Trifun Owners Website
A site for Comments and Resources for Trifun Vehicle Owners
October 12, 2008.
We finally have our Vehicle!
We waited until we had the first 1500 miles on it to post an update.
Now that we have put some miles on the vehicle, we can share a few of our experiences.
First and foremost, this vehicle is FUN to drive! We have a Buick as our other vehicle and we find that we ALWAYS take the TriFun when we go out. That says a lot for the ease of use. The TriFun is easy to park, turns on a dime, gets lots of looks and waves from other motorists and saves gas money too.
We are already planning some modifications to make the TriFun uniquely our own.
A few random thoughts that I'm sure we and others will explore in detail:
The engine starts and runs every time! Smooth and reliable, the fuel injected little engine provides the confidence to take our TriFun on longer trips. Ours has made the trip from our home in Cape Coral, FL to Fort Lauderdale, Fl several times. A round trip of over 300 miles! At an average speed of 55 miles per hour the vehicle very smooth and stable. We have reached 75 miles per hour a couple of times. The vehicle feels stable but quite noisy at that speed.
Everywhere we stop for gas, food or shopping we always have to plan a little extra time to show our new TriFun to the many curious people that come up for a closer look.
The insurance quote was an added bonus. Since the TriFun is a "motorcycle" in Florida, the insurance quote was a surprising, under $400 per year with lots of coverage and low deductable.
The TriFun rides very smoothly at all speeds on good roads. With its short wheelbase and stiff suspension, it does not tend to lean when turning or making lane changes. We have found that when you drive it as you would a normal car, you tend to forget it has only one front wheel. We are still learning what the limits are but have not had a wheel off the ground yet. We have learned to take bumpy driveway entrances straight on and not at an angle. We have also learned that the stiff suspension makes the speed bumps in parking lots worth slowing down for.
The power assisted brakes work very well and stop the vehicle quickly and straight.
The manual steering is easy and can turn the vehicle around completely on a 2 lane city street. The only time the steering is a little hard to turn is when the vehicle is sitting still.
The Transmission shifts smoothly and seems to have very low 1st and 2nd gears. The stick shift is easy to operate and takes just a few times to get used to the gear locations. The pedals are somewhat small and more directly below your feet. After a while you find yourself using the "toe" end of your feet for the pedals which allows your heels to rest on the floor. This is a little different than the recliner like angle of most vehicles. We find the more upright seating to be less hard on your back for longer drives.
The roof vent provides huge amounts of fresh air and minimizes the need for the AC. We are thinking of adding a screen to the vent after going thru a swarm of little bugs at 55 MPH. Lucky for us it wasn't a swarm of bees that we sucked into the cab.
We have found a few rattles and easily fixed them.
We like the great big windshield. The view of the road is better than our full size Buick.
Driving in the rain is smooth, dry inside and stable also. Try that on any other motorcycle.
We have used the touch up paint that came with the vehicle on the bed hinges. We open and close the bed sides and back quite often to show people how they work and have found that the latches fit very tight but can chip the paint on the hinge a little.
Now that we are thru the break in period we will also be doing some mileage tests. The small tank and short filler neck has made it difficult to get an accurate fill up from one gas station nozzle to the next. We'll keep you posted on it.
We have lots of other tidbits of information to share and will start a page of tips that we and other owners can share.
We'll add some more photos too!
Regards,
Jim and Theresa
We finally have our Vehicle!
We waited until we had the first 1500 miles on it to post an update.
Now that we have put some miles on the vehicle, we can share a few of our experiences.
First and foremost, this vehicle is FUN to drive! We have a Buick as our other vehicle and we find that we ALWAYS take the TriFun when we go out. That says a lot for the ease of use. The TriFun is easy to park, turns on a dime, gets lots of looks and waves from other motorists and saves gas money too.
We are already planning some modifications to make the TriFun uniquely our own.
A few random thoughts that I'm sure we and others will explore in detail:
The engine starts and runs every time! Smooth and reliable, the fuel injected little engine provides the confidence to take our TriFun on longer trips. Ours has made the trip from our home in Cape Coral, FL to Fort Lauderdale, Fl several times. A round trip of over 300 miles! At an average speed of 55 miles per hour the vehicle very smooth and stable. We have reached 75 miles per hour a couple of times. The vehicle feels stable but quite noisy at that speed.
Everywhere we stop for gas, food or shopping we always have to plan a little extra time to show our new TriFun to the many curious people that come up for a closer look.
The insurance quote was an added bonus. Since the TriFun is a "motorcycle" in Florida, the insurance quote was a surprising, under $400 per year with lots of coverage and low deductable.
The TriFun rides very smoothly at all speeds on good roads. With its short wheelbase and stiff suspension, it does not tend to lean when turning or making lane changes. We have found that when you drive it as you would a normal car, you tend to forget it has only one front wheel. We are still learning what the limits are but have not had a wheel off the ground yet. We have learned to take bumpy driveway entrances straight on and not at an angle. We have also learned that the stiff suspension makes the speed bumps in parking lots worth slowing down for.
The power assisted brakes work very well and stop the vehicle quickly and straight.
The manual steering is easy and can turn the vehicle around completely on a 2 lane city street. The only time the steering is a little hard to turn is when the vehicle is sitting still.
The Transmission shifts smoothly and seems to have very low 1st and 2nd gears. The stick shift is easy to operate and takes just a few times to get used to the gear locations. The pedals are somewhat small and more directly below your feet. After a while you find yourself using the "toe" end of your feet for the pedals which allows your heels to rest on the floor. This is a little different than the recliner like angle of most vehicles. We find the more upright seating to be less hard on your back for longer drives.
The roof vent provides huge amounts of fresh air and minimizes the need for the AC. We are thinking of adding a screen to the vent after going thru a swarm of little bugs at 55 MPH. Lucky for us it wasn't a swarm of bees that we sucked into the cab.
We have found a few rattles and easily fixed them.
We like the great big windshield. The view of the road is better than our full size Buick.
Driving in the rain is smooth, dry inside and stable also. Try that on any other motorcycle.
We have used the touch up paint that came with the vehicle on the bed hinges. We open and close the bed sides and back quite often to show people how they work and have found that the latches fit very tight but can chip the paint on the hinge a little.
Now that we are thru the break in period we will also be doing some mileage tests. The small tank and short filler neck has made it difficult to get an accurate fill up from one gas station nozzle to the next. We'll keep you posted on it.
We have lots of other tidbits of information to share and will start a page of tips that we and other owners can share.
We'll add some more photos too!
Regards,
Jim and Theresa