Too Kool Cycles TRT

A bloke called Jim Harrell has developed an intriguing tilting trike conversion for Harley-Davidson touring motorcycles, a conversion that he expects to sell for between $8000 and $12,000.

Jim has developed this tilting (and locking) front end for Harley-Davidson touring bikes after he found few trikes that fitted his requirements of stability and a tilting suspension setup.

And so the Too Kool Cycles TRT, or tilt reversing trike, was born.

According to Too Kool Cycles, "The primary benifit of The Too Kool Cycles TrT kit maintains the natural feeling of a standard motorcycle while improving handeling and safety. In the works, patent pending, is vertical locking mechanism that prevents the rider from 'walking the bike' at idle speeds."

The front end conversion comprises a rebuild front end made up of coil over shock absorbers and A-arms that allow the wheels and the bike's body to tilt, aiding cornering. It's not until a much larger (and wider) version of the Piaggio MP3.

Jim Harrell told The Kneeslider blog the conversion takes around seven days to build and he plans to begin taking orders from American customers soon.

"Is this a kit someone buys and goes home and assembles? No. If someone is interested we will do the installation and functional testing," says Harrell. "Right now it’s intended for late model Harley touring bikes, but versions for other models and makes are in the planning stages."

The 'reversible' part of the name refers to the fact that the tilting front end can be removed and motorcycle returned to its original state: "The package in no way molests the original bike. You can unbolt the complete snout and put the original single wheel and forks back on in several hours," explains Harrell.

"I have 300 plus miles on road testing from Interstates to back roads with special emphasis on the roundabouts and the congestion of downtown Charleston SC. As with anything, tight conditions take some getting used to, by design the bike does drive vertical, only at slow and low speed and thus does not attack the rider with the unwanted physical dynamics. Once up to speed the bike performs very well with no problems. It’s different though with two front wheels out there and the bike tilting."

The suspension system looks effective and the design could take off in a big way if American H-D riders get on board. However what do you guys think of the front cowl styling? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.