Trike Stability

[kiwicanfly]

I was following a Harley trike today and could not help noticing how unstable it appeared to be.

Every time it hit an uneven surface where one rear wheel lifted separately to the other it would veer to one side, not huge amounts but enough to be interesting ...... from an observers point of view anyway.

Thinking it through I figured that as one side lifted at the rear the front wheel would also lean thus turning the machine as if it were a bike.

Is this an inherent problem with standard trikes? Or was it just because it "was built for long smooth straight American roads"?

Do the reverse trikes suffer this problem also? Or, due to the rear wheel driving only, is the problem non existent?

[robin]

reliant regal, robin, bond bug ?? been tried before and they fell over

[exninja]

Two wheels in the front is better than two in the back, but it's still there. It doesn't have to do with which wheels are driving, but the direction of the acceleration force (or centripetal force) that is "pushing" the trike over. Some of the newer trikes lean into the turns to prevent it. I have a pedal tricycle with two wheels in the front. I have to really lean the corners if I don't want to slow to a crawl to go around. If a wheel comes off the ground, a little tap of the brakes rights it. Haven't tipped over yet (knock on wood).

[rcnut]

You could just drive a Carver One if you want a stable trike.

[kiwicanfly]

This thing was just going (supposededly) in a straight line.

Never saw it attempt a corner.

Reading my first post I mention a wheel lifting, I was not talking about a wheel leaving the ground, just relative height changes from road undulations.

Basically it looked more of a handful to drive than it should have and I bet I was bought with the sales pitch three wheels are more stable than two