Harley-Davidson Leans In A New Direction

After watching for years as customizers converted its iconic motorcycles to three-wheelers, Harley-Davidson brought back
a trike of its own. Now it's looking to turn things around with a three-wheeler that puts the extra wheel up front -- and makes the whole thing lean into corners.

Harley-Davidson's been toying with the idea of a leaning trike since at least 2006, when it
sought a patentfor its design. Now it seems Harley's bringing one to next month's
Intermot motorcycle showin Cologne, Germany.

That's the word from the guys at Norway's
MC24 motorcycle blog, which says the the trike will sport the 115 horsepower Revolution motor out of the V-Rod.

Conventional trikes like the
Servi-Carthat Harley-Davidson built from 1932 until 1973 and its
new Tri-Glide Ultra Classichave the third wheel in the back and do not lean into turns like motorcycles. But the front wheels of Harley's leaning trike -- the Tri-Rod, perhaps? -- pivot on an independent parallelogram suspension, allowing the trike to lean just like a two-wheeler. The design works beautifully on the Piaggio MP3 scooter, which is
a blast to ride, and also is seen on the the
Brudeli 625L. It should make the Tri-Rod easier to hammer through the twisties than the non-leaning
Can-Am Spyder.

Harley-Davidson hasn't responded to our requests for comment; we'll let you know if it does.

Images by Harley-Davidson from U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.