I am fortunate enough to have driven both the M3W and the Triking; two Mogs actually, both 2013 and I don’t think either had any of the various suspension or compensator upgrades. The Triking was from the mid 80s and was unusual in that it had a Centauro engine (992cc) installed, one of the previous owners being a Moto Guzzi mechanic.
I didn’t notice a big difference in dimensions, the Morgan being the slightly larger of the two. It also had a bit more room around the pedals though neither had the space to allow fitment of a dead pedal for one’s clutch foot. The Morgan seemed more solid but that could easily be due to almost 30 years difference in age and well more than 300lbs difference in weight. And, despite some oil breather problems due to a peculiarity of the Centauro engine and the old style stamped steel front engine and suspension carriage, the kit car wore its years very well. One can have the Triking folks put together a 3 wheeler to order for considerably less than a Morgan and have it better equipped. In this case at least, calling the Triking a “kit car” as a way of disparagement is misplaced. It also has the advantage of 30 years of development, some of which, if I remember Peter Dron correctly, Morgan was aware of and chose to ignore.
The two were completely different in the driving: Turning the steering wheel of the Morgan reminded me of the non-power steering in my mother’s ’62 Falcon sedan. It was surprisingly heavy for such a small vehicle with motorcycle tires in front and the turning radius was terrible. The Triking felt like what I expected, light. That said, as noted before, the M3W felt solid, like a car. The Triking was a little dance-y about the back end when going over rough road, possibly due in part to a motorcycle rather than an automotive type.
Aside from being able to see the engines stuck out front in the breeze, it is obvious from inside that one is sitting behind two cylinders in both cases. The highly touted smoothness of the 90º Guzzi is a relative thing. My flat four Subaru is so vibration free that even after 10 years of ownership I still occasionally forget to upshift. That would never happen with the Guzzi. The 2 liter, 56º S&S has lots of “character,” so much character that it threatens to tear apart the drive train. It’s certainly entertaining to row through the gears but the price for that entertainment has been, for many, less entertainment – because something broke.
Triking styling is a mixed bag: The pointy front offends me less than it does others and I’d be happy to embrace it if it wasn’t attached to the back end, which shows its roots in the late 70s – not a great era for automotive styling to begin with. The fairings, protrusions, whatever they call them, that support the tail lights or a license plate completely miss the simplicity of the beetle back design that inspired it. Engineering problems aside, Morgan was able to update the style without diluting it. The M3W is easily the more handsome of the two.
Thus my dilemma.
