Independent Rear Suspension

The smooth ride of the HT1500 is primarily due to our innovative suspension system that offers a ride like no other trike. The Trike Shop was the first to offer Independent Suspension for trike conversions over 14 years ago. The cynics said it would never work. They’re eating those words today. Talk to anyone who has actually ridden an Independent Rear Suspension and a solid axle system trike for a period of time and ask them which one rode better. You can’t deny Independent Rear Suspension is the way manufacturers of cars, SUV’s and ATV’s are going. Trikes are no different. These trikes are built with a purpose- “Touring”.

On the HT1500, the suspension is fully adjustable right from the dash controls with the optional air ride shocks, the same way the GL1500 was originally designed. This air ride system works great for adjusting the right height and sensitivity depending on the way the trike is loaded. The multi-point mount of the chassis to the frame actually strengthens the bike's frame as well as dissipates the added stress of a trike. We attach it to the existing mounting points on the frame. On the HT1500, we use the crash bar mounts, the top shock mounts and the swing-arm attachment point.

A feature of the trailing arm type independent suspension is the fact that there are very few moving parts. There are literally only two pivot points on each trailing arm and they are encased within urethane bushings. This eliminates any adjustments or maintenance requirements. There are more complicated way’s to design a suspension, but why?

True Track Stabilizer Bar

The stabilizer bar, also known as a sway bar is a flexible link between the two trailing arms. The bar uses the torsion effect to always try to keep the trike righted, or sitting square to the ground. The beauty of the stabilizer bar is the fact that when one wheel hits a bump, the bar can flex quickly to absorb the movement then return. This is the same technology used in almost every vehicle today. Just think if you had “no lean”.  This means your trike is always perfectly square to the ground. In effect, if you go over a 2” bump with your right or left wheel, the trike rocks up 2”. With Independent Suspension, just that wheel goes up. The antiquated solid axle system is only made today because it’s cheaper and easier. Technology has improved a lot in the short history of trike conversions but some are too stuck in their ways. We offer only the most innovative designs to our customers. That’s the Ultimate. No Compromises.

Longer Wheelbase

We increase the wheelbase on all of our conversions. This puts the rear wheels back behind the passengers’ seat area rather than sitting right on top of the wheels. Any vehicle that has a longer wheelbase will have a smoother ride. It’s just common sense. As an added benefit, the differential being farther back reduces the driveshaft angle.

Shaft Driven Differential

Our differential is constructed from standard automotive ring and pinion gear sets. There application includes many years and models of Dodge, Chrysler and Plymouth vehicles. They have a 2.76:1 ratio which is very close to the stock bikes overall gear ratio when used with our tire diameter.

Disc Brakes

Large disc brakes more than handle the stopping of this trike. Remember trikes stop faster and easier than bikes. With more tire contact area and much better stability, braking a trike is not the white knuckled balancing act that a bike can be. The wheel bearings, calipers and rotors are all from a high production automobile application. Like all of our constructed drive train, we use everyday parts off the shelf for your convenience.

Heavy Duty Driveshaft

We manufacture a completely new driveshaft built from full size automotive U-joints and a 2" tube. We use the same components used in cars and light trucks. If that design can propel that much weight, it should last forever in this application.

Heavy Duty CV Joints

The axles are custom made for our conversion kits, but the constant velocity (CV) joints are standard automotive applications such as VW and Porsche. We use automotive type parts for all of our drive train because it’s designed for a much heavier load. This means these parts will probably last forever in this light duty application. Again using off the shelf parts for your convenience

Alloy Wheels

The Alloy wheels that come

with our conversion kits are a clear-coated aluminum rim that have a similar look and finish to the bikes front rim. They are a 16" x 7”, 5 bolt on ; positive 35mm offset size that fits many automotive applications. We also offer a Chrome plated option. The tires are P215/55R-16.

Storage Compartment

The large storage compartment comes completely carpeted to both protect and store your riding gear. The trunk (4.5 cubic feet) has about 50% more capacity than the stock saddlebags.  This gives the benefit of having a larger space for you to fit larger objects into. If you choose not to get the auxiliary fuel tank, an extra 6”high x12”wide x12”deep

storage space can be added. The large

trunk door opening also allows for easier packing

or loading. The release for the saddlebags

under the Tour Pack is now used to release

the latch for the trunk. This convenient trunk

will fit all your gear securely away from the elements.

Factory styled body

The slick body design incorporates the look and feel of the original motorcycle. We feel the trike conversion body should melt seamlessly into the original body parts. The body is constructed of heavy-duty fiberglass. It is then painted with urethane paint, flat sanded, and buffed to a mirror finish to ensure a perfect paint match both in color and finish. The mounting system for the body ensures a rock solid attachment and no exposed mounting hardware. Notice the

added foot room for the passenger, another

feature of a longer wheelbase.

Trailer Hitch

With any touring machine, a trailer hitch is a familiar sight. When riding a trike, a trailer is not a danger like it is on a bike. The trike will never feel like there’s a trailer behind it. We include a 1 1/4” receiver style trailer hitch neatly tucked under the body. It is incorporated into the rear body support and is welded directly into the strongest part of our frame. This is not an option or add-on. It’s built right in. It's another one of the innovative ideas built into the design of our trike kit.

Warranty

The Trike Shop has an unparalleled history of customer service and satisfaction and we put it in writing with the best warranty in the market. Your trike comes with a full 3 year 1,000,000 mile warranty on the entire trike kit. We can offer this because we know with over 14 years of producing this type of conversion kit, we do it right the first time.

Check out the options tab for more information

AccuRide

This convenient new option is an auto leveling system that adjusts the suspension for various loads with Progressive Air Shocks. Using a magnetic sensor, AccuRide knows exactly how much to "air up" or "air down" the shocks depending on the load. This allows the trike to always be at the correct ride height, with no need for manual 

adjustment.

See AccuRide Video Here

Air Shocks

An alternative suspension option offered for the HT1500 is Air Shocks. These are high quality Progressive brand air shocks that allow you in integrate directly into the bikes existing compressor system. This allows the luxury of suspension adjustment from the dash, as the original GL1500 featured.

Wing Guards

Wing Guards are like a running board.  The main purpose is to protect your feet from the elements.  As another benefit, they just look cool.  They really seem to tie the front and rear of the trike together.  Our Wing Guards are made from tough fiberglass and supported by mounts in the front, middle, and rear.  We cover the areas where you may step with a non-skid material.  This new option for the HT1500 defines form and function for this ultimate touring machine.

Fuel Tank

We offer a unique auxiliary 5-gallon fuel tank for our HT1500. This is another first for the trike industry from The Trike Shop, catering to the serious touring rider. The reason for offering this option is not because our trikes get bad gas mileage. In fact, with our gear ratio and tire size, the mileage will usually only decrease by 3-5 MPG. The extra 5-gallon fuel tank is not to see how long you can go without stopping, but rather enjoying the reality that there are better places to take a break than a gas station. You’ll have a range of about 500 miles now. The fuel tank works by simply flipping a switch on your dashboard to pull fuel from either the primary or auxiliary fuel tank.

Extended Trunk

This fully carpeted trunk insert adds a 6" tall by 12" wide by 12" deep extra storage area at the front of your trunk.  This area makes a great place to tuck away your rain gear or chaps.  This insert basically takes the space where the auxiliary fuel tank could go.

Steering Kit

The 3 degree steering kit is an option that most people get, if not initially, someday. The GL1500 needs a 3-degree rake increase to make for a comfortable and stable trike. To explain what a steering kit does is a little complicated. It basically feels like power steering for your trike. It reduces the steering effort by about half. The front-end geometry of a motorcycle is designed with a certain amount of trail in the front end to allow the bike to counter steer easily and remain stable. On a trike we are not counter steering, but rather steering. This is the opposite of what the front end was designed to do. With our steering kit, we reduce the trail in the front end to give you better leverage at the handlebars to steer your trike. This gives you better mechanical advantage to turn the front wheel off of center. It’s like your handlebars are twice as wide as they really are. This can positively affect your fatigue level at the end of a long day.

Progressive Fork Springs

These are the ticket to improving your front-end suspension and are recommended with the steering kit.

Chrome Rear Rims

You can brighten up your wheels with this 16" x 7" chrome rim option.  They are a 5 x 4 1/2 bolt pattern with a positive 35mm offset.

Chrome Nerf Bumper

Our Chrome nerf bumper adds both protection and classic look to the back of your Roadsmith.  This bumper is constructed of 1 1/2" steel tubing with caped ends then fully polished and chrome plated for years of everlasting luster.  Functionally, the solid 5/8" bar bolts directly to the trike's frame.

Fender Spoiler Lights

These attractive additions will give your Roadsmith a nice detail to the top of the fender.  They also have running and brake lights built in.  This could technically be categorized as safety lighting!

Standard Mudflaps

These will make the person behind you a little happier in the rain and make your

Roadsmith look a little classier. 

They are mounted right to the frame with

black powder coated brackets. 

Lighted Mudflaps

These mudflaps will not only prevent that big rooster tail from soaking your buddies behind you, they have 6" Roadsmith LED lights in them that function as running and brake lights.

Wheel Well Trim Package

This is a 3/8" stick on trim that goes around your wheel opening.  It just finishes off the bike nicely.

Roadsmith Trike Cover

Protect your trike on its off days with this cover made of waterproof, rip-stop nylon.

Draw Bar

The trike conversion already comes with a built in receiver for a trailer.  This is the draw bar you'll need to actually tow.

Trailer Converter

This harness actually plugs right into the factory harness to give you a flat four connector for your trailer.

"Paint-Ready" Main Body

We can prep and prime the body so it's ready to be sanded and painted.

"Paint-Ready" Wing Guards

Here are the wing guards prepped and primed ready to be sanded and painted.

Solid Color Paint

We can paint and match to your bike's exact color.

Two-Tone With Stripe

We can paint your body two tone with matching pinstripe to match your SE model.

Wing Guards Paint

We can paint your wing guards to match the bike's exact color.

Click on the appropriate link to download a pdf file of installation instructions

HT1500 Installation Instructions

HT1500 Wing Guard Instructions

 Click here for Price List.