Passenger Trains > Auto-Train suspends carriage of certain three wheel motorcycles

Amtrak has a note up indicating that only two wheel motorcycles and three wheelers which have two wheels in the back are acceptable for the Auto-Train. Motorcycles with two wheels up front are no longer acceptable.  Amtrak is already working with Slingshot, Rewaco, and other makers to come up with a solution.

Bikes are pulled by small green Deere tractors using small, wheeled flats onto the auto-racks.  In sone cases, two bikes will be secured side by side. In others, just one bike goes on a flat. The bikes are video taped, just like cars. The bikers supervise / help Amtrak people secure them in place.

The motorcycle part of the Auto-Train has grown over the years, with some trips selling out as groups of bikers use the train to leap frog various routes.  On one trip last year, a substantial group of bikers from Tampa and central Florida were headed up for a week of travel in the Blue Ridge mountains.  Bikes, vans, several support trucks, etc. They were quite happy with the Amtrak group sales unit's help in putting together their trip.

Whadayya callin' a Trike?

I always wondered why people bought trikes, until a rider explained to me that "you don't need a motorcycle license to ride one."

In OR and WA it requires a special test and endorsment the new thing that doesnt even look like a motorcycle of any kind dont know about that and was told they have not gotten a handle on exactly what to do with them. Nice to hear that Amtrak is letting bikers help them as many think more of them than other people in there lives. 
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> I always wondered why people bought trikes, until
> a rider explained to me that "you don't need a
> motorcycle license to ride one."

I can't understand why the government banned 3 wheeler ATV's but you can still buy a 3 wheel motorcycle????
It is fussy math that makes one 3 different from another 3??

santafe49 Wrote:
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> I can't understand why the government banned 3
> wheeler ATV's but you can still buy a 3 wheel
> motorcycle????
> It is fussy math that makes one 3 different from
> another 3??

Off road three wheelers ride completely different. They had no rear differental, so to turn you lift the inside wheel and balance on the outside and front. It takes only a small bump to roll over to the outside of the turn. Street trikes do not have this problem, especially the ones with 2 front wheels.

Scott Schifer
Torrance, CA
TinyTrains Website

Waiting to see what they do with Elio

http://www.eliomotors.com



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/15/17 18:59 by RevRandy.

Not true in Illinois!!  Trikes require a motorcycle endorsement

I'm interested in a trike because of bad knees (arthritis) and neuropathy in my feet

CB



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/15/17 23:16 by CountryBoy.

put them on pallets

santafe49 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I can't understand why the government banned 3
> wheeler ATV's but you can still buy a 3 wheel
> motorcycle????
> It is fussy math that makes one 3 different from
> another 3??


The single wheel up front is prone to rolling. Just watch the Top Gear episode on the Reliant Robin on YouTube.

Posted from iPhone

dan Wrote:
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> put them on pallets

The current plan has the bikes brought / ridden onto the wheeled flats. Palletizing them in addition to the wheeled flat would require several more steps in what's an efficient process.

Posted from Android


(edited to clarify how the current process works.  I have pictures of the flats and unloading somewhere, I'll see if I can find them)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/16/17 08:46 by Lackawanna484.

As of a few years ago, Virginia also requires a specific license to operate a three-wheeler, an "M3" class. "M2" class covers two-wheeled motorcycles. "M" means you can legally ride both. Operators licensed under the old regime were grandfathered as an "M", but new licensees must either test at the DMV or take a training course specific to either two- or three-wheeled motorcycles. For what it's worth, Virginia also has an "autocycle" classification that covers the Slingshot and so forth. That's for a vehicle that has three wheels, but with automobile-style hand and foot controls, including a steering wheel. You don't need a motorcycle license for an autocycle.

Some of these Spyder and similar rigs can be quite pricey, so I'm wondering if Amtrak was hit with damage claims or something due to machines getting loose in transit, or otherwise damaged by a tie-down.

I've used AutoTrain to ferry a motorcycle to Florida in the early Spring (rode it back via a scenic route, i.e., not 95.) It was an enjoyable trip, and service on Amtrak was excellent from beginning to end. You're there to witness the loading and unloading--basically you sit on the bike while it's tied down and released from the pallets (wheeled flats) by Amtrak personnel. All movements off the pallets are the owner's responsibility. Unlike cars, an Amtrak worker is not riding your bike or even pushing it around, except on a pallet.

Another tie-down story: I've used the SS Badger to cross Lake Michigan with my motorcycle, and they require you provide your own tie downs, and the crew was pretty blase about the whole thing. Glad the lake was calm and we didn't have a rough crossing that day.

Paul Wilson
Arlington, VA



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/16/17 08:49 by Dcmcrider.