"Ian" <
[email protected]> wrote in message
news:BBDE3FC5.17151%[email protected]...
> watsonglenn scribed with passion and wit:
>
> > They are surprisingly good off road, my daughter spends a lot of time riding over grassed areas
> > on hers.>>>
> >
> >
> > How could she possible provide the torque to move through grass on that thing. Don't get me
> > wrong, it looks like a lot of fun and I would love to have one but it seems dangerously low for
> > the street and not good for dirt. Of course I could be wrong.
> >
> She is usually travelling about mach 1 when she makes the transition
between
> street and grass, but even if she stops on the grass, she has no problem getting going again, she
> is able to ride hands off too, she always uses
the
> flag, she doesn't ride on the street unless I'm with her, in the cool
stakes
> with other kids the trike is a major winner.
Old thread, I know, but I felt like adding a few cents.
First, there are a couple friends of mine that have been building their trikes in the flying cross
design, very similar to the KMX's. As long as you have about 4" or so of clearance (suspension or
not), they operate great offroad. I'm not talking grass, but bike trails, ditches, beaches, gravel
roads, etc. Now I'm sure not all trikes can manage this, especially the more speed oriented ones,
but they are a blast. Our trikes don't have the high performance road tires, but instead we use
predominantly Kendas for the front and these rather smooth $9 rear tires. In fact, the cool thing
about the trikes is their stability and weight shift. Offroad, it's extremely difficult to wipeout,
because you would need steep angles to tip them sideways. When going up hills, the weight shift to
the rear wheel without worrying about doing a wheelie means more weight goes ot the drive wheel, and
now the limiting factor is the strength of your legs. With a triple ring on the front and a small
granny gear, I can go up steeper inclines on my trike - inclines that would have meant I spun-out on
my upright.
As for visibility issues, I don't think so. Trikes/bents are an unusual site on the road except
perhaps for the most cosmopolitan and jaded areas that see people moving down the road pretty much
on their back, all the time. For people who don't want to ruin their weight-weenie status, or don't
like the drag/or noise produced by a 4' flag stick, then perhaps there MAY be an arguement for low
visibility. My experience, has been that the only danger posed is when the passing vehicle slows
down for a better look and causes a real head-on danger with cars coming in the on-coming lane. On
the one trike I made, I think the top of my head is around the 30" mark, and I've neverhad a
visibility problem - day or night. Mind you, I specifically put a mount on all my trike frames for a
4' flag stick. Anyone that is going to hit me because I'm riding a low trike/bent has more problems
than the height of the bike I'm riding and they'd be running into more than just me, and quite
likely bigger things than me as well..
A llama? Where do you live, Machu Pichu?
