On Friday I had a nice ride with some strange companions.......strange in terms of the vehicles, not the riders. There was the huge Honda Goldwing, ridden two-up by my friend Bill and his wife Karen, and the CanAm three-wheeler ridden by Bill's friend Dave. And then there was me on my little underpowered Honda CBR 500.
Dave lives near Eureka California and was up here to get some work done on his CanAm. Bill asked me to show Dave some of the good roads in the area.
It was a pretty mellow ride due in part to the post-rain condition of the roads, which made for some damp and leafy corners in shaded areas. It was also a long day, partly because we had no intercoms so that all conversation was during lunch or rest stops. I have to also admit that quite a bit of time was wasted due to me getting lost in Hood River and in trying to get around Stevenson, so, it ended up being about an eight hour ride for me despite going only 270 miles.
I had never even sat on a CanAm, much less ridden one, so I asked Dave at one of our rest stops if I could ride it around the parking lot. A lot of older guys switch to three-wheelers when they get too old or injured to ride a two-wheeler, and this was the case with Dave. He was a long time motorcyclist who had a bad crash that left him with an ankle that no longer worked very well. I've often said that when I can no longer ride a two-wheeler, I'm done, and will not switch to three wheels, so I was interested in at least trying one out.
It's a strange beast. It has only a foot brake to operate front and rear brakes, no clutch, and shifting by buttons on the left handlebar. There is also a park position in the trans and a reverse.
I think I will stick to my thoughts about not transitioning to three wheels after I quit motorcycles. The CanAm seems to have most of the disadvantages of a car........big and heavy and takes up a lot of space in the garage......with none of the advantages of a car such as heat and A/C, and protection from the rain. If you want to be out in the wind, buy a convertible like the Miata I had, and get the wind, but also the roof and heater when you need it. But the main objection with the three-wheeler is......IT DOESN'T LEAN. On the other hand, it doesn't fall down. Those damp and leafy corners didn't bother Dave at all.
Even Dave admitted when I asked him, that it wasn't as much fun as a motorcycle, but it still felt like he was riding, and he fit in pretty well with Bill and I on our bikes.
All in all, it was a really nice ride. It was good to see Bill get a ride in with Karen, who was in the midst of Chemo therapy. It was perfect autumn weather with some spectacular colors up in the mountains near Mt Hood. And I got a chance to meet a new rider and try out the three wheeled option.
