Building a New Trike

Having decided that I want to build another trike with a larger motorcycle,  I went to look at a 1991 Yamaha Venture Royale today.  It is Yamaha's version of Honda's Gold Wing, a full dressed touring motorcycle.   There are many things I like about this motorcycle, including the foot boards instead of foot pegs, the 'toe & heel' shifter, it has a radio/cassette player, though it doesn't have the driver's backrest it does have the hardware for mounting one, it is water cooled, it is in fairly good shape and priced fairly low so mostly fits my budget. What I don't like about it is that it has too much 'stuff' on it and I don't mean the saddlebags and trunk.  The gas tank is built in so you don't actually see it and there is a lot of 'body' over the engine. I'm not sure how to explain it, maybe that it's an 'old foggy' bike or a 'nerd' bike... it's a very nice bike, just really not my 'style'.  It's so.... errrr.... Joe Citizen, and I'm a bit of a Rebel! Could I wear my 'biker leathers' with this, or would I need some fancy 'motorcycle suit' for it? Haha.  When I sat on it there was SO MUCH fairing, though I guess I would get used to that in time.

I didn't take photos of the motorcycle for sale, though I went to Google Images and downloaded photos of the 1991 Yamaha Venture Royale.  The first ones are pretty much exactly the same as the one I went to see, including the color blue.

These next photos are still the Yamaha Venture Royale, but are a different body style.  Much more what I want to own and ride!!  The fairing is much smaller, though still has the radio built in, it still has the saddlebags, trunk, etc, does not have as much plastic? over the body hiding the gas tank and engine.   If the motorcycle for sale looked like these ones, I would own it by now, lol.

Now check out this next photo.  This is one gorgeous trike!!  This is what I want for my trike!!  It is like the 2nd batch of above photos of the Yamaha Venture Royale that has been changed to a 3 wheeler which is called a trike.  I would be proud and happy to have this as my new ride!!

Alas, the one I saw is of the body style shown at the top of this post and as much as I do like things about it, I don't think I would love it as much as I would love one more of this body style, so I think for now I will continue to look for a motorcycle I am more attracted to, fits into my budget, and is easily converted to a trike.  After 3 awesomely wonderful summers of riding the trike I made from a 1983 Yamaha 650 Maxim motorcycle, I know I want to keep riding, and I know I need a bigger trike. My current one is great, and I've outgrown it.  I ride with 2 motorcycle riding clubs as well as some 'non club' friends. All theses other riders have big motorcycles and I like to keep up with the pack, not lag behind.  My 650 does keep up  with the 'big boys', but I fear the little guy will not last as long as he should running at the higher RPMs that it has to run at to keep up with the bigger bikes.  I know someone else will love the little guy and I will love my new, much larger trike.

This is a photo of my current trike.  I added a windshield after this photo was taken, otherwise it looks the same now as it did in the photo.  A motorcycle that looks like this one though is larger, has a much larger cc rating (instead of a 650 if it was 1100 or somewhere in that area) I would be very happy with as I do like the look of this one.  I do plan to have a totally different look to the trike portion on the new one.


I am so grateful for the little trike I have been enjoying for the last 3 summers.
I am so grateful for the wonderful, fun, adventuresome rides I've taken on my trike.
I am so grateful for the friends I've made while riding my trike and for the clubs I am a member of... All Canadian Riders Club, British Columbia Lone Wolves, Brothers of the Third Wheel.
I am so grateful for my 'leathers' that not only protect me while I ride, but also look good on me.
I am so grateful for my adventuresome spirit that allows me to get out and ride my own ride.