Removable Top

The removable top is now almost complete. Spent 3 days last week riveting body panels on the top. The left side now has the rails on the top and on the side.

Still working on wiring

Stan is having issues with the wiring. He's working hard on it.

Almost Finished

Stan finished up the mock up this week. All of the lights, all of the electrical, windshield, backup camera and instrument cluster are all working now. He just started tearing it down to clean up the welds, paint and reassemble. Should be done in just enough time for my trip to the great lakes in the middle of April.

Wiring & windshield

Went to see my trike this weekend. Stan is working on the wiring right now. Should take just a couple more days for that. He got me a really cool windshield. I will try to get a pic of it soon.

Trike is off the stands and on the ground; front seat done

The Trike is no longer on the stand that it was built on. It's on the ground and the ride height is about 16" or so. The seats are being made as well as the interior of the cab.

Trike progress Timeline so far...

Trike progress Timeline so far...

Sat, Dec 19, 2009: Bought 85 Honda Goldwing 1200 frame.

Thur, Dec 31, 2009: Front frame for trike built off of the Goldwing forks.

Sat, Jan 2, 2010: Bought 99 Honda Civic EX for trike project.

Sun, Jan 3, 2010: Started tearing apart Civic donor car. Took 2 people 7 hrs and most of the items are out of the car.


Wed, Jan 6, 2010: Finished designing trike logo:

Jan 17, 2010: Worked on tearing apart the Civic today and yesterday. Yesterday was the rear bumper, taillights, trunk lid.

Today was back seats, all of the seatbelts and all of the interior panels. It's pretty much stripped down now.

Sat, Jan 23, 2010: Sold a few more parts to my Civic and a few more will be sold this afternoon and evening.

Thur, Jan 28, 2010: My trike is being skinned starting today.

Sat, Jan 20, 2010: My trike is coming along VERY well. Going to trade graphics/web work for a backup camera and monitor (instead of mirrors).


Sun, Jan 31, 2010: Purchased taillights for trike. They are outside house lights.Going to stain the front amber and the other 3 sides red.

Went to pick up calipers, brace and fenders for my trike. Now I'm running around selling civic parts.

The concept and design

So, we jump ahead to about early December 09. I started looking for more pictures to find out what I wanted my trike to look like. I had seen a trike with a top on it on some History channel show about the Hell's Angels. I fell in love with it and decided that I wanted a trike with a top. I started looking around the internet and found out that it was called a C-cab Trike. I found a c-cab trike that was a perfect starting point. It was a custom built trike from Rat Race Productions in Arizona.




I found Stan's email and contacted him again regarding building the trike for me. I received a new quote and sent him the new info I had gathered. He told me that I needed an older motorcycle frame to build the front off of. This motorcycle also needed a clear title because the trike is registered and insured as a motorcycle. The next thing I needed was a 4 cylinder, front wheel drive with an automatic transmission. We had decided on a Honda, Nissan or Toyota because those tend to run a little longer and the parts are easy to find and inexpensive.

I found a 1985 Honda Goldwing 1200 frame for $300 out near New Braunfels. It has the structure & can more than hold the weight that will be put on it.

Next, I found a beat up 1999 Honda Civic EX 2 door for $1,150. This is a little more than what I was wanting to pay, but I am able to part out more of the car to recoupe some of the cost of it.

Deciding to buy or build a trike

A couple of years ago I was talking to my wife about motorcycles and mentioned that I may want to get one someday. But I wanted something unique. She was pretty much against a motorcycle because I am slightly uncoordinated and motorcycles and be dangerous. So, we discussed it and I had always, since I was about 12, really liked trikes. After our discussion I started getting an idea about cost by looking on ebay, classifieds, etc. I found that most of the trikes that were in my price range were home-built, kinda raged looking VW trikes. I wanted something that I could do the basic maintenance on and be able to maintain and afford. So, that narrowed it down quite a bit. So, I posted an ad up on craigslist asking if anyone had a trike for sale in the area or someone to discuss building a trike with. I only received one responce and that was from Stan J. Stan has been working on cars, motorcycles, etc for the past 50+ years. He builds sprint cars from the ground up. I contacted Stan back and met with him to discuss what I was wanting. He suggested building one. He recommended getting a wrecked 4 cylinder FWD automatic as a donor car. He had estimated about $3500 or so for the project. I had to wait 2 years to be in a financial situation where I could pick back up on this dream