About ten years ago I became interested in three wheeled vechicles and thought that I should design and build a unique one to enjoy driving around on nice summer days. Most of the Trikes that I researched were either single seaters or motorcycle types with two wheels in the front or rear on a narrow track. A few were complicated short wheel base with a leaning passenger compartment, again narrow track and short wheel base.
Having built and designed numerious race cars over the past 40 years with multiple first place wins, I decided that even at the age of 73 the NEED FOR SPEED still existed and although not as important, my design would have to be comfortable to drive on winding country roads and have a side by side seating position to enjoy the company of my wife on these rides. It would have to show the looks of both my passion in motorcycles and race cars.
In Febuary of 2008 I bought a Suzuki Hayabusa engine on E-Bay with just 415 miles which I modified to produce 285hp and my project began. I started by purchaseing my main structure tubing which was .060 chrome molly tubing of a diameter of 1.25, 1.00 and .75 inches and started my space frame design.
Since performance and handling were always a priorty with me, the weight of the completed Trike had to be under a 1000 lbs It turned out that my final weight of the Trike is 885 lbs. with a wheel base of 112 ins and a front wheel track of 78 ins.
I did not want to use after market front suspension parts since this was going to be a project I wanted to design completely, so I designed my own upper and lower control arms of unequal opposed triangular arms using chrome molly tubing with Heim Joints for quick and easy front geometry adjustments, and shock dampers with adjustable coil overs
The rear suspension had to have a wide enough tire to bite the road and use the power of the Hayabusa engine, so an 11inch low profile car tire was installed on a nine inch bike wheel.
With 285hp and just over a thousand pounds with driver on board the Trike handles like it is on rails. It is a pleasure to drive and fast enough to get you in trouble with the law, if you get carried away with how quickly it accelarates.