So I was talking to a guy about motorbikes, 3 wheelers and quads yesterday. He said that the 3 wheeler didn't have something and that made it dangerous and was the reason quads are more successful. I know they have no suspension etc and obviously have one less wheel but what else is there? Something about the actual engineering of the vehicle? I'm not talking about inexperienced riders. Anyone help?


Biggest problem with them was turning. Due to the lack of a differential the only way to get them to turn was to lift the inside wheel ie lean outwards on the corners. Scary but fun until you found yourself going diagonally down a steepish slope into water & found the only way to not end up in the water was to tip the whole thing over on yourself. Nasty bloody things  


The short wheel base made a front flip possible with small bumps encountered in just the right place to set up a harmonic bounce. The flipped upside down 3 wheeler striking the operator thrown over the bars face down sliding along struck in the middle of his back with the rear seat.

They had suspension, but they did not have a differential, which means that in a turn the inside wheel is rotating at the same speed as the outside, this in turn means that when turning the trike has compromised grip, which adds to the compression of the inside suspension.

On level ground that makes the trike less stable, but on rough, or worse, sloping ground combined with a high centre of gravity, weight distribution and a short wheelbase (distance between fore and aft wheels), then the result is that it will turn over trapping the rider underneath.