I've been riding trikes for quite a few years but my wife recently has shown interest in riding her own trike. I've got a Sportster "48" in the basement that I purchased a while ago from an estate sale and haven't used. I'm thinking that bike might be a good candidate for the project. I do like the Frankenstein kit but I don't particularly like the look of the rear fender staying in place as if there is still suppose to be a tire under it...but there isn't. The Motor Trike kit has a nice body but the price is also twice what some of the others are. Ouch!

So...what might be the best kit to buy for our 48, keeping that hot rod look, and why?
Also, what are the do's and dont's, like raking the front end, big tires, etc.?
Last, where are the best deals?

Thanks!
R

 

I'm with you, I really don't like the stock "bike" rear fender on a trike.

I love the Frankenstein kit, but you will need raked triple trees to overcome the steering head shake when one of the tires on the solid axle hits a road imperfection. Mystery Designs has a cool IRS unit that would probably help with this but I have never actually ridden that kit.

I had a truck bed fabbed up for mine to make the trike kit look less bolt on. I was going for a hot rod servicar look.


Heres a few of a 48 with a rear rack mounted to the stock fender struts. This would look cool to with wood slats to form the rack.





Or you could fab up a tall sissy bar and flat bottom king&queen seat that sits on the stock fender struts and go 70s style like my old shovel trike.

 

Wow Scott! I like what you did a lot. You made your Springer look like it is something out of the 40's or 50's. I don't think it is an easy thing to do. There are so many bolt on projects out there trying to achieve a look when none of them have any continuous styling flow to them..but you are looking good! Can I ask what trike kit you used for a base...and how did your wheels come about? Thanks for the pics.
R

 

Rich,
I agree. Most trikes out there just look like a bike with a trike kit bolted on and no thought given to the flow. I tried to make mine look like a custom stock servicar, but I think any bike with a bolt on trike kit can be made to look great with a little thought to the design of the back of the bike.

The bile is a 2008 Crossbones. Trike kit is a Frankenstein 38" sport that is black anodized, wheels are 15x8 Tru Spokes, tires are 275/50/15 Nittos. Here's some more pics.

 

Here are some other examples of an integrated approach rather than leaving the stock rear fender. I'm kinda partial to the wood bed/rack for it's simpliity and rustic look.

 

For your wifes 48 an easy fix would be to bolt some aluminum angle pieces to the stock struts and drill the tops and mount some finished wood slats like I did on my 69 shovel trike below. I used oiled teak and polished stainless carriage bolts. That way there is no fabrication or paint involved and you could leave the strut mounted tail lights/turn signals and tag mount underneath with no wiring mods and have some storage capacity on top.

 

There's some great lookin trikes in this thread!
But, if you're not a do-it-yourselfer, check out Hannigan trikes. They probably won't be the cheapest way to go, but they make some top quality products.

 

This trike kit is from Mystery wioth the IRS,,I left it open and had it chromed so you could see how the IRS works. They have a quick release body that snaps in place or the full body like you see on a lot of other models. You still need to rake the triple trees with the IRS or the straight axle to be on the safe side and it's like putting power steering on her. I have been riding this one since August with no issues what so ever. There are alot of choices out there and like everything else it's all about how much money do you really want to spend.

 

I love that rear end design. So did you ride It before racking the trees? If so was there a pronounced front end oscillation when just one of the rear wheels hit a bump/dip? That's what I'm experiencing with my solid axle. Im putting a raked springer stem kit in soon as its not that pronounced.

Scott

 

Really like your Crossbones. Here is a Sporty kit I saw at local dealer, this picture is posted on the "new owners" area of their website. Not sure of the manufacturer.