OK, I got this one going, now I have another question

I just got home this evening and found you post.

I did find one while I was in Fargo that is on the map.

Would have went to all four, thanks.

The one I saw was a Tadpole of $1650.

Thanks again.

 

OK everybody, Big day in Fargo.

Big Big Day

Great day!

Great Northern in Fargo had a Cattrike, I'm not sure which model so I have to call him tomorrow ands ask.

Black

$2150

He let me demo ride it.

A tadpole, two wheels front and underseat steering.

15 or 18 speed I'm not sure.

Three gears at the peddle and I'm not sure at the back.

All three wheels 20 inch I think.

The little levers for shifters on the steering levers.

Hand brakes.

Streets and sidewalks and parking lots galore.

I rode it out the door and ran for about twenty minutes non stop.

Pavement, grass, sidewalks, gravel,

Fast, slow, close to curbs, close to cars, straight lines, straighaways, everything but hills but there were a few minor lumps going up the grass and few slopes going in and out of the building.

20 minutes of pure bliss!

The first twenty minutes were great but the steering was a little close and I couldn't steer as good as I would have liked to but I wanted to keep going and I did.

Then I took it in and we talked and I told him about the steering and he adjusted it and I went back outside for some more.

He was really good about it.

Right away I was turning lots sharper and quicker.

Everything that was great, got better!

A mother and her child daughter were on a tandem DF and her ten year old son was on a kids bike.

We were all riding all over the place. We stopped and talked and had a great time.

She asked how I liked it and I told her I loved it and she said it looked like it was really good and I that was having fun.

I told her I was and that it was the greatest thing that ever happened.

She said it looked like it.

Her and I and the kids chatted for awhile and then we all went to riding again.

Total control.

Total and complete control and comfort beyond compare.

Unbelievable!

There is nothing like it.

That is why everybody is hooked.

The greatest thing that ever happened.

After about 20 minutes again I went back in and we talked some more.

I wanted to buy it but I wanted to look some more and still try the other like the Sun with both the two rear wheels and handlebars.

I gave him $10 for the kitty and thanked him profusely and told him I would be back after I did some more looking.

He happily took the money and thanked me and we shook hands and he made sure he knew who I was.

A great young guy.

Very knowledgeable and helpful.

He said they are not on commission.

I told him I could tell.

They have this magnificent old railway station with a sandwich shop restaurant and hundreds of everything and bikes and a open shop in the back and tons of open storage.

Highly recommended.

One recumbent bike each, the Cat Trike and a two wheel something.

The guy with the Sun on the other side of town had the same bike but it was a Sun.

Also a great bike.

The seat a little different and shock struts.

I didn't demo it but I sat in it.

It would be great too.

I didn't know until I got home that their were three more Sun dealers I could have went to that Max told me about.

I'll call them all tomorrow and go back tomorrow if they have the single in the front wheel and handlebar model and try that or something else of interest or otherwise I will go the 200 miles to Minneapolis sometime in the near future.

I have a small Ford Festiva that gets 40 miles to the gallon so I do pretty good.

Both the Cat and the Sun were pretty compact and I could actually transport them in the back of my little Festiva Hatchback.

That's a nice feature.

They won't carry much of a load but I don't really need that.

The Sun dealer just last week sold a used Cat for $1300.

He had had it all summer.

The guy I bid the $250 for the Retrike 707 in Minneapolis got back to me, he asked If I would go $300, I emailed back that I had to stick with the $250 because it's so far.

If he relents and lets me have it for $250 I will go get it and also look at all of the others that I'm sure their are in a big city like Minneapolis and Saint Paul.

I will haul one home inside and one on top.

The Retrike and a Tadpole.

I love it!

Thanks for listening and all of you guys help, it is most appreciated.

Have a good day!

 

I have tried both the delta and the tadpole In my opinion the tadpole is a better ride for me and much more stable cornering and descending at high speed

 

Yes and I like the maneuverability a lot to go with that in slow speeds.

Drive up to the picnic table in the grass or barbecue or campfire and maneuver easily and comfortably and safely around it and the people and dogs and trees and other obstacles easily and non intrusively enjoy what your doing.

The same with sidewalks and around town and home and shopping centers and whatnot.

The delta has more advantages on the road but far less in the above circumstances.

Were more precarious on the open road and vulnerable to cars and trucks.

I'm going to put a green with stripes reflective vest around my seat like the one that I wear and construction workers wear because the back rest covers me up too much and I am also going to put two sizable reflective flags on and very substantial head lights and tail lights and even turn signals and brake lights.

Big bold stuff.

I might even consider a strobe light.

That way they can see real good what their hitting.

Ha ha.

The social aspect that comes with this is fantastic and lovable.

As a person that can't walk that much and that far in a constant or even stand for more than a few minutes I can now go for hours.

I could get on this thing and go from 6 AM in the morning to midnight 12 PM, that's eighteen hours if anybody's counting and stop in the shade and take a nap once and a while along the way.

Get off and eat lunch and sit on the bench or ground for awhile.

I can't while walking just go all around talking to everybody but with this thing everybody talks to you.

Other bike riders acknowledge you and sport around with you too and smile and enjoy themselves too.

Making jumps and showing off.

Kids are great for that.

They know how to have fun and adventure and sport.

Mine will probably be the first one in my town of 10,000 and county of 30,000 people.

Fargo has a few, maybe one or two.

Probably a few more.

This coming from the guy at Great Northern Bike Shop.

He knows what he's talking about.

It's a definite discovery.

