#three-wheeler

Bombardier Recreational Products has filed for patent designs for what appears to be a new Can-Am Spyder. The patents, at least five in all, show various aspects of the vehicle’s bodywork. They were filed on March 20 with the European Union Intellectual Property Office, but only published and fully registered today.

Cristina has been around powersports her entire life. Motorcycles, four-wheelers, UTVs, etc. She grew up in a family where she watched her father and his brothers grow their motorcycle business from a small shop shipping Harley-Davidsons overseas, to three multi-line dealerships and a parts distribution business that supplies over 3,000 independent shops with OEM parts.

Hopefully, you watched the video above to get you in the mood to learn more about the 2019 Yamaha Niken. Back in October 2017, we got our first look at Yamaha’s three-wheeler via the Tokyo Motor Show.

Polaris today announced a more luxurious variant of its Slingshot family, the Grand Touring LE. It features as standard equipment the Slingshade roof that was introduced as an accessory a few months ago, as well as quilted Comfort Seats that have previously been accessory items.

The three-wheeled Yamaha Niken will be coming to the U.S.A. in the second half of 2018 as a 2019 model. Yamaha Motor USA confirmed the news after the Niken was presented at the 2017 EICMA show with the help of the Doctor himself, Valentino Rossi.

UPDATE: We’ve added a couple of shots of the Yamaha Niken from the Tokyo Motor Show.

Okay, so it’s got a steering wheel and bucket seats, but it’s classified as a motorcycle in many states, and we weren’t going to turn down a chance to drive a lightweight three-wheeled car powered by a six-cylinder engine from BMW’s K1600 touring platform. That, as it turned out, was a smart choice, as the T-Rex is one of the most exhilarating motor vehicles you can aim down the road – the twistier, the better.

Remember when the Slingshot first debuted and motorcyclists poo-poo’d the contraption as a waste of money that nobody would want? Well, it’s three years later and our roads are now spattered with some 20,000 Slingshots being driven by all sorts of people, many of them motorcycle enthusiasts.

Polaris announced its 2018 Slingshot lineup including a new limited edition version of the Slingshot SLR. The base-level Slingshot is now known as the Slingshot S, and it sees a two-grand price drop to $19,999. This brings the 2018 three-wheeler line up to four models: the Slingshot S, Slingshot SL, Slingshot SLR and the new Slingshot SLR LE.

If you’re of the opinion the Vanderhall Venice is not a motorcycle and shouldn’t be reviewed by a magazine with the URL Motorcycle.com, don’t read this story and spare us the snide remarks in the comments section. If, on the other hand, you’re open-minded and accepting of the fact the Vanderhall is a reverse trike with bucket seats and a steering wheel, and, by default, a motorcycle as far as the California DMV is concerned, keep reading. Feel free to then leave a comment, snide or otherwise. It’s like voting, if you don’t participate, you have no right to complain.

If California is the land of motorcycles and Detroit’s the automotive capital, then Quebec must be Mecca for three-wheelers. Maybe there’s an inherent character trait in Quebec, a province that has carved out a French-speaking culture in a predominantly English-speaking continent, that leads some to want a similar niche for three-wheeled vehicles where four is the norm.

Maybe somebody beat you with a kickstand when you were a child, and you carry an irrational fear of them? Let it go, with the MP3 you can relax, you don’t need one. With a little practice, you can flip the right-thumb button inward just as you’re coming to a stop, which clamps the caliper to the ¼-of a brake-type disc which holds the MP upright. The people in the cars look at you with even greater suspicion. As soon as you twist the throttle to blast off, the lock releases and in town, most of the time, you’d never really know you had two wheels up front. (If you’re rolling backwards, though, the upright lock won’t release until you thumb the lever!) The lock-up mechanism even has its own ECU.

Having the chance to partake in our recent 3 Wheeler shootout, I was fortunate enough to pilot three very different machines. Two of which, let’s face it, are basically cars with one rear wheel. Apart from the obvious fun we were having romping on the different “motorcycles,” what I distinctly remember was the ease at which I was willing to explore the limits of the Morgan 3 Wheeler and the Polaris Slingshot, the former void of any electronic aids, the latter with switchable stability control (the Spyder F3 stability system is always on).

On November 4, 2014, Polaris Industries received notification from the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles that, despite previous approval, the Slingshot three wheeler would not be allowed to be registered as a motorcycle. This change in classification means that the Slingshot would not be licensable for use on Texas roads because it lacks many features required for classification as an automobile. At issue, according to Polaris, is the definition of a saddle:

A few months ago we reported a press release from Travertson regarding confirmation of a forthcoming three-wheeler. We now have updated information from Travertson about its new Stryker 2.0, including some specifications and artist renderings of the vehicle expected to debut next Spring. (Oops, strike that. After informing Travertson about the Stryker from Yamaha’s Star brand, the Florida-based company has decided to name its three-wheeler the Striker 2.0.)