I’d surmise that’s exactly what’s happened here as sticker shock on a dead stock Tri Glide Ultra faded into history and the mystery owner decided enough was enough. Like Civil War Admiral David Farragut supposedly said, “Damn the torpedoes and full speed ahead!” the owner fired all tubes so there’s little if any chance of ever having their trike mistaken for somebody else’s....

      I’d surmise that’s exactly what’s happened here as sticker shock on a dead stock Tri Glide Ultra faded into history and the mystery owner decided enough was enough. Like Civil War Admiral David Farragut supposedly said, “Damn the torpedoes and full speed ahead!” the owner fired all tubes so there’s little if any chance of ever having their trike mistaken for somebody else’s....

   After a stint on the beach as you’re wandering back to your bike a guy on a Tri Glide Ultra whips up, backs it in and starts unloading. Cooler, beach chair, umbrella, radio, sandals, big hat, Frisbee and more. I don’t think he even went into all the luggage compartments as a lot was just strapped on. This actually happened last summer on one of my infrequent journeys to the sand...

   Normally something as visually and potentially intimidating as a Boss Hoss or V