Greetings from North Georgia

Hi Folks:

Just a quick intro hello (I'm anxious to head out to the garage and gawk at my new prize).  I'm a senior citizen who has ridden motorcycles all his life in a variety of conditions, and still have a stable of bikes I can't seem to get rid of.  However, with a total ankle replacement scheduled sometime after July 4th this summer, I'm looking to a long period of rehab when I'm gonna still want to ride.

Long story abbreviated, I picked up a 2007 SW with Voyager trike conversion.  Will be curious to see if it's really as easy to configure between 2- and 3-wheels, especially around maintenance time.  I will have a new rear tire and belt to change in about 1000 miles, which look to be complicated with the extra hardware in the way so best to learn how it comes off.

On a separate topic, I'm an instructor with StayinSafe on-road rider training (www.stayinsafe.com).  We have never had a component which attempts to adopt any of our riding principles to the three wheel rider.  Until I have a whole lot of miles under my belt on the triked SW, I am certainly not going to presume I can jump right in and start making curriculum recommendations, but I'll definitely be taking notes as to what of our content is relevant and what can be adapted to remain relevant.

But, I'm afraid the garage is calling, and the sun is out, and the ladyfriend is nuts to join me, so I'll sign off for the time being.  I look forward to making some new acquaintances as I work my way through the forum content.

Pete Tamblyn
Alto, GA

I triked  my Swing in 2012 . If you plan to work on tire change ,go with a car tire in the rear wheel or be prepared to replace  tire every 3 to  4 k miles .If you plan to do the maintenance yourself , secure 2 eye hooks to the ceiling rafters ,and 2 ratchet straps hocked up to the pass hand rails to raise the back end .It's much easer to work on the back end where most of the work will be.Good to see another trikester ( if that's a word) and enjoy.

Hello Pete and welcome to the best place to find out all about your new toy. I hope you adapt to your trike quickly.
It looks like you've been looking around the forum for awhile so you may know how to navigate through the forum but just in case you haven't found everything I'm including what I usually post for all new members.
Here are some links(3 below in blue)that will help you learn a lot about your Silverwing. If you can't find what you need in the links below the search on this forum works good, and if you still need help just ask and someone will do what they can to answer your questions.

Maintenance, Tips and Hints
Maintenance "Pictorials"
Accessories-Modifications

Video of belt and roller upgrade to Dr Pulley sliders.

What city is ALTO close to? I've ridden from East Tn
to Atlanta via US 23.

Thanks for the welcome and hints. I may be headed to the darkside for rear tire choice, which in this case, if I keep it triked, makes perfect sense. Alto is between US441 and GA365, south of Cornelia, north of Homer. Not much here, and that's part of its charm. I brew really good coffee; always have the welcome mat out.

Tinman:

Please tell me the brand/model of the 175/70 13 tire you mention you currently have on your trike.  Did it install easily with proper tire mounting equipment, or did it seem an iffy stretch.  Was it relatively easy to seat the bead?

Thanks.  Pete in Georgia (whose parents were from London, Ontario)

Skipwil wrote:

What city is ALTO close to? I've ridden from East Tn
to Atlanta via US 23.

Alto is n.e. of Atlanta, toward Clayton (US441).

I grew up in Kingsport, TN -- stop by when next you pass this way

Hi motorhead, the 175 70 13 tire is a Aurora winter tire  that i pick up at Walmart year end sale for $5.00 total $12.00 that they had only one.I did not installed it yet but it is a heavy thick ( stiff walls.)The tire that I have been using (on the second one) is a hercules Raptic  155 70 13 , very easy to install pop's right in with 50 to 70 lbs pressure. It was very good handling on 2 wheels ore on my trike .I got 45 k kl on the first one ,and now have 25 k kl on the second one ,and will get at lease 55 to 65 k kl If I can stop being a cow boy and stop spinning my tire in front on the HD riders and watch there jaw drop when I go by. Tire Rack has a nice 155 70 13 Platnum 7 rated at 210 klh that looks nice ,or get a 165 65 13 at Walmart that has a nice profile. I would not be afraid to use any 155 70 ore 165 65 13 from Walmart.these tires are not expensive to buy.

@Skipwil: I haven't posted enough to send PM's yet, so I'll respond to your PM here. I don't know Baileyton at all well, but used to commute to U of TN in Knoxville down old 19W many weekends back in the late 50's/early 60's. Usually my coffee stops were in Rogersville and Rutledge (the 1/3 waypoints); my mount was a 1956 Triumph Tiger 110. Many a cold. wet mile on that route!

I see Baileyton is close to Fall Branch, where I purchased my first car -- a 1948 Mercury convertible -- when I was 15 yrs old (what were my parents thinking???). Traded up to my Triumph three years later, convincing my folks it would be cheap, reliable transportation for a young college kid (what were my parents thinking?).

Since then I've ridden a lot of bikes in a lot of countries, but the Silver Wing is my first scooter. Triked as it is, it reminds me a little of the ZRX1100 with Hannigan "Sport" sidecar I owned for a few years. I've always appreciated the fit and finish of Honda machines, the scooter reminding me a lot of a PC800 I once owned. Looking forward to learning a lot more about this machine.

motorhead30510 wrote:

@Skipwil:  I haven't posted enough to send PM's yet, so I'll respond to your PM here.  I don't know Baileyton at all well, but used to commute to U of TN in Knoxville down old 19W many weekends back in the late 50's/early 60's.  Usually my coffee stops were in Rogersville and Rutledge (the 1/3 waypoints); my mount was a 1956 Triumph Tiger 110.  Many a cold. wet mile on that route!

I see Baileyton is close to Fall Branch, where I purchased my first car -- a 1948 Mercury convertible -- when I was 15 yrs old (what were my parents thinking???).  Traded up to my Triumph three years later, convincing my folks it would be cheap, reliable transportation for a young college kid (what were my parents thinking?).

Since then I've ridden a lot of bikes in a lot of countries, but the Silver Wing is my first scooter.  Triked as it is, it reminds me a little of the ZRX1100  with Hannigan "Sport" sidecar I owned for a few years.  I've always appreciated the fit and finish of Honda machines, the scooter reminding me a lot of a PC800 I once owned.  Looking forward to learning a lot more about this machine.

Now the question is: What is Granpa thinking? Keep 'em wondering.

Pete I believe you can send PMs after five posts. You should now be able to send them. Let me know if you have a problem sending PMs now.