Our first real ride on the S'Wing trike.

First topic message reminder :

Yesterday, Sunday, April 28, started out gorgeous! We woke to warm temperatures and blue skies after a week of clouds, cold winds, and heavy rain Friday & Saturday. I told Wanda we could not pass up a chance to ride on the first really nice weekend day since we got the trike. In the 2-1/2 weeks since we got the trike, Wanda & I had not ridden together more than a few miles to a local restaurant & back, or around town. That was going to change. Wanda is related to Moses Carver, the owner of former slave George Washington Carver, who grew up to become a famous botanist, educator & inventor. The Carver farm, now a national monument, is located near Diamond, Mo. and is about 50 miles away from our home.

.Carver Nat. Monument

Wanda's 3x Great-grandfather was the brother of Moses Carver, and is buried in the family graveyard at the farm. Wanda had never been there, so that became our destination. We avoided the easy way down Interstate 49, choosing instead to ride to Joplin from Frontenac on hwy 171. We stopped at Woody's Smokehouse for lunch (good, Texas-style BBQ!) Woodies is the first thing you see riding into Joplin on hwy 171. After lunch, we made our way across town and headed south on Range Line at 32nd street. We passed under the construction mess where Range Line passes under Interstate 44 (reworking the intersection) and proceeded about a mile south to Reddings road, where we turned left. Just a short distance over, Reddings intersects with Saginaw road, which is old hwy 71 from Joplin to Neosho. Old 71 is narrow, twisty and slightly hilly. In other words, a biker's delight. It is also very scenic, running roughly parallel to Shoal creek and passing through some very pretty rural Missouri Ozarks countryside. A few miles down Old 71 was our intersection with county road V. V passed under the new Interstate 49 and was a straight shot east for another few miles of pretty countryside to the turnoff to GWC National Monument. I said it was a straight road, but I said nothing about flat! V hwy from I49 to the Carver Monument is one low hill after another. (It's the foothills of the Ozarks, folks.) Once at the Monument, we hiked out to the cemetery and Wanda took a few minutes to get acquainted with her ancestor.


After we left and got back to where V hwy joined Old 71, instead of turning right and back toward Joplin, we went left and on south toward the tiny community of Tipton Ford. There's a unique restaurant there known as Undercliff Bar & Grill. The back wall of the restaurant is literally the stone face of a cliff! It's a destination for a lot of area bikers. We stopped in to have a soft drink on their outdoor covered patio - aka front porch. (there's also an open-air beer garden. We counted 20 motorcycles of various types in the parking lot; everything from Gold Wing & Harley trikes and full-dress tourers to Harley street cruisers, custom choppers and Japanese crotch rockets. There were even a few bicyclists mixed in. :D We were riding the only scooter! The Silver Wing trike generated a lot of interest, and it was apparently the first one most of the other riders had seen. After nearly an hour sitting on their front patio, sipping our drinks and watching motorcycles and people come and go, we took our own leave and headed back toward home. We stopped at a well-known local burger shack on the north end of Joplin for dinner. We were followed into the parking lot by four couples riding the big V-twin Honda cruisers. They immediately surrounded us where we parked! All was cool though, and the riders and their passengers (some very cute young ladies) sat at the table next to us while we enjoyed our burgers - and I enjoyed the view. We finished up the last thirty miles of the trip home and pulled the trike in the garage at 7:30 pm. What a great day!

I would love to convert mine over but right now it is just to cost prohibitive.
I have been fighting Muscular Dystrophy for years and it is getting to the point where I will be forced to go to a trike setup within a few short more years, sigh

Gyro wrote:

It is one thing to be challenged if someone offers bad or inaccurate technical advice, or advocates something dangerous or illegal. (And remember, what's illegal in one country may be perfectly legal in another. Learn to accept that fact.) It is another thing to insult someone over their choice of ride, or belittle the fact that they do not like to ride in extreme weather. Couching nasty thoughts in nice words does not, in any way, make those thoughts nice - or acceptable.

I'm well aware of what's illegal in one country may be perfectly legal in another and probably a lot more than you are, as I do some of my riding over in mainland Europe as well as at home, and you need to accept there's a whole world outside your little corner of SE Kansas, and riding in the rain isn't extreme weather.

You're not a mind reader so you have no idea what I'm thinking, and how you interpret my words is your problem. I think I'm done here now on this topic, all I'm doing is giving you more ammo to bump up your already impressive average daily post count.

I think I'll go and mow my lawn now.

Moderator's Hat On

I've only just caught up with this thread having no interest in trikes.

Whilst not taking sides I agree with the sentiments of those who find the use of certain derogatory 'titles' unacceptable and although don't feel it appropriate to do anything about what's been said up until now will do so if subsequent posts contain such insults.

As for a separate section for Trikes as there is for Darkside Tyres...why not?

It works elsewhere very successfully and to follow a good example makes sense to me.

MikeO wrote:

Moderator's Hat On

I've only just caught up with this thread having no interest in trikes.

Whilst not taking sides I agree with the sentiments of those who find the use of certain derogatory 'titles' unacceptable and although don't feel it appropriate to do anything about what's been said up until now will do so if subsequent posts contain such insults.

As for a separate section for Trikes as there is for Darkside Tyres...why not?



It works elsewhere very successfully and to follow a good example makes sense to me.

I think most of us trike riders would be happy, or at least find it acceptable, to see a sub-forum just for trikes, but please do not make it a closed forum like Darkside. People who dislike trikes should be able to restrain themselves and not feel compelled to post there.

I apologize to the forum for letting my anger get the better of me.

I've never had a trike but they look interesting and if my spine/legs get any worse they look like an answer to keeping on the road so I've no problems with them myself !

I think most of us trike riders would be happy, or at least find it acceptable, to see a sub-forum just for trikes, but please do not make it a closed forum like Darkside. People who dislike trikes should be able to restrain themselves and not feel compelled to post there.

Point taken; I don't think Colin's suggestion of a separate section included 'closed' as part of it and I agree it shouldn't be.

I apologize to the forum for letting my anger get the better of me.

Received with thanks; members' willingness to apologize and accept apologies helps to make this forum the friendly place it (usually) is.

Moderator's Hat Off!

I don't know about everyone else but when I go to Accessories & Modifications Darkside Car Tire is at the top of the list. Is this only at the top of the list for people that have requested access or is it available for all to see? If so(the Darkside forum shows) I still don't think a closed forum like Darkside forum is too restrictive, all you have to do is ask and you have full access to it. If it doesn't show up I understand.
Gyro, do you see the Darkside forum listed at the top of the Accessories & Modifications? If not then I kind of understand what you mean as you would not even know it exists without someone telling you it is there.

A separate open "Trikes" section was created under "Accessories & Modifications".

Did a quick search of "Trike" and moved threads under new "Trikes" section.

model28a wrote:

I don't know about everyone else but when I go to Accessories & Modifications Darkside Car Tire is at the top of the list.

To remain searchable by the internet search engine(s), the Darkside Car Tire section is read-only for everyone ... but you require read-write access to post.

To request read-write access follow the instruction under the Darkside Car Tire section.