Trike Handling Characteristics

[Badbmwbrad]

Since completing an ATC 110 restoration, I've been tooling it around my figure-8 driveway and the wooded areas on my house lot.

One of the wooded areas is a steeply inclined hill which leads down to a remote area next to a pond. There are a lot of trees on the incline which makes it difficult to negotiate a straight downhill (and uphill) run on that hill.

I find that if slowly descending the hill and if I turn left/right to go around a tree then the trike's uphill wheel becomes very light. The whole chassis has a tendancy to want to roll over sideways (it's a pretty steep hill).

If I travel half-way down the hill then attempt to make a U-turn (slowly) to go back up the hill then the trike will nearly always try to roll over. I've always managed to prevent a roll-over by holding up the chassis with an out-stretched leg.

I'm interested in reading what strategies (body english?) others employ to reduce potential for tipping over their trikes while navigating steeply inclined surfaces.

[yamaha225dr]

I encountered this very situation with my 250r a few weeks ago but thankfully my previous riding experience on three wheels made the decent a breeze! Body English is the key and lots of it, you need to keep your weight as close to centered as possible over the tire on the high side of the hill. I'm a featherweight, so I have to play stretch Armstrong when navigating terrain like this.

[dougspcs]

My new riders getting on my trike get rules..

#1..never, never, never take your foot of the peg for any reason..a flailing leg becomes an impediment to control. Or worse yet if it gets caught under the machine..you're done!

The only time to take the feet off the pegs is to bail..I'd rather see a trike roll down a hill than the trike and rider together!

Balance is in the body, not by sticking a leg out..

[M.Pargiello]

All you have to do is lean the opposite way the trike is trying to tip, the more it tries to tip, the harder you lean. Most of my riding time is on the sides of the seat, and not the center. It's just the nature of the beast

[torker]

Make it wide, very wide...

TORKER.

[Thorpe]

One word.... NEWBIE....

Axle spacers would certainly help....

[yamaha225dr]

I second the wheel spacer comment! My R came with a set of 3" and I have ridden with them off & on and they make a huge difference but I honestly don't think a new rider should learn how to ride with them installed cause they make the trike handle so much better. I think jumping off a machine with them onto one without would have a newbies confidence level up so high that it would put them in a bind quick if riding aggressively. That is just my opinion though!

[dougspcs]

One word.... NEWBIE....

Axle spacers would certainly help....

Hey I have to compliment the guy to saying..'I really don't know how to ride these things..please help.'

How many yahoos have you known that just jump on and hauled azz, thinking they got it figured out?

Good on you for asking Brad..no shame in that.

It's the difference between and new member and a NEWB.

[pipeline triker]

The more you ride it and get the feel of the machine the better you will be at it. But like said above try to keep your feet from touching the ground, that is a good way to get hurt. You want to hang your body off of the high side as much as you can and still have control of the machine. Also make sure the tires are not overinflated makes the little trikes even more tippy. You know the old saying practice makes perfect, just make sure you learn the right way, it is harder to break a bad habit than learn it right the first time.

[4x4van]

Yup, off-camber turns are the 3-wheeler's worst enemy. There is no "good" way, only "not as bad". Lotsa body english, keeping your weight as high (uphill) as possible. What you have to remember is that the inside rear tire must "spin" in order to navigate a turn while the outside rear tire actually "drives" the bike. In the dunes, feathering the front brake while simultaneously giving it more throttle (while hanging as far off the bike uphill as possible) will break the rear tires loose so they can slide, allowing you to navigate an off-camber turn, but on a wooded hillside, that may not be possible. In most things, practice makes perfect, but in the case of a 3-wheelr on an off-camber turn, practice only makes possible, not "perfect"! :)

[dougspcs]

A lot of good advice coming at you Brad, but to be straight a 110 without suspension and it's relatively limited power plant will make a good starter trike for you

It won't really respond to these riding techniques due to it's limited power plant and lack of suspension..

But there is always room to grow and sometime down the road if you find yourself the opportunity to get a 200x, 250r, 350 or any of the others similarly equipped you'll have some good experience and suggestions and you'll feel more confident.

Until then, have fun and be safe!!

[ps2fixer]

A lot of good advice coming at you Brad, but to be straight a 110 without suspension and it's relatively limited power plant will make a good starter trike for you

It won't really respond to these riding techniques due to it's limited power plant and lack of suspension..

But there is always room to grow and sometime down the road if you find yourself the opportunity to get a 200x, 250r, 350 or any of the others similarly equipped you'll have some good experience and suggestions and you'll feel more confident.

Until then, have fun and be safe!!

I agree with Doug, the smaller machines are great to learn on, but are also the ones most prone to getting you hurt if you are not careful. I learned on a 200ES big red with no rear suspension, for years I dreamed of a 250ES for its rear suspension, and when I got one (well 5), it was a HUGE difference! I know exactly what you feel like, big time if you learned to ride on a quad like I did. It feels to be tipping over, and you feel you should turn less hard to keep the wheels from coming up, and really you just need to lean more. Watch a few race videos with 3 wheelers, and imitate their body movements. It takes time, but you will become better at it. I don't have a lot of large hills in my area, but I'm sure a bigger machine will handle them better if droven by a skilled rider vs the same rider on a small machine like the ATC110.

Oddly, I like to have my tires rather hard and "overinflated" comapired to most other ATV riders, I have learned to slide the rear end around though, with soft tires, they want to roll more and really grab the ground in turns. Tires and tire presure does make a huge difference as well, so keep that in mind too.

One thing you could do if you feel confrontable with it, is to pratice riding on 2 wheels while turning on flat ground so you can learn the balance of the machine. The idea behind this is while riding you know where the balance is, and if you go beyond that (going to flip it) you will know to bail off the machine instead of trying to stop it from tipping. Seems bailing on a 3 wheeler is easier and safer than on a quad in my experence, the quads always try to land on me in the few times I flipped them, while the few times I have flipped a 3 wheeler, they always stopped way before me. Sadly, it seems the 3 wheelers take more damange though :(.

[Gator72007]

I bought a 110 the other day and i have never owned or ridden a 110 before then.
i have owned a 185, 200, 200x, 250r, 250sx and out of all these bikes the 110 is the tippiest of them all to me.
Possibly because im too big for the bike, but its quite different then the others

[Badbmwbrad]

Thanks for all of the encouraging advice. I've been riding it a lot on my figure-8 gravel driveway and can ride it on two wheels at the top and bottom of the "eight". It's a little harder to ride on two wheels when traveling in a straight line.

As for the hill, I practiced it a few more times this weekend. One must practically sit on the rear fender to keep the ATC from inverting while traversing the hill. Going straight up or down is easy enough.

The amount of traction available on an ATC amazes me. It can climb a long, steep hill thickly covered in leaves and a few rocks/fallen branches thrown in.

[kevink]

Most important piece of advice when learning how to run any machinery...."accuracy before speed"......dont try to be a cowboy.

[brapp]

another tecnique for steep hills is remove your right foot and keep the uphill side to your left and a kne eon the seat so you can get your body weight hangign way off the upper side

[ps2fixer]

another tecnique for steep hills is remove your right foot and keep the uphill side to your left and a kne eon the seat so you can get your body weight hangign way off the upper side

I have used this method a lot with out even thinking about it. It works best when you need to lean to the left though :).