Nobody even knows about them or they don't want to ride that funny and awkward looking contraption.

They would be embarrassed or afraid and feel stupid.

I think you got to be a bit of a maverick or have quite a bit of need to get on one of these things.

That and a love of the great outdoors and the elements and a bike enthusiast in general.

I have all three plus loving the health benefits and social aspects immensely.

Great machines.

Henry Ford could easily have made and sold them and almost did but the motor age was taking over.

I see where they put both gas and electric motors on these.

I wonder how that works out.

Would get a guy through the mountains where he otherwise could not go I know that.

These things are far superior to motorcycles.

We can do everything.

Storage and transport space are limited but I don't mind that.

I could strap on my light guitar and case and carry my iPad and iPhone phone and laptop no problem and rain gear and a lunch and water and a few tools and pare parts.

Even a small tent and bedroll.

I'm sure a small trailer could also be added for Touring and transporting groceries and whatnot.

I like it that I can put it in the back of my car also.

I can't say enough good about these machines.

Have a good day.

 

WOW Tom!!!

Your enthusiasm is contagious. I started my bent life on a tadpole trike. It was a BLAST!!! I was always grinning from ear to ear when I rode it. It was like a pedal go cart.

The tadpole is like a sports car. The delta is like a boat. Depends on what you are looking for.

Let us know what you end up with. I enjoy reading your posts and new found freedom!

 

Don't understate a potential major flaw in delta-style trikes: the instability of having a single wheel up front. Geometry conflicts with motion physics. A fast turn without paying attention and you may get dumped in the middle of the road.

 

Super responses guys, thanks.

 

Good points by the way.

 

With a certainty.

It's the Tadpole for me for sure.

Nothing does it all overall better than the Tadpole.

I'm liking the 20" all around at this point and then the seat configuration and shifting and gearing mechanisms and suspension and shocks.

The frame of course and braking.

I would expect that a removable sun shield about 3' by 2' up above would be nice and my own invention so far along with the sun shield is to put a 12 inch piece of PVC Plastic pipe clamped onto the sunshield frame with a four foot water elm or cottonwood walking stick in it pointing up of course and with a removable flag on it.

I just got more visible guys.

Lots more visible.

Now I'm protected from the sun like you see many of the garden tractors have and when I stop and want to get out I reach up behind me at the corner and fetch my pole out of the pocket and take the removable flag off and use it as a brace to help me get out of my seat.

I now have a walking stick to carry with me.

If wild dogs attack me I also have a formable weapon.

I'll carry it with me and walk with it a lot of the time and other times leave it with my bike.

When I get ready to get back in my bike my pole will help me in nicely.

I want two raised and substantially sized mirrors, one on each side and a large tail light with two smaller turn signals and then a large powerful long lasting headlight with high and low beam and turn signals up front.

None of this is obtrusive or troublesome.

I don't listen to a lot of music but I like to keep tabs on what is going on so my stereo and radio system speakers that I can hook to my iPad and iPhone.

My water and food of course, a quart of water and three precooked frozen steaks waiting in my cooler 12 inch cooler, also at arms reach.

Simple basic stuff.

Toilet paper and bug spray.

Eye protection and rain gear.

About ten pounds for everything.

All this very easily removable except the lights and also a bend over or removable seat so I can get it in the back of my little festiva hatchback.

Good sound high quality wheels and tires and brakes and chain and gears and I should be good to go.

I would think I could build this myself handily by simply buying a frame and starting from scratch.

Kind of like building a computer from scratch.

Not that much to it once you get on to it.

I am very mechanical having torn my first bikes and cars down from top to bottom at a very young age.

Torn apart would be better said but the put back together and modified.

$500 for a good frame and $1,000 for all the rest should do it.

Another $500 if I need it to get to the near maximum quality and performance.

About $4,000 worth of machine here.

A few weeks of work getting everything figured out and purchased and put together and I'm sailing down the road grinning and smiling ear ton ear in our great outdoors.

The suspension and steering and shocks will be a little tricky but maybe not.

Just picking the right stuff that matches out perfectly.

There is little room for error here.

I love it.

Anybody know who's got the best frames.

This is a piece of cake, just like the computers.

Everything is out there including pictures and diagrams and video's of how to do it.

They have been doing it for way over a hundred years including this space age techknowledgy.

The magic of this computer age.

Digital age.

That reminds me of my filming and recording.

All I need is holders for my iPads and iPhone.

I'm live and on the web too with my "hot spot" Wi-Fi with me at all times.

Verizon 4G.

Live on the web.

Can you imagine if Henry Ford had had these computers and the internet available to him what he might have done.

I am ecstatic.

Absolutely ecstatic.

Thank You

I've always said,

"Give this dog a bone and see what he does with it"!

 

For a tail light I suggest the RealLite.

I happen to own 8 of them

• 2 are on recumbents (trikes)
• 2 on trailers
• 4 on DF

They will run for about 60 hours on the flash mode.

Gary

 

Thanks Max I'll look into that.

That Windcheetah on eBay is sure interesting.

That joystick and shifting mechanism is scary though.

 

OK, I'll keep that in storage right here, thanks

 

Catrike Villager

http://www.catrike.com/#!villager/cmei

I can get this trike I think, a brand new demo with warranty for $1,700

Cash total out the door.

I'm at $1,825 right now but I think I can improve that.

Nobody is buying them and it's late in the year.

It's really tempting.

That's the same bike I rode in Fargo the other day only silver instead of black.

A great bike.

There are no doubt some better but it's right up there, I'm sure of that.