Landing gear, down...

Topics:  Honda Gold Wing

Gus Philpott
Woodstock Advocate
June 14, 2010

At a local store this evening I spotted this blue Honda Goldwing with its landing gear down. I had seen the bike on U.S. 14 a couple of weeks ago, and tonight seemed like the right time to get acquainted with the owner. His bike was in the parking lot; he had to be in the store.

View photo, 288KB

Another Woodstock resident and I waited about 10-12 minutes, and pretty soon here came Scott, the Goldwing's owner. We admired the "landing gear", and Scott explained how it works.

It is a manual, hydraulic system operated by a switch on the handlebars. The wheels cannot be lowered until the bike has slowed to approximately 18MPH. You can see in the photo that both tires are on the ground; that's because Scott is in the rider's position. Before he got on, the bike leaned slightly onto one of the tires.

When the wheels are up, they are well off the ground, so that the rider can enjoy the full lean of the bike in sweeping curves.

The system is manufactured by Safety Features, Inc. and can be viewed at www.trike-alternative.com Information is available by telephone at 888-452-2552. Tell them Scott in Woodstock sent you. He gave me a demonstration DVD, and you are welcome to it if you contact me.