Our first destination ride

It wasn't far - less than 10 miles round trip, but it's a beginning! Just up the road a few miles from our little town is a pair of fried chicken restaurants that have been local favorites for decades. They gained national attention a couple of years ago when the History Travel Channel's "Food Wars" program did a show about the long-time friendly rivalry between Chicken Annie's and Chicken Mary's restaurants. These two establishments are literally next door to each other. We're regular patrons, eating there a couple of times a month, but this was the first time we rode the S'wing out there to dinner, and the first time we rode the S'wing with a definite destination in mind. From our house, it's all county roads, but it made a nice, leisurely ride.

I'm having to slowly adjust my wife to being able to ride without panicking. When she was much younger, someone talked her into her first ride on a motorcycle, then proceeded to deliberately scare the living hell out of her for the next 20 minutes! (a**hole!) She's doing pretty good now, and has about 25 miles logged as my passenger, but absolutely refuses to ride on any main highway yet. We'll get there. I've got her where she's reasonably comfortable with a 45 mph cruising speed. I'm just gradually increasing the speed on our rides so she doesn't notice. I've only had the trike since Friday afternoon, and have already put about 60 miles on it.

Baby steps,build's confidence.

Gyro wrote:

I've got her where she's reasonably comfortable with a 45 mph cruising speed. I'm just gradually increasing the speed on our rides so she doesn't notice.

My wife says she feels most comfortable riding at about 50-55mph. When we had the Burgman 400, she could see the speedo needle, and knew that it was in the vertical position at 50mph. Result - happy pillion!
On the Wing, she can still see the speedo, but the vertical position is 60mph! Up to now, no complaints, and I ain't saying anything!!

If she read's you post your busted.

Sounds like a nice ride and I wish we had some good fried chicken places out here in the S.F. bay area. I'm from the Illinois and miss the food at times. Is it a nice and smooth ride? I bet it is a nice ride and it seems like it would be a lot of fun too, and I'm sure your wife will be more used to it the more miles you put on.

tinman wrote:

If she read's you post your busted.

You wouldn't tell.............................would you??!!

JeffR_ wrote:

Sounds like a nice ride and I wish we had some good fried chicken places out here in the S.F. bay area. I'm from the Illinois and miss the food at times. Is it a nice and smooth ride? I bet it is a nice ride and it seems like it would be a lot of fun too, and I'm sure your wife will be more used to it the more miles you put on.

If you ever find yourself cruising on US69 in Eastern Kansas, this is worth a stop:

http://www.travelchannel.com/video/feast-on-comfort-food-in-kansas-12119

The S'wing trike has a very smooth ride. It has some vibration at 10 mph, but I've read that this is common on this scooter, and is related to the way the stock variator works. ("What's a variator, mommy?" Daddy says your sister is going to go broke buying batteries for her variator...")

Winger61,The less our pillion know how fast we go the better it is for us.

Donna (my wife) loves to ride (sometimes) even more than I do.
I am truly blessed

With my wife, it is the leaning in the turns that gets her upset. Now I slow to a crawl around corners even when I'm by myself. Probably a good thing with all the gravel on the roads left over from winter.

Darkeswinger wrote:

With my wife, it is the leaning in the turns that gets her upset. Now I slow to a crawl around corners even when I'm by myself. Probably a good thing with all the gravel on the roads left over from winter.

Well, at least that's not a factor for me! I lean into the corners, but I corner slow enough that I do not try to get Wanda to lean into the corners too. Of course, the trike does not lean at all!

With a 2 wheel bike if the passenger don,t follow the angle of the bike lean can cause you to loose control.I once had my nephew on the back and tried a turn around as I was running he shifted his weight the opposite way and we almost lost control. With a trike kit it is good to teach the passenger to lean into the curve to maintain HWY speed .Eventually it will be a natural thing to do.

Very cool trike sir. Any run for fried chicken is a run marked for success.

tinman wrote:

The less our pillion know how fast we go the better it is for us.

I'd say the opposite is true, if your pillion feels unsafe or is lacking in confidence, they won't enjoy the ride and neither will you. I'm lucky with Mrs M as she's done many hours of high speed autobahn riding or with me over in Germany so she's used to it, and city traffic and country roads are no problem either. Being able to communicate by intercom about what's going on, there's no distracting movements from behind cornering or uncomfortable bumping of helmets when I need to brake.

I've made sure Mrs M's riding gear is of a high standard and she also chose to wear earplugs and a full length Knox back protector. I'm also aware of her comfort as well as my own and choose decent places for us to stop for a coffee and a lunch break.

Another thing she appreciates is being able to get out of her riding gear into shorts and sandals on hot days, so I carry an Ortlieb bag for storing excess gear and secure it to the passenger seat with a Pacsafe net.

A little care and consideration is all that's needed.

Meldrew wrote:

tinman wrote:

The less our pillion know how fast we go the better it is for us.

I'd say the opposite is true, if your pillion feels unsafe or is lacking in confidence, they won't enjoy the ride and neither will you. I'm lucky with Mrs M as she's done many hours of high speed autobahn riding or with me over in Germany so she's used to it, and city traffic and country roads are no problem either. Being able to communicate by intercom about what's going on, there's no distracting movements from behind cornering or uncomfortable bumping of helmets when I need to brake.

I've made sure Mrs M's riding gear is of a high standard and she also chose to wear earplugs and a full length Knox back protector. I'm also aware of her comfort as well as my own and choose decent places for us to stop for a coffee and a lunch break.

Another thing she appreciates is being able to get out of her riding gear into shorts and sandals on hot days, so I carry an Ortlieb bag for storing excess gear and secure it to the passenger seat with a Pacsafe net.

A little care and consideration is all that's needed.

[i]

Good advice & helpful tips! A set of Scala interccoms is a high priority item.

I rarely ride over 110 kl with or without my pillion,we are always communicating when needed and not a word when we are just enjoying the ride . We never have a heavy build up of traffic so we don't stress on that.Off the beaten path there are plenty of small towns and river side rest stop to stretch or leg . In a few week I will install a Trigg trike kit for when I ride with my Pillion.This kit can be remove in 15 minutes time if I chose ride solo,but I have been told that I might leave it on permanently.

tinman wrote:

I rarely ride over 110 kl with or without my pillion,we are always communicating when needed and not a word when we are just enjoying the ride . We never have a heavy build up of traffic so we don't stress on that.Off the beaten path there are plenty of small towns and river side rest stop to stretch or leg . In a few week I will install a Trigg trike kit for when I ride with my Pillion.This kit can be remove in 15 minutes time if I chose ride solo,but I have been told that I might leave it on permanently.

The Danson kit is a bolt-on, but it's not a quick-change. Besides, I don't want only two wheels I really like the security of those extra wheels.

I also like the security of the outrigger wheel .I have 2 total knee replacement and 2 severed tendent in my left shoulder and a rotator cuff tare that I am waiting for surgery on the right shoulder.This winter has been hard and is still snowing today .This year I will need the outriggers if I am going to ride this year.

I am glad you can still enjoy riding....that is what it is all about.

The best pillion is one that acts like a sack of potatoes - just sits there, no movement, no shifting around (and no complaining ).

Cheers,

I disagree whit the sack of potato .For the sake of my pillion,I try warn her of a bad bump and tell to put some weight support on the foot peg to prevent any injury to her back.The pillion takes a harder hit sitting directly under the wheel .The rider has the handle bars to take some of the impact.

I'd say the pillion rider has a pretty comfortable perch on the Silver Wing especially if you have a top box and backrest for them to lean back onto. The seat isn't as wide or as long as the 650 Burgmans so it isn't a stretch to the foot rests and they sit closer to the rider. They also have a butt rest on their seat similar to the riders and grab rails to hold onto.

Meldrew, all I know is when I fail to tell her of a bad oncoming bump I get a ear full,When she braces s her self in advance of a bump ,Im a happier rider.