Hey Wayne,
I rode over to meet with Bob atTrinity yesterday to take a look at their operation and their trike kit technology. I was also able to get a ride on a Burgman 400 that has their trike conversion. Bob was also able to take pictures and measurements of the Leo Vince exhausts on my 650.
First of all I want to publicly thank Bob for his hospitality and taking the time to show me around. Overall, I'm very impressed with the quality of their trike conversion. It really looks like a factory unit on the trikes that I saw, including the 400.
The extent of the ride on the 400 was in a parking lot. I didn't get out on the highway, nor did I push it but my concern with the cornering handling characteristics (wheel lift, stability, etc.) have been eliminated. Even on the 400 the kit didn't seem to affect the performance, and does not feel heavy or restrictive in any way. It was very comfortable in terms of the suspension/ride. I did several tight quick figure 8's and there is no indication of any kind of instability, in fact it was very smooth, stable, has a very tight turning radius, and runs very straight and true. It is easy to do a 180 on a two lane road. I don't have an opinion in terms of highway speeds, so I'll reserve that when I get to ride the 650 trike. The 650 is much taller and heaver, and has a signigicantly higher center of gravity, so a ride on a converted 650 is gonna be essential before I make a final decision. The steering on the 400 (an 08) in the tight turns was a little stiff but I suspect that's just the nature of any trike, and I also suspect that using a car tire on the front wheel may be a good way to go.
I did find out that my hard Givi side bags will not fit (I have the E41s, with the German mounts). So my choice there would be to use the thinner bag, probably an E21 or lose the storage. The other concern I have is with my Uni-Go trailer hitch, which we think will work with some minor modifications.
Overall, Trinity's trike kit is an awesome real trike alternative to the addon units out there like the Danson, and TowPak. Actually the addon units from what I've seen couldn't hold a light to this. However, it is more expensive, at least for the Burgman 650. BUT, for anybody who is considering going to a $32k+ goldwing , it's still probably at least 5 times less expensive than that route. Plus, anybody with a pocket full of cash can buy a goldwing trike, and there will be 1000s of others out there just like it. Like I told Bob, I'm one of those guys who has always driven something a little different, so "why be normal"? This is the only way I'd consider "triking" my 650, and I'm considering it, but I wanna ride one first, preferably with my wife saddled up too.
Ed