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