Passes & Canyons Blog

I don’t really have a fixation on trikes these days, but they just seem to be where I am a whole lot lately.

Today I went on the ABATE of Colorado Last Brass Monkey Run, their traditional last ride of the year event. And I even joined, so now I’m an ABATE member. Well, not surprisingly, there were a few trikes in among the hundreds of two-wheelers, but then the really flashy ones showed up. These aren’t necessarily the best photos because the light wasn’t right for what I would have liked to have gotten. But you’ll get an idea of what these things were like.

This first one is one of these guys as he’s arriving, and I only got a grab shot, so missed the front wheel.

Here he is again, where you can see it a bit better.

And here’s one of his buddies. Notice the high-riding passenger.

There was a third but I didn’t get any useable pics of it. Oh well. But then a different three-wheeler showed up. This was the second Can-Am Spyder I’ve seen now. Here she has it in reverse gear, backing into a parking spot.

Biker Quote for Today

Now go put some miles on that thing!

What do you do if you’ve lost a leg but still want to pilot a motorcycle trike? In most states, to operate one of these vehicles you need a motorcycle validation on your driver’s license. That can be hard to get if you’re disabled in any of a number of ways.

Well, Colorado has answered that question. This one slipped by me but Terry Howard, State Coordinator of ABATE of Colorado, brought it to my attention when we spoke recently.

As of this summer, Section 1. 42-2-103, of the Colorado Revised Statutes, says, in part:

The department shall also require an applicant for a limited three-wheel motorcycle endorsement to demonstrate the applicant’s ability to exercise ordinary and reasonable care and control in the operation of a three-wheel motorcycle.

The act further states:

A person with only a limited three-wheel motorcycle endorsement may operate a three-wheel motorcycle but shall not operate a two-wheel motorcycle on a roadway.

This provision also applies to bikes with sidecars.
So there you go. You no longer have to have a full motorcycle license to ride a trike in Colorado. Credit for this goes primarily to ABATE of Colorado and the efforts it put behind getting this measure passed. By the way, ABATE of Colorado also offers rider training courses for three-wheelers and sidecars.

Biker Quote for Today

It is not what you ride, it is the fact that you ride.