To Trike or Not to Trike (Help purchasing first Trike)

[Gator Monroe]

Found a VW Trike ( Rough and very simplistic older Homebuilt ) It has Shifter on side , foot controls (Clutch ,Brake, Throttle ,) and its Bench rear seat & Chariot Style fold back metal cowling around Motor with interesting bolt on fenders like for a trailer. It Runs strong and sounds great as far as VW single carb original unmolested older motors go . Kid knows nothing about it and I'm not sure if its a 1300 or 1600 . It Has what appears to be a Honda 400 Four Front end from the mid 70s (Front Disc rotor not on hub) . it has two small Automotive White Shocks in rear and really cool Chrome Real Spoke rims (Caddy) with fake knockoffs and average (narrower newer rear tires) that match well with spoked front wheel . It has cheesy Lighting all around (But everything works ) and swept back Bars and low saddle seat (Nice Seat ,bars Meh) It was strange to Ride it (Having only ridden a ATC 90 HONDA) as far as 3 wheels go but Having Rode and Raced Motorbikes and driven many a VW with stick it was not to off the beaten path . The Trike is roughly 140 Miles away and I would trailer it Home , Title (Expired July Plate) seems OK and it is Special Construction Motorcycle and Ca, (Even though bike is in another State) its 2k $ and I See 50 hours easily in Refinements and perhaps a HD or larger Bike front end (With working single or double Disc set up and money for nicer lighting and a little snazzier look in motor realm . Any things you guys can steer me to in my look over and trigger pull on getting this rig would be greatly appreciated . Addendum (It looks like motor is a 1300 but not positive and I'm into Retro so making it a Rat Trike would be Very Interesting )

[rhino 2]

Welcome to Trike-Talk, Gator..............From the Garden State....

[Gator Monroe]

Welcome to Trike-Talk, Gator..............From the Garden State....

Is 2k for a running plated Vintage VW Trike a good price (especially if its a 1300 ) ? I love Retro & Vintage & VW BTW

[Gator Monroe]

Is California Front brake mandatory on these VW Trikes ?

[FuzzyWuzHe]

Welcome to the Gang from Western Colorado. Sounds like a steal if you are capable of doing the upgrades you want, if you have to farm it out, could get pricey. Also, might check with your state about titling it, lots of states have issuers with home builds.

[DeathBySnuSnu]

Well yes and no.

I understand things cost more in .CA.

Price is good.

Things to consider though.

The 1300 is a one year engine here in the states.

If it has the original matching trans it will most likely be the lower geared unit.

So if you intend to modify an engine this is not the base engine to start from.

Then with more engine you will want more gear.

If you do not intend to modify the engine then it is fine no worries. Plenty of chrome dress up parts and pretty things for the outside.

Now if you find one with a 1600 with an ah serial case and a single side cover irs 4 speed at this price grab it up quick.

[vwbug72501]

Welcome to the forum.

My $.02:

1. Look over the welds carefully. Especially where front frame joins VW rear suspension assembly. (Probably OK if it got a Special Construction VIN. This usually requires a state inspection of some kind.)

2. On a trike as you go down the road at speed and one rear wheel encounters an impediment (pothole, etc.) you will experience side loads on the front end as the trike tries to turn to that direction. If the fork tubes don't have a sufficient diameter you will see side flex in the fork tubes. Not a comforting sight in my opinion. An upgrade to a fork assembly with a larger diameter tube is probably a good plan. Since it already has a Metric (Honda) dimensioned neck installed, it will probably be easier to stick with a Metric fork assembly. Check out : http://www.allballsracing.com/ . They have fork conversion bearing sets and information.

3. "Think Wide" when you're riding .

Send pictures if you get it. We love pictures!!

[Gator Monroe]

Got it on UHaul in Oregon now , heading back to Nor Cal, it's a 1600 and it has disc breaks in rear , paid 2k for it , it is single carb and looks bone stock , runs & drives good , and seems strong . I need to load pics for u guys

[DeathBySnuSnu]

Sounding better and better!!

[Gorilla]

welcome aboard and congrats waiting on those pictures.

[Gator Monroe]

First Stop this morning was "Wolfgang" VW in Redding Ca. (Had a long talk with Stephen there about 1600 single carb motors & VW Powered Trikes and old days when I worked for "Flat Four Company Limited Tokyo" and Takashi Komori at the Flat Four American Satellite office in Santa Monica ) I've been out of Vintage VW business since 92 and really need to catch up and immerse into the VW world . Gotta dig out all my old VW MANUALS & HOW TO BOOKS and Hippie Days Care & Feeding of the VW hardcover books and old Hot VWs Mags from my troves (And get some pics shared here )

[Bugman]

Welcome from Ga.

[Tynker]

Found a VW Trike ( Rough and very simplistic older Homebuilt ) It has Shifter on side , foot controls (Clutch ,Brake, Throttle ,) and its Bench rear seat & Chariot Style fold back metal cowling around Motor with interesting bolt on fenders like for a trailer. It Runs strong and sounds great as far as VW single carb original unmolested older motors go . Kid knows nothing about it and I'm not sure if its a 1300 or 1600 . It Has what appears to be a Honda 400 Four Front end from the mid 70s (Front Disc rotor not on hub) . it has two small Automotive White Shocks in rear and really cool Chrome Real Spoke rims (Caddy) with fake knockoffs and average (narrower newer rear tires) that match well with spoked front wheel . It has cheesy Lighting all around (But everything works ) and swept back Bars and low saddle seat (Nice Seat ,bars Meh) It was strange to Ride it (Having only ridden a ATC 90 HONDA) as far as 3 wheels go but Having Rode and Raced Motorbikes and driven many a VW with stick it was not to off the beaten path . The Trike is roughly 140 Miles away and I would trailer it Home , Title (Expired July Plate) seems OK and it is Special Construction Motorcycle and Ca, (Even though bike is in another State) its 2k $ and I See 50 hours easily in Refinements and perhaps a HD or larger Bike front end (With working single or double Disc set up and money for nicer lighting and a little snazzier look in motor realm . Any things you guys can steer me to in my look over and trigger pull on getting this rig would be greatly appreciated . Addendum (It looks like motor is a 1300 but not positive and I'm into Retro so making it a Rat Trike would be Very Interesting )

If it would help you out, I have a 2004 Yamaha 650 Classic front end complete. It would look and act much better than the one you have on it now. I will let it go for $200.00 plus shipping from Houston, Texas.

[Gator Monroe]

Thanx much Tynker ( and Everyone Else for the welcomes ) I'm really hyped about combining two hobbies of my past into one ( Motorbikes / Vintage Volkswagen ) I will begin research on Front End change and will keep the Yamaha Front end in mind ...

[Doug D.]

Hey Gator, welcome aboard from Mid-Mo!

You couldn't have picked a better forum for trike expertise. There's such a great group of folks here, always ready and willing to help out. Looking forward to those pics!

PEACE and ride safe!

[Gator Monroe]

Started cleaning the Game Room looking for VW manuals and found a Very Retro styled Minty 1968 Harley Davidson (Aermacchi) Rapido 125 Headlight assembly (Looks Like Bultaco Metralla headight) for the Trike . I must have a lot of bits & pieces that I have hung onto that are destined for the Trike .

[Gator Monroe]

The Trike

[Gator Monroe]

More pics ?

[Gator Monroe]

Trying again

[Gator Monroe]

Another pic