Building a trike from scratch

[JackSum]

Hi everyone, I have been riding a moped since 16 and have come to love riding, so I wanted to build my own trike now that I am turning 17. I want to build it completely from scratch but I have no idea where to start. My dad is a mechanic so I can use his tools and such, and he advised me to start with a VW rear drive engine but I don't know which one to use. On top of that, I don't know where to look for trike parts for sale to compare what I want, so I came here seeking advice. Thanks.

 

[David357]

Hi Jack,

:welcome: to Trike Talk from South Florida.:wave4:

There are many experienced VW trike owners here on the forum to help answer your questions.ThumbUp

 

[Gator Monroe]

This is a Money Pit victim I can get behind ! (The Kid will have a chick magnet rig and Transportation that will draw a crowd at cruise night ):Joker3::qpnmt::clapping:

 

[Gator Monroe]

Hi Jack,

:welcome: to Trike Talk from South Florida.:wave4:

There are many experienced VW trike owners here on the forum to help answer your questions.ThumbUp

And inexperienced rookies (Me) like yourself (Start with an early 70s dual port motor ):Coffee:

 

[vwbug72501]

Jack,

Where are you located? Is that Porth as in Wales? If so, first thing is to get a copy of the special construction vehicles equipment requirements from you Dept. of Motor Vehicles (MOT?). If in the US, this applies to your state of registration. You don't want to build something and then find out that you can't title or license it!:Crap:

Also, the build will take at least 2-3 times longer than you expect.

 

[Gorilla]

welcome aboard Jack

 

[DeathBySnuSnu]

Welcome in.

Check out the tech tech tech thread in the stickies.

An old vw is one of the easiest to frame up but are not so cheap and common to find anymore.

Think about the look and how you are going to use it before your final decision.

From scratch can be a lot of work. A lot of the parts will have to be custom made one of a kind.

And if you are in the UK check out The Trike Doctor in Manchester. They have used, new and service parts.

 

[stinger608]

Depending on your location, you might look at grabbing a used (completed) trike and do modifications to fit your needs/wants.

Welcome aboard the most awesome trike forum on the net! :clapping:

 

[tfdeputydawg]

About 80,200 results:

http://start.att.net/search/index.php?q=Plans+to+build+VW+trike&context=homepage

There ya go!

However, if you can't use a torch or weld, you might consider buying one that needs mechanical work or restored, to start with.

 

[rhino 2]

Welcome 'Jack........I was going to say Hi Jack, But then 3 Black satellites will stop and zero in on my laptop.... Any way Welcome to Trike-Talk 'Jack...:wave4:

 

[Gator Monroe]

Are Youngsters still limited to under 500cc for Motorbikes in UK ?

 

[Fowler]

Welcome aboard Jack!

I built my first trike with my father when I was around your age. It was a V6 http://3fowlers.com/firsttrike.html

I built my 2nd Trike from scratch from a VW swing axle. (I would go with a IRS instead now that I have learned more)

IRS vs Swing http://3fowlers.com/images/photos/tranny/image002.jpg

As someone else already said it is a Chick magnet! In fact it is a magnet for everyone. Everyone young, old, male , female and some I could not tell the difference have stopped to talk to me about it.

You can see how I built it on this link http://3fowlers.com/

I am now building one from a Chevy S10 Blazer http://www.triketalk.com/forum/threads/35590-88-blazer-trike