Sunday 14 March 2010

Is 4 wheels really better than 2?

One of the best things about rallies is the variety of customizations on display, combined with the opportunity to talk to the folks who actually produce some of the weird and wonderful examples of motorcycle creativity.
Daytona was no exception with a wide range of stunning customs along with a few that would lead you to question: Why?
This is one such example.
Hannigan Motorsports have been around for a while and are known to make great products, especially in the area of trike conversions. But now they’ve taken it a step further and created a front-end kit which, when combined with their trike conversion turns your Honda GL1800 into a … car.
Goldwing quadThe fit, finish, and workmanship were all fantastic, but I was left with the sense that this was a solution looking for a problem. Why would someone take a $20,000 motorcycle, add a $10,000 rear trike kit, a $6,000 front trike kit, and paint it all to match when they could just as easily buy a nice little Miata convertible for a fraction of the cost?
The car advantages are obvious – no helmets required, a trunk to carry your stuff in, a roof to put up when it rains, cheaper insurance, and usable year-round. The Goldwing Quadracycle advantages? Honestly, none that I can think of other than novelty. Perhaps for some that’s enough, but for me it’s clearly not a motorcycle any more and if I wanted to enjoy the wind in my hair (what’s left of it) on 4 wheels, I’d be looking at something with a steering wheel and trunk.
To each his own, I guess.

6 comments:

  1. Seems you have ticked off someone at Honda LTD by the above comment, but I agree with you 100%. Plus, for me, it just looks stupid.

    ReplyDelete
  2. AZHD - Not sure what my new-found Japanese friend is trying to say, and Babylon won't translate, so I expect it's just a spam posting, which I have now deleted.

    ReplyDelete
  3. WHOA!!! It's a car in all but name.

    I would but a convertible sports car and some days, put the roof down....

    No, it's just wrong, wrong, wrong.

    ReplyDelete
  4. wtf?!? lol. sorry canajun, thats a car imho.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Gary - exactly. Give me a nice little rag top any day over that.

    Ken - Thanks.

    Ms. M - wtf?!? is right. And not a very good car either in terms of usefulness and function.

    ReplyDelete

Please feel free to comment, but any comments with commercial links will be deleted. You have been warned.