Trike 42

You meet all sorts in this job – amazing characters who are all utterly different. That’s one of the great perks of being editor. And we definitely have some characters in this issue! From the irrepressible Jim and Luke from Smiley Monkey Customs to the wildly individual Dee from Cornwall, the phrase “larger than life” doesn’t even begin to do ’em justice. Just as well we have their work to speak for them – and what an incredible mix of trikes fill up this issue. At one extreme, we have a stunning 1960s-style show machine from the USA that’s perfect in just about every detail. At the other extreme, we have a Cornish rat trike with individualism stamped in every cranny of its dragon skull-encrusted frame. In between, we’ve got a quad…

A brand new trike has arrived at UK Harley-Davidson dealers: the Freewheeler. Joining the existing Tri Glide full-body cruiser in Harley’s threewheeled line-up, the Freewheeler sports more of a stripped-down custom style. The Freewheeler’s classic cruiser lines are accentuated by bobtail rear mudguards, slash-cut exhaust pipes, Mini Apehanger bars and ‘Enforcer’ alloy wheels. Harley says the 12-inch Mini Apehanger bars are the tallest rise you can get from an OE manufacturer, siting the hand controls close to the rider and thereby reducing the force it takes to turn the front wheel. Harley describes the Freewheeler as “an easy riding, easy handling machine” while the 49mm front forks and adjustable rear suspension “make the ride easy.” The 19-inch Street Glide-style front wheel is distinct from the Tri Glide’s fat 16-inch wheel, shod with 130/60…

JUNE 2-4th June: Unwanted MCC’s Bike Trike & Custom Show at the Rockbar, Shobnall Sports & Social Club, Shobnall Road, Burton on Trent, Staffs DE14 2BB. Ring 07761 931226 or 07988 521400 or email unwantedmcc@aol.com. 9-11th June: Boring Old Fartz MCC’s Whistle with the Wind Rally at Birmingham and Solihull Rugby Club, Foreshaw Lane, Portway, Birmingham B94 5LH. Live bands, trophies, silly games, stalls, real ale and ciders, showers, run out on Saturday. £13 prebook or £16 on the gate. Tickets from Jean Butler, 88 Fordbridge Road, Kingshurst, Birmingham B37 6LN or ring 07967 292545 or email twigbutler@hotmail.co.uk. Car parking on field £10. Disabled toilets. No fires, no mini motos. 9-11th June: Smoking Dog Rock and Custom Show at Croft & District Working Men’s Club, Hurworth Road, Darlington, Co Durham DL2 2DA. Live…

I first saw the beginnings of this trike in the back of my club brother Buzz’s workshop, covered in shit and dust and three-quarters of a half-finished Reliant trike. There were two humongous Halibrand wheels sitting one on top of the other and a frame with a GT-type motor sitting in it. I quite fancied it then mostly because of the wheels, I have to admit, but Buzz being Buzz, it wasn’t for sale – he said it was a future project and he was basically a hoarder. A couple of years passed and Buzz got ill and had to go into hospital. Obviously I went to see him and found out he had cancer of the liver and wasn’t going to make it. He did well, the stubborn git, and…

I’m a cabinet-maker by trade, but I’m a custom painter, airbrush artist and glassfibre specialist by nature. I was made redundant last year from the oil and gas business, and I’m now working for myself doing glassfibre work, custom airbrush painting and building, as well as classic VW restorations. I built my first trike 15 years ago, based on a Suzuki frame with a Metro 1300 engine. My son Ricky and I have a bad habit off scouring the local ‘For Sale’ pages on Facebook and we saw a trike several times over the course of a few months and each time the price came down considerably. One day it came down to a point when I said to Ricky, let’s get the trailer and go. Trike bought and returned home,…

Climb aboard JP Rodman’s amazing new trike and it’s like going back to the 1960s. He seems to have channelled the spirit of Ed ‘Big Daddy’ Roth to conjure up what we reckon is the essence of ’60s American-style trike cool. JP Rodman is no stranger to the world of custom bikes and trikes. In 2015, he built a chopper which was entered in the People’s Champ contest at the Born Free 7 show at Irvine Lake, California – and it won. Small surprise, then, that Mike and Grant (who run the Born Free show) got him back as an invited builder for Born Free 8 last year. But what custom build should he tackle? Having made such a big splash with his long-fork chopper bike in 2015, it was logical to…