New motorcycle for Trike?

[Old55 10,122]

What motorcycle would be a good choice for a trike? Anyone have suggestions? Do any of your family members run a franchise and could share their experience?

A Yamaha YTX 125cc is suggested as they have two on the road now. This has been a profitable business for my family.

[Dave Hounddriver 26,802]

The Honda 155 TMX is the one I would go with.  Here is a link that gives you the reasons why.

https://tricyclesphilippines.wordpress.com/2020/02/14/is-the-honda-tmx-155-good/

[Tommy T. 5,994]

37 minutes ago, Old55 said:

What motorcycle would be a good choice for a trike? Anyone have suggestions? Do any of your family members run a franchise and could share their experience?

A Yamaha YTX 125cc is suggested as they have two on the road now. This has been a profitable business for my family.

All I can say is that the Kawasaki 150 I bought a few years ago had been used as a trike. The extra power of the engine seemed to be a plus to the previous owner... I always try to use any equipment with more power than is necessary so that it is not abused trying to run too much from a too little motor or engine... That's just my viewpoint, Old...

[Old55 10,122]

Dave and Tom a 150 seemed to me a better choice as well. A four stroke 150 would live longer and may have lower overall maintenance costs. 

 

[Snowy79 5,351]

Any big name motorcycle with ease of parts gets my vote.  Judging by the vast majority of tricycles I've seen is you can't go wrong with a 155cc Honda.  I've never once seen a 125cc tricycle.  By the time you've got 5 Filipinos the driver and some shopping onboard I think the engine would be strained and it's life greatly reduced. 

[GeoffH 3,886]

We have two family members with trikes, one has a Kawasaki motorcycle attached and the other one has a Honda motorcycle attached.

If the budget stretches to it I would suggest buying one of the 'commercial' single cylinder models from a japanese company becayse they are designed for the extra weight of commerical carrying use.  The TMX from Honda and the Barako from Kawasaki are both good choices.

There is a case to be made for choosing the 175cc Barako II which comes factory fitted with a second set of rear shock absorbers if the trike is going to be a large model carrying more passengers but it's probably overkill if it's mainly going to be used to carry school kids around (for example).

 

 

 

 

[sonjack2847 10,471]

I used to use a trike quite often and that driver had a Yamaha 175. As other people have stated 125 is too small.

 

[Old55 10,122]

Thanks guys.

Well it was decided. They all wanted to go with the small underpowered Yamaha YTX 125cc. My fear was we would pay the extra $500+ for the four stroke 150 and they would just buy the Yamaha anyway. They did not ask for a donation we surprised them with our offer. My sister in law and Niece have done very well with all their small endeavors never asking us for help.

[Snowy79 5,351]

29 minutes ago, Old55 said:

Thanks guys.

Well it was decided. They all wanted to go with the small underpowered Yamaha YTX 125cc. My fear was we would pay the extra $500+ for the four stroke 150 and they would just buy the Yamaha anyway. They did not ask for a donation we surprised them with our offer. My sister in law and Niece have done very well with all their small endeavors never asking us for help.

Maybe show them how much money they will save on fuel having a more powerfull machine that will cruise along in in a higher gear than reving the butt of a hairdryer to pull any weight. You're looking at 8hp against 12.7hp. 

[Old55 10,122]

I know better than to fight this, they "know" what's best.