Street legal Honda 3 Wheeler

Craigslist is showing a ton of these things for cheap. Not that i have a need for one exactly but i recall a black and white magazine article saying how someone made it street legal.

Assuming you add light, turn signals, brake lights, etc i see no reason why it could not be made street legal.

I also read up on it a bit and see that street legal, more streetable tires would be a must. Also some worries about lack of rear diff and it being tricky to turn. Having ridden ATVs i dont see all the issues with it. Lean in the turn.

So why not..

. Obviously not a cross country machine but its 40 45 mph of odd fun around town. And hit a trail anything you want.

Do they make DOT tires for them? It also occurs to me that you'd have to find one with a title, which might actually be a bit difficult.

The old three wheelers are very unstable. I wouldn't do it.

It would make for an interesting obituary though.

rotard wrote: The old three wheelers are very unstable. I wouldn't do it.

It's that people don't know how to ride them. It's not like riding a bike and its not like riding a quad. As for riding one on the street. They are OK on pavement but that is not what they were built for. If its a rear differential you want you could go with a big red (no rear suspension) or a 250sx. Also another concern would be the heat. unless you went with a liquid cooled r or 350x it would get too hot. They don't like being topped out for long which is what you would be doing on a daily basis riding one on the street.
I have a few, but I wouldn't ride them on the street aside from running down to the camp store or riding down to the lake or something. It's kind of the same lines of people with street legal quads In my opinion it would lose its fun quickly

Considering they were Federally banned from being sold I can't see how you could make it street legal.

edit: Ban was from 88-98 but during that period all US manufacturors of ATCs vowed never to make them again.

Grtechguy wrote: edit: Ban was from 88-98 but during that period all US manufacturors of ATCs vowed never to make them again.

I see market that needs filling.

The market for head injuries?

I hurt myself plenty on the 2 big reds my neighbors had. My friend nearly died when the front wheel caught a root, throwing him over the bars and then it flipping over him. Landed about 2" from his head.

alex wrote: The market for head injuries?

People keep playing hockey...

Guy 1: Hey guys, what do you think about these cheap 3 wheelers?

Guy 2: Bad idea, they're dangerous.

Guy 3: They're not stable, and were banned for 10 years.

Guy 4: One of my friends nearly died due to the instability of these things.

Guy 1: Nah, I really think I should get one. All those other people just didn't know how to ride them.

3-wheelers are the equivalent of supporting your F250 with cinder blocks while working underneath with all the wheels off. Chances are nothing will happen, but it's still a bad idea.

It's your life and we can't stop you from making a bad decision.

A reverse trike is much more stable though. ever wonder why the can-am is setup the way it is?

Go look up that Top Gear video of Jeremy Clarkson driving the Reliant Robin, and get back to us on the practicality of a trike on the street.

I owned a 125 3 wheeler, flipped it 3 times in the years I owned it. Lots of mountain riding too.

the issue is people wanted to DRIVE them. You don't drive a 3 wheeler you RIDE them. Huge difference.

Everyone saying they are unstable is right, so is a motorcycle.

If you ride one, and try to ride with some sense. There is no reason they are not safe. Especially ones near the end of the production runs.

I can not get this stuipid post to look right!

You all know that three wheelers are still more stable then two wheelers.

I had them when I was a kid, and other then riding over my leg every now and then, I didn't crash them as much as I did my dirt bike.

I had a quad and hated it. Whenever I crashed it, it seemed to land on me.

In 1984, skyrocketing ATV sales led to an increase in accidents, prompting an investigation by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).

In 1986, CPSC statistics suggested that most ATV accidents were due to improper rider behavior that ignored the distributor's warnings. No inherent flaw was found in the three-wheel or four-wheel ATV design.

Honda's owner's manuals and product warning labels stressed the importance of proper ATV operation to its customers. Through a national industry safety campaign, there was a 33 percent decline in recorded CPSC injury statistics between 1984 and 1988.

Nevertheless, on April 28, 1988, the U.S. ATV distributors entered into an unprecedented 10-year agreement with the CPSC called the Final Consent Decree. Under the agreement, the ATV industry made a $100 million commitment to expand existing safety programs. Among the many components of this agreement, free training and training incentives were offered to owners and purchasers of new ATVs. Additionally, distributors would no longer market three-wheeled ATVs, repurchasing any unsold three-wheel models from dealer inventory.

BTW: I remember seeing three wheelers for rent at Put-in-Bay back in the 1980's that were allowed to drive on the roads.

Rusnak_322 wrote: I had a quad and hated it. Whenever I crashed it, it seemed to land on me.

Nom nom nom!!!

They do seem to chase.

Here is a huge problem with these guys driving ATV (3 & 4 wheelers as well as side by sides.)

rotard wrote: Guy 1: Hey guys, what do you think about these cheap 3 wheelers? Guy 2: Bad idea, they're dangerous. Guy 3: They're not stable, and were banned for 10 years. Guy 4: One of my friends nearly died due to the instability of these things. Guy 1: Nah, I really think I should get one. All those other people just didn't know how to ride them.

Guy 5: Put a Hayabusa motor in one. That would be cool.

Snowdoggie wrote:

rotard wrote: Guy 1: Hey guys, what do you think about these cheap 3 wheelers? Guy 2: Bad idea, they're dangerous. Guy 3: They're not stable, and were banned for 10 years. Guy 4: One of my friends nearly died due to the instability of these things. Guy 1: Nah, I really think I should get one. All those other people just didn't know how to ride them.

Guy 5: Put a Hayabusa motor in one. That would be cool.

GRM Guy 6: Put an LSx in one.

Appleseed wrote:

Snowdoggie wrote:

rotard wrote: Guy 1: Hey guys, what do you think about these cheap 3 wheelers? Guy 2: Bad idea, they're dangerous. Guy 3: They're not stable, and were banned for 10 years. Guy 4: One of my friends nearly died due to the instability of these things. Guy 1: Nah, I really think I should get one. All those other people just didn't know how to ride them.

Guy 5: Put a Hayabusa motor in one. That would be cool.

GRM Guy 6: Put an LSx in one.

Guy 7: Hold my beer and watch this.

I don't care for trikes of any type at all. The Can Am three wheeler is better than the 'conventional' three wheeler but is still much less stable than a 4 wheeler and doesn't have the lean into a turn capability of a 2 wheeler. The biggest problem with a 3 wheeler at road speeds is in the event of an emergency maneuver it is WAY too prone to flip. That's because the only way to make the thing turn is to get off the throttle and turn the bars, this limits the rider's ability to move to the inside, this means the rider simply does not have enough mass to move to the inside of a turn to counteract the forces trying to flip it over. And that includes those big Gold Wing based things.

In reply to Curmudgeon:

This conversion answers the leaning issue.

http://thekneeslider.com/archives/2012/02/09/trt-the-tilting-reverse-trike-harley-conversion-from-too-kool-cycles/

I had two of them growing up, a Honda ATC 110 and then a 200S. I put hundreds of hours on each one (all off-road), and other than getting my foot caught under the back wheel a few times, I never had a problem. And I was between the ages of 12 and 15, right in the prime of the "I'm indescructible" years. IMO, they are like anything else, if you're not an idiot on them, you'll be fine.

Get a Honda Gyro S:

http://totalruckus.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=59270

Problem solved.

CLNSC3 wrote: Get a Honda Gyro S: http://totalruckus.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=59270 Problem solved.

Yeah I remember those, I also saw them in Japan when I was there.

Very popular delivery vehicles