Joe built this trike around a rigid trike frame he builds and sells specifically for those looking for a pretty over-the-top custom that doesn’t need to necessarily conform to what we think of as trikes today. Most of those have extreme amounts of bodywork for style and storage space reasons. As you can see, Joe’s trike is about as spiritually and stylistically far away from that type of thought as you can get. There’s almost a complete lack of storage space for anything other than exactly what is necessary to make this trike light up its ultra-fat, close-together Fat Daddy spoked rear wheels. The only tinwork on the bike is on an aft-mounted platform as long as you consider those two rectangular boxes and a Mooneyes-style fuel tank bodywork. Actually the closest thing to bodywork to my mind is the oil tank incorporated into the frame right under the seat. And, you can hardly see it .

  Minimalist, minimalist, minimalist had to be going through Joe’s mind when he began the build as the lack of tinwork can make you think this is a project still underway, but it’s not. It’s a done deal and what you see is what you get, but hang on because there’s some cool hot rod stuff going on that comes straight out of Joe’s background in serious drag racing. Serious as a heavily built-up 114-inch Shovelhead engine in a super-stretched drag-only frame can be. That’s the mindset behind this build that leaves everything out in the open for all the world to see with the only secret of what’s in the right-side box (there’s no telltale wiring or tubing showing like the left one) on the aft platform. My guess is a big-ass battery with cables running underneath. Maybe I should inform Geraldo about this mystery.

   The heart of this trike or any bike, the engine, leaves no doubts it’s the heart. The Ultima Evo-style bottom end mounts Twin Cam heads with a purposeful 120-inch displacement and about 125-130 horsepower to make those rear wheels spin on command. The gray case finish with polished fin edges subtly backs up the heavy use of chrome throughout the engine. The S&S Teardrop air cleaner always looks lovely on just about everything and it does so here too. Joe’s exhaust looks more like they were patterned after Zoomie-style Funny Car headers and it never hurts to work with what already works when you’re looking for an exhaust solution. With Joe’s drag race background, I don’t think he had to look too far.

   There are some things you just don’t have to worry about on a trike like whether or not your super-wide belt drive will affect cornering clearance or “What’s all the fuss about hand shifting?” Yup, a trike is the perfect vehicle other than a car to learn all about foot-clutching and hand-shifting. No need to balance at stops or worry about takeoffs so what’s the big deal? That beefy Ultima belt drive spins a right-side-drive Ultima tranny (with reverse) whose chain final drive sprocket ends up pretty much between the two rear wheels. With no room (or possibly need) for a differential, the chain acts directly on the single rear axle spinning both wheels. How well this all works, I don’t have a clue other than watching some narrow-track trikes ride around at rallies and not seeing anything unusual. In a high-speed bend, well, actually the last place I want to be in a high-speed bend is on a trike, any trike, ever again. Been there, done that.

  When it came time for paint, things were not as simple as it seems. Originally Joe had “threatened” that this bike was “… going to have a pink frame with black cheery metal flake. I saw a couple of shots of the pinkness and am only too happy to report that he did not go the Pepto-Bismol route. Black cherry (or almost anything but brown) suits this bad-ass, hot rod trike build way more than pink could. Maybe Joe was just funning around with that pink idea. One thing that grew on me is the lone instrument sitting squarely atop the top tube. When I thought about it, I realized this is not an after-thought, but a statement ─ a minimalist statement if there ever was one. It fits in with the mood this trike brings to any event or ride Joe decides to take it too.

  Joe Karam has his own design aesthetic and he’s obviously not a guy who wants to be thought of as trendy. He builds what he wants the way he thinks they should be built and he doesn’t try to cover his tracks to please everybody. His builder’s credo seems to be to build what he likes and the rest will follow. If you’ve got a hankering for a different kind of trike and Joe’s work interests you, check him out at  http://www.skankbikes.com/.