Today’s Wall Street Journal has an interesting front-page article entitled “The Easier Rider” which profiles a new three-wheeled motorcycle dubbed the “trike.” Among many mototycling enthusiasts the three-wheeled contraption is being ridiculed as nothing more than a small, three-wheeled car. I don’t ride a motorcycle, but I think the trike could meet with a great deal of marketplace success.
For starters, mototcyclists are getting older. As they get older they tend to value safety more than “looking cool.” Secondly, as they age, they are also getting larger. As riders put on more pounds, their motorcycles also become more difficult to manuever. The trike addresses this pesky poundage issue. Finally, I think the trike could catch on with a new group of people who may be attracted to the trike’s fuel-efficiency . With the price of oil hovering near $100-a-barrel, I think a number of people might be willing to suffer a little ridicule as long they don’t have to shell out $50 or more every time they fuel up at the local gas station.
As always, when thinking about the future, I’d encourage you to “think like a child.” And when you were young, a part of the initial excitement of riding a trike was simply the fact that you were moving on your own power. As America ages, I can see a great way people wanting to either retain that feeling or return to it—and if a three-wheeled motorcycle is one way to do that then so be it.
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Jack Uldrich is a writer, futurist, public speaker and host of jumpthecurve.net. He is the author of seven books, including Jump the Curve and The Next Big Thing is Really Small: How Nanotechnology Will Change the Future of Your Business. He is also a frequent speaker on future technology and future trends, nanotechnology, innovation, change management and executive leadership to a variety of businesses, industries and non-profit organizations and trade associations.
