| Author | Message | ||
     Corporatemonkey |
http://www.autobloggreen.com/2008/09/19/harldy-dav idson-trike-getting-closer-to-production/  Patent drawings have revealed that Harley-Davidson, the quintessential American Motor Company, has been working on leaning three-wheelers for the last few years. This is a concept that has already proven itself viable with products like the Piaggio MP3 series of scooters currently on the market. HD has already established itself as a player in the V-Twin trike market with its first-ever factory trike, the Tri Glide Ultra Classic. That model, new for 2009, uses the more common arrangement of two wheels in back, one in front. Rumor has it that the upcoming model from The Motor Company will reverse that with the single wheel at the rear, a setup that we prefer for stability. If Harley does introduce a reverse-trike concept, expect it to be powered by the liquid-cooled Revolution motor as opposed to the classic 45-degree air-cooled twin that the company is famous for. | ||
| Tom_b |
Tri glide ultra classic being the first ever factory trike? Who built the servicar? It has H/D motor, trans and such | ||
| Buellinachinashop |
This isn't new, HD has had a design patten on this for a while now. Bombardier has been paying them royalties on their Can Am Spyder. Apparently, they "borrowed" design from the front end of the HD bike....trike..thing. | ||
| Rde48 |
Bombardier has been paying them royalties on their Can Am Spyder Im not saying I that I don't believe you but where did you hear that? | ||
| Panhead_dan |
They are all missing the boat. Imagine it in front wheel drive... | ||
| Danger_dave |
My Editor said the same thing. He doesn't rate the Spyder as highly as I do. If only it had FWD - FTW - QED. | ||
| Buellinachinashop |
"Im not saying I that I don't believe you but where did you hear that?" Folks at Harley. I was at an open house last summer and one of the guys in the Design department was showing drawings and renderings of it. This has been in the works for years, the motor in the drawing looks Sportster and the rear fender looks circa mid 90's. | ||
| Danger_dave |
08 softail custom fender too. later Wide glide too (Message edited by danger_dave on September 23, 2008) | ||
| Buellinachinashop |
That's true and the rear signals look VRod to me as well. I wish I would have looked at the dates on the drawings, but if memory serves, I thought I remember him saying something about '98. | ||
| Xl1200r |
Bombardier has been paying them royalties on their Can Am Spyder I find this hard to believe. The Can Am isn't a leaning design as this one is. the motor in the drawing looks Sportster and the rear fender looks circa mid 90's. The motor is clearly a Twin Cam big twin which came out in '99, so a '98 drawing date is within reason. The rear fender (as Dave pointed out) has been used from the factory for a long time, up to and including 2009 models. That's true and the rear signals look VRod to me as well. The turn signals are same ones HD uses on every bike they make aside from a couple RK and Touring models. I'm not saying you're a liar by any means, but I think the guy you talked to might have been blowing smoke up your backdoor. | ||
| Freezerburn |
My info that may be unreliable is that the guys from Zeel were involved in the design of the Can-Am. A friend of mine has a Zeel V-rod that is so sweet but ridiculous to ride and he spent a bit of time at their headquarters. He saw all of their renderings of the Spyder and chatted with them about the project. I don't know to what extent their involvement was but I doubt HD was involved. I also like being wrong every now and then. | ||
| Swordsman |
"I'm not saying you're a liar by any means, but I think the guy you talked to might have been blowing smoke up your backdoor." Ditto on that. The Spyder has more in common with the old 3 wheeled Morgans than the H-D leaning design. There's no way Harley would ever be able to sell that. Just NO way. Not only is it hideous, but it's so far off the Harley target market that I'm amazed they've even considered the idea. Honestly, can you imagine that thing sitting there vying for sales against a Road King or any other custom trike? ~SM | ||
| Xl1200r |
SM - To be perfectly honest, if Buell were to build a LEANING trike, using an 1125-based engine, and they kept the size within reason (the Spyder is FAR too large), I would want one, no question. But a Harley? Not likely. It's a little too radical for a company that trives on "classic" engineering, so to speak. Look what happened when they decide to add a radiator and move the camshafts on top the heads! | ||
| Buellinachinashop |
Looks like the patent was applied for in Sept of 06 or April of 07, which means, if the V Rod is any indication, that this project began in the late 90's. The Vrod was launched in 02, but began in 95. With the patent being applied for about the same time BMP came out with its Spyder (looks like the development coincided with the HD trike), this is possible. Just because the Spyder isn't using lean technology doesn't mean they didn't borrow front end concepts. Who knows? HD is all about the image and this info didn't come from Willie G. | ||
| Steve_mackay |
Actually, the idea, and design started back in the early 80s, when HD bought Trihawk. http://www.designmassif.com/trihawk/ I've still got a HD/Trihawk notepad from I *THINK* 1985. XL, you'd be surprised at how 'radical' some of the ideas out of the mothership can be. | ||
| Xl1200r |
XL, you'd be surprised at how 'radical' some of the ideas out of the mothership can be. I have no dillusions of such - I have no doubt that there are some seriously forward-thinking designers and engineers who appreciaite the sport of motorcycle, not just the history. But in recent years, heritage has taken presedence over progress (I know progress has been made, but visually it hasn't). This isn't a bad thing - HD is building exactly what 99% of their customers want. But that leaves some of these radical ideas to be shelved. | ||
| Mr_grumpy |
Specially for Panhead Dan, here's what Peugeot did a few years back, it's called the 20cup.  More info here.http://www.rsportscars.com/peugeot/2005-peugeot-20cup-concept/ | ||
| Buellinachinashop |
Trike Car made with the Revolution   | ||
| Toona |
 TriGlide Ultra Classic, MSRP $29,999 2009 line up from HD http://www.harley-davidson.com/wcm/Content/Pages/2009_Motorcycles/2009_Motorcycles.jsp?locale=en_US#/model/flhtcutg | ||
| Chellem |
We just got our first trike in today! It's really sharp looking, if you're into that kind of thing. Bit of a fiasco getting that very large vehicle off the truck, but I think we've got it mastered now. ->ChelleM | ||
| Thumper74 |
That Revo car is saweet! Although... If I was going that far, this would be in my garage. Can't beat a car that requires a full face helmet! /imagelink{ http://www.fastcursor.com/vehicles/images/wrightsp eed-ariel-atom.jpg} |
