Somehow Eddie’s always been able to make a bike with his classic proportions of long, low, and bigger than life that makes them dominate their space they’re in and everything surrounding them. Smooth flowing lines, big wheels, big frame, big engine, big paint, Eddie’s bikes are a lot like their builder, bigger than life. Standing beside any Trotta bike I’ve run into, I’ve always felt like I was 9/10-scale version of myself. I’m guessing a bit here, but I’ve always felt like Eddie wanted his bikes to be of a scale that grabs your attention and keeps it. Nobody gives a Trotta bike a casual glance and walks away, they draw you in and make you inspect each and every bit.
Our feature bike that Eddie calls Thunder Roadster is one of his latest builds and really looks the biz, but it stays with his tried and true formula of a kick-ass chop that grabs any attention available within a five-block radius. I don’t have a clue what they’re like to actually ride, but if you’re looking for attention and relish a bit of two-wheeled theatre, nothing does it better than a Trotta bike. No surprise coming from a guy who’s always lived large and enjoys what he’s doing whether it’s ocean racing powerboats, race horses, or building bikes.
Speaking of racing powerboats, it seems to me that Eddie’s bikes have always had a look of a big engine boat at full speed with a nose up attitude. They just look tough and ready to charge forward at a milliseconds notice. The 26-inch Performance Machine front wheel gives the attitude of a boat at full plane with the frame and bodywork cascading back like a huge wake created by opening the throttles on a powerboat. There’s a very organic look to all his creations even though they’re deliberately made out of real American steel which is not organic looking in sheet form. When he gets through bending and sculpting the panels on a bike, they become flowingly cool with not a hard line to be found. Other than the fork tubes, Eddie’s bikes are one long, continuous S-curve from front to back and anywhere in-between.
One particular area where Trotta bikes have always stood out, long before the current bagger paint craze, was his paintwork and finish. I don’t think anybody would feel cheated with the paintwork and attention to detail on the Thunder Roadster. From the Diamond Cut cylinders and heads to the perfectly polished finish on the 120-inch engine’s block and the chromed engine covers, this looks more like a product of Tiffany’s than an engine shop. And, of course, the paint is a show-stopping knockout where you have to inspect every bit of it to make sure you got the whole story even if you don’t understand it. I gotta admit I especially like the wheel treatment with the orange anodizing complimented by the gleaming shiny bits on the inside of the spokes and wheel rim. That’s an unexpectedly classy treatment that would look good on just about any bike I’ve ever seen ─ especially Eddie’s.
It’s great that Eddie stayed tough and got through the recent bad economic times that killed the dream of so many famous builders. Hanging tough along with good business acumen have kept smiling Eddie and Thunder Cycle Designs at the forefront of custom motorcycles today and I’m sure he’ll still be here decades from now. By then he may be forced to ride a custom trike, but I’m sure it will have a nose-up attitude, a big engine, and not a straight line in sight. And, you’ll know it’s a Trotta trike from five blocks away.
For more information on Thunder Cycle Designs, check out their web site at http://www.thundercycledesign.com/ or visit the Thunder Cycle Facebook page.