After a brief spin around the parking lot, I was soon out on the road with the Renegade. There, I immediately found that while the controls (brakes, clutch and shifter) work exactly the same, a trike is vastly different from a motorcycle. With the paired rear wheels, the handlebar must be pushed and pulled forcefully to change direction.
Soon I was whipping the trike around some backroads, yet I was still concerned about that understeer. While riding, I was always aware that I was dealing with a 1,140-pound machine with a lot of additional rolling friction and wind resistance. It requires more throttle and clutch slippage to start from a standstill, and if you plan to carry a passenger and pull a trailer, you might consider gearing it down by changing sprockets. In a solo day ride of mostly highway miles at around the legal limit in hilly terrain, our Lehman Harley conversion turned 32 mpg, while the Electra Glide Classic I'd recently tested turned 38.4 mpg in more aggressive riding conditions. And yes, braking force is huge.
In any other situation in which the trike has to be maneuvered backward, you'll be wishing for help. One option I highly recommend is reverse. Lehman has partnered with Baker Drivetrain, which manufactures the F6R reverse kit, a modification to the stock Harley-Davidson six-speed transmission that first appeared in 2006. With the engine running, the rider flips a switch that electrically allows the reverse to be engaged. Pull in the clutch, shift to first gear, then shift down again. You feel the transmission engage another gear—reverse —and when you let out the clutch, the bike begins to move backward under engine power, just as it would in any forward gear. When backing is completed, the rider pulls in the clutch, flips the switch, lifts the shift lever with the left toe and is immediately in first gear.
Editor Response Thanks for sharing Michael!