Trifun Owners Website
A site for Comments and Resources for Trifun Vehicle Owners
Updates on our TriFun Experience.
August 30, 2008 (click on the photos for larger views)
Theresa and I traveled to the
TriFun
Showroom and assembly plant over the Labor Day Weekend. Since the
launch of the new Truck is only a few weeks away, the entire Trifun
staff was working over the weekend to make sure everything would go
smoothly.
The owners, Troy, Jan, Tighe, and Tague Estes were very accommodating while Theresa and I climbed inside, over and under their first few vehicles.
They had several Trucks that represented the many improvements over the prototype that we had seen a few months ago. There were Red, Blue, White, Silver and Black versions of the Truck for us to see.
They had also set up a display of the history of Micro cars that the Estes family had owned over the years. You really need to visit their showroom to see these vehicles.
So many of our friends have been asking about the truck and what features it has, we decided to video tape our visit. For a small, inexpensive vehicle, it is loaded with features. We decided to shoot some video in an "owner's manual" format to show the features in some organized manor. Troy graciously answered our endless questions about each feature and even let us video tape him talking about the background of the truck. I will be posting the video in the next few days.
When we returned home I realized that I had shot over 3 hours of video.
What we began to realize on this visit was that it is very hard to remember that the Truck is a "motorcycle".
Some of the highlights of our visit:
The engine has new software and performs even better than before!
We also found out that the truck has very advanced
diagnostics built into the engine computer.
Fog Lights! We hadn't noticed it before. They look nice. Also the light switch on the Colum has "flash to pass".
The Truck Bed tilts up and has a prop rod. For us do-it-yourself guys, this means you can access the entire engine and transmission easily.
The Stereo plays all kinds of media, even DVDs. We even found the video output jack tucked under the dash ready to hook up to a video screen. You can listen to your music from CDs, DVDs, USB drives or SIM cards. It appears that it will play regular music CDs, MP3, MP4, and WMA music files. I wonder how many MP3 files will fit on a DVD?
Bigger Tires! The new 13 inch tires really make the Truck stand tall. It looks like the top of the cab is about 6 feet off the ground now. Theresa is 5' 2" next to the truck. I like the added visibility to other drivers. Remember, this is really an enclosed motorcycle and does not have the safety features of a 4 wheel car or truck.
The Seat backs tilt and the driver's seat slides up and back.
The windshield wipers have an intermittent setting as well as low and high speeds and a washer.
They added another defroster vent. The original only had one, now there is even more air flow for defrost.
Being in Florida, I didn't try the heater before. This time I found out that there is a coolant divert valve under the driver's seat that turns off the engine coolant flow to the heater. I remember having one of these on an older vehicle in the 60's.
The Spare tire is mounted under the back of the bed and it fits all three wheels on the vehicle and is not one of those mini spares. It is a full sized spare. The included jack and lug wrench makes it easy to change the back two tires. The front tire takes a little more work due to the axle and disk brake.
The suspension is much more solid than the prototype. The truck sticks to the road much better. Also it does not feel "tippy" on the three wheels. We found it was even harder to remember you were driving a motorcycle on our test drives.
Driving Experiences. Theresa and I both were able to spend a few hours driving the TriFun Truck around Ft. Lauderdale, Fl. Yes, everyone stares at the truck. We drove up and down Highway 1 that has a 50 MPH speed limit. We were able to keep up with traffic easily and reached speeds of up to 60 MPH. The cab was a little noisy compared to a car but very quiet compared to a motorcycle. The truck was amazingly stable in high cross winds from the ocean or other vehicles. It was very windy by the water from the hurricanes and the truck was very stable.
The roof vent really works great. When open, it faces forward and lots of air is forced in through the adjustable vanes.
The turning radius of the truck is great!
Visibility thru the large front windshield and big, outside rear view mirrors is excellent.
Shifting the 5 speed manual is much smoother than the prototype and very easy to learn. Theresa had not driven a stick shift in years and didn't stall out even once.
The truck bed is just great. You can fold the sides down, one at a time or take them all off.
August 30, 2008 (click on the photos for larger views)
Theresa and I traveled to the
TriFun
Showroom and assembly plant over the Labor Day Weekend. Since the
launch of the new Truck is only a few weeks away, the entire Trifun
staff was working over the weekend to make sure everything would go
smoothly. The owners, Troy, Jan, Tighe, and Tague Estes were very accommodating while Theresa and I climbed inside, over and under their first few vehicles.
They had several Trucks that represented the many improvements over the prototype that we had seen a few months ago. There were Red, Blue, White, Silver and Black versions of the Truck for us to see.
They had also set up a display of the history of Micro cars that the Estes family had owned over the years. You really need to visit their showroom to see these vehicles.
So many of our friends have been asking about the truck and what features it has, we decided to video tape our visit. For a small, inexpensive vehicle, it is loaded with features. We decided to shoot some video in an "owner's manual" format to show the features in some organized manor. Troy graciously answered our endless questions about each feature and even let us video tape him talking about the background of the truck. I will be posting the video in the next few days.
When we returned home I realized that I had shot over 3 hours of video.
What we began to realize on this visit was that it is very hard to remember that the Truck is a "motorcycle".
Some of the highlights of our visit:
The engine has new software and performs even better than before!
We also found out that the truck has very advanced
diagnostics built into the engine computer. Fog Lights! We hadn't noticed it before. They look nice. Also the light switch on the Colum has "flash to pass".
The Truck Bed tilts up and has a prop rod. For us do-it-yourself guys, this means you can access the entire engine and transmission easily.
The Stereo plays all kinds of media, even DVDs. We even found the video output jack tucked under the dash ready to hook up to a video screen. You can listen to your music from CDs, DVDs, USB drives or SIM cards. It appears that it will play regular music CDs, MP3, MP4, and WMA music files. I wonder how many MP3 files will fit on a DVD?
Bigger Tires! The new 13 inch tires really make the Truck stand tall. It looks like the top of the cab is about 6 feet off the ground now. Theresa is 5' 2" next to the truck. I like the added visibility to other drivers. Remember, this is really an enclosed motorcycle and does not have the safety features of a 4 wheel car or truck.
The Seat backs tilt and the driver's seat slides up and back.
The windshield wipers have an intermittent setting as well as low and high speeds and a washer.
They added another defroster vent. The original only had one, now there is even more air flow for defrost.
Being in Florida, I didn't try the heater before. This time I found out that there is a coolant divert valve under the driver's seat that turns off the engine coolant flow to the heater. I remember having one of these on an older vehicle in the 60's.
The Spare tire is mounted under the back of the bed and it fits all three wheels on the vehicle and is not one of those mini spares. It is a full sized spare. The included jack and lug wrench makes it easy to change the back two tires. The front tire takes a little more work due to the axle and disk brake.
The suspension is much more solid than the prototype. The truck sticks to the road much better. Also it does not feel "tippy" on the three wheels. We found it was even harder to remember you were driving a motorcycle on our test drives.
Driving Experiences. Theresa and I both were able to spend a few hours driving the TriFun Truck around Ft. Lauderdale, Fl. Yes, everyone stares at the truck. We drove up and down Highway 1 that has a 50 MPH speed limit. We were able to keep up with traffic easily and reached speeds of up to 60 MPH. The cab was a little noisy compared to a car but very quiet compared to a motorcycle. The truck was amazingly stable in high cross winds from the ocean or other vehicles. It was very windy by the water from the hurricanes and the truck was very stable.
The roof vent really works great. When open, it faces forward and lots of air is forced in through the adjustable vanes.
The turning radius of the truck is great!
Visibility thru the large front windshield and big, outside rear view mirrors is excellent.
Shifting the 5 speed manual is much smoother than the prototype and very easy to learn. Theresa had not driven a stick shift in years and didn't stall out even once.
The truck bed is just great. You can fold the sides down, one at a time or take them all off.
Headline 3
If you want to start some FUN, start a TriFun!
