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Post by JerryScript on Mar 24, 2014 16:19:10 GMT -5
I was at Lowe's picking up a transition piece to repair the damage done by my new puppies when I saw a guy loading stuff in this:   He was about to leave, and I didn't want to bug him with the dozens of questions that instantly popped into my head, but he did say he built it himself. I told him I thought it was genius, and very nice work! |
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Post by nulldevice on Mar 24, 2014 19:05:03 GMT -5
Woot! Talk about getting some extra value from a trike kit.  |
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Post by oldchopperguy on Mar 25, 2014 2:04:43 GMT -5
Very unique!
However, I believe I see wheels on BOTH sides of the "trailer". If so, TECHNICALLY it is now an automobile. If it has 4-wheels touching the road, it's no longer a trike. To be clear of all the stupid laws concerning these, you need to have the "trailer" tires a few inches higher than the road surface. That way, when you stop and lean over, only THREE wheels touch the road. When you are driving, you run on the bike's original 2 wheels. Or, you can build the cargo-carrier as a sidecar design.
Some enclosed bikes with cabins and left and right outrigger wheels get around this 3-wheel requirement by having one or both outrigger wheels enabled to rise a couple of inches through mechanical linkage. Then, you can lower one when stopped, making it a legal 3-wheel motorcycle, or "truckster". It seems ridiculous, but you just CANNOT have FOUR wheels EVER touching the tarmac and still license it as a 3-WHEEL MOTORCYCLE.
I don't know if this is a FEDERAL rule, or only STATE. So checking with your local DOT is advised. Neat contraption, but difficult to make legal in most, if not all jurisdictions.
Some years back in Illinois, a pal and I fooled around with similar designs, to make a delivery vehicle. We got ticketed as fast as we could build... Finally, we ended up simply making the outrigger wheels a little off the ground. That way, only three wheels ever contacted the ground. But then, the bike MUST be re-titled and licensed and insured as a 3-wheeler. I guess you could save the original title and license plate and fudge-by if you ever removed the "trailer" and rode it as a 2-wheeler again.
Considering all the potential hassle, I think I'd just make a stout trailer to tow behind the bike, and title, register and plate the trailer. Then, you circumvent Barney Fife pulling you over and inquiring as to just "what is that thing, and just WHY do you think you can drive it on MY road?"... LOL!
2, 3, or 4 wheels... All have their iron-clad rules and John Law LOVES to inform you of them, to the tune of a moving violation and hefty fine...
Ride safe, and ride LEGAL...
Leo in Texas
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Post by JerryScript on Mar 25, 2014 2:57:15 GMT -5
I didn't get a chance to ask him how LEO treated him in regards to it. However, here in Vegas the Chief of Police recently announced LEO would not be dispatched to minor traffic accidents anymore due to budget restraints and our lack of passing a tax increase that would have benefited the police department (a purely political move, but I won't go into local politics here). I think this guy's trailer might fly under the radar fairly easily, especially since it's so well built and doesn't really look that different from a three wheeler at a quick glance.
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Freshman Rider
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Post by mopedjay on May 14, 2014 5:42:48 GMT -5
yeah "4 wheel" trikes are common here in florida we used to sell and install the kits
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