike to start to lean over('cause countersteering at real slow speeds just makes you turn the other way) then you're good to go. At high speeds this thing just gets more stable and I've tried steering back and forth right and left while doing 65+ mph just to check her out and she felt real good. I've had mine up to 82 mph(slight downgrade and no wind) and she'll do 60+ all day on level. As for build quality... fair at best. And I would recommend that you do your own PDI to avoid a lot of potential problems and familiarize yourself with where things are and how they work. Bottom line--if you're looking for a trouble free ride this probably ain't it. But if you're mechanically inclined and like tinkerin' there's no other tilting RT close to this price range.