Just when you think you have seen everything under the sun, something new comes rolling down the road. A few weeks ago I was headed to my car after a day at work when I spotted a very strange motorcycle in the parking lot. After asking around I found out it belonged to a co-worker named Bart. I took a quick look at the vehicle and headed home. But the more I thought about what I had seen the more interested I became. So I called up Bart and I went over to his house and spent an hour talking with him about his vehicle. Here is what I learned.
It is legally considered a motorcycle, it was hand made,and it is the only one in the world. It is registered here in Oregon as a 1997 Assembled. It was designed and built by a guy named George. George built three other trike motorcycles before he built this one. The first two were powered by VW engines, the third one was powered by a Corvair engine.
And then George had the brilliant idea to power this one with a Chevy V-8 engine. (Because as we all know you can’t have too much horsepower.) George drove it for 15 years, and he and his wife Betty took it from the West Coast to the East Coast and back, twice, all the while pulling a small trailer. George ended up putting 20 ,000 miles on it.
Then about 3 years ago George’s wife passed away and he parked the trike. Well, it sat for a year and then George decided to sell it. Bart heard about it from a friend, he went to check it out, and he fell in love with it at first sight. George was asking $10,000 for it, but Bart was able to cut a deal with George and purchase it for less than that amount. Bart has a motorcycle endorsement on his drivers license, and he wears a helmet when he is riding his trike.
Starting at the front end, the front wheel and forks are off of a 1986 Honda Gold Wing 1200.
The engine is a 1978 Chevrolet 305 ci (5.0L) V-8. It has a GM Turbo 350 automatic transmission. And the rear axle is out of a 1987 IROC Z-28 Camaro. The Trike weighs 2,200 lbs, and 800 of those pounds are on the front wheel. So steering it can be a workout on a twisty road. Bart is going to experiment with some new front end components to try and get the steering effort down a bit.
The brakes are interesting. There are 2 disc brakes on the front wheel, and they are applied by using the master cylinder on the right hand handle bar, just like on a two wheel motorcycle. The rear brakes, which are discs, are applied using the foot pedal on the floor. Bart always uses the two braking systems together. One system is enough to stop the trike, but it is easier to use two. There is no vacuum assist on the rear disc brakes, so it takes some serious effort to really apply them.
Bart took me for a ride around the neighborhood. My overwhelming impression was that this is a unique vehicle. People stop what they are doing and watch it go by. They wave and smile and give a thumbs up. Bart told me that is what happens all day long when he and his wife take the trike out on a trip.
It is quipped with glasspack mufflers, and it was not as loud as I thought it might be. He has taken the bike up to 80 mph. It is equipped with seat belts. The fuel tank holds 22 gallons, and the bike gets 13 mpg. Bart used to ride a Honda Goldwing. He is still friends with his motorcycle riding buddies, and he and his wife go on runs with them whenever they can.
Bart has put 6,000 miles on the trike in the two years that he has owned it.Bart is thinking about adding electrically heated seats. He took it out for a ride back in January of this year, on a Polar Bear Run. It was 36 (F) out, and by the end of the run Bart and his wife were very very cold.
The bike has a surprisingly large cargo compartment in the back. George had a local sheet metal company make the rear bodywork, and they did a very nice job.
I think that this vehicle is proof of what a person can do with enough talent, time and tools.
Plenty of talent!
If it was driven 20k miles without flipping, the builder must have solved the inherent problem of 3-wheelers. The long wheelbase and centered engine are probably the main solutions.
Single wheel in back seems to be a more stable approach, e.g. the Polaris Slingshot (but with 4 cyl).
Yep, there’s a reason Morgan three-wheelers were banned from racing. When I designed a three-wheeler as my senior industrial design project at Tech, I had to prove to my professors that a stable three-wheeler was achievable, so I did quite a bit of research on it. If properly configured, the center of gravity can end up under the center of roll, causing the vehicle to naturally lean *into* turns.
It’s not the best cornering vehicle for sure but “not flipping” is more about using your head and driving with-in your vehicles abilities IMO. It has the IROC sway bar and I added air shocks on the rear that are separated so the pressures can be adjusted independently. I found it cornered differently when the wife was along that it did when I was solo.
trike meets hotrod thats a hard combo not to be a fan of
Well that’s interesting. Impressive, though, that a homebrew vehicle can be so well-engineered. Heavier than i’d expect, though perhaps the iron-block 305 is a primary culprit.
If the rear brakes are unassisted I wonder if he’d be better off with drums?
Good timing on this post, AmazonRay; William Shatner is supposed to be leaving the garages of American Wrench outside Chicago today (June 23) on a 2400 mile charity trip (for the American Legion), mostly on Route 66, aboard a V-8 powered trike called the Rivet. As of this post, there’s no news on whether he has left, and all of the pictures of the Rivet I have seen seem to be photoshopped, but there is some entertaining footage on the constructors rolling their eyes and smacking themselves in the forehead at hearing Shatner’s design demands (“It has to have a canopy!”).
http://blog.dupontregistry.com/celebrity-cars/william-shatners-rivet-motorcycle-cross-country-journey-starts-soon/
Well…as my grandma used to say: “Better to have a taste than to have a buck”…
We are building a smaler version of that… here in our shop, powered by a Ford Flaty.
It’s gonna be something like this:
To say it is the only one in the world is a little inaccurate. It’s probably the only one exactly like this one, but very similar V8 trikes with enclosed canopies can be seen at every decent sized motorcycle rally. I’ve never really understood the appeal, apart from the obvious fun and novelty factor.
You have a valid point. Let’s just say it is unique.
Quite a few of these V8 trikes about here, theres even a 5 seater doing tours locally.
Just did a quick search and did not find what I was looking for. I’m sure your friends trike is original but someone is selling something very similar. Thought it was Boss Hoss but the pictures don’t show up.
Someone has a yellow one not far from my house but pretty sure he has gone with the new Polaris reverse trike with the steering wheel. Problem getting that approved for Tx but it is now. This one also would have had problem as the Tx law required bars and a saddle.
It appears that Tx is finally conforming to some fed standard but I haven’t done much reading on the subject. Good find. Interesting bike and story. Thanks.
I seen a home built trike like this at a car show in the Little Rock River Market except it had a Chrysler 400 and used the frame tubes as radiator coolant tanks and hoses leading to the radiator..
Weird choice for power I know, thought it weighs as much as the donor car did.
I really like the design posted by Rubens. A classic chopper styled trike powered by that flathead. Honest Charlie used to offer a motorcycle powered by a flathead at one time. I never get the appeal of a v8 trike or really any trike. Especially the more “unconventional” appearing ones. I rode bikes for a long time and I enjoyed it. I don’t think that most of these type trikes handle or perform very well. If I’m not going to bend my bike over for the curves I’d rather drive a good handling car.My wife and I can sit next to each other and talk or listen to music and all our luggage is securely stowed away. Now for open air motoring I’ll drive my convertible Mustang. No need to wear a helmet either and i get lots more than 13mpg.Still driving something different has it’s appeal. Probably why I drive my old Mustang even though it’s nothing that great.
There is a guy here in Mid-Michigan with a trike built from the rear half of a ’90s Mercury Cougar.
I swear I saw this (car? bike?)’s twin just yesterday. It looked almost exactly like this and I had absolutely no idea what it was at the time. I’ll have to go back and see if I can take a picture now that this came up.
That’s a pretty big wow alright, I’d stop what I was doing if that went by.
Aluminum heads would save 50 pounds off the front, I wonder what kind of life the front tire gets?
doubt I would notice 50 pounds less except the cost disappearing out of my wallet, as far as wear, George said the front tire that was on it when I purchased it was the original from when he built it, so 20k on that one, but he evidently did a lot of freeway driving (east coast and back twice) butcause I only got 5k on the first one i put on, however we choose to do mostly windy back roads bringing up the rear of a group of bikes. current tire is a metzeler instead of a goodyear so time will tell
You can get a 502 big block motorcycle. They call it the Stud Hoss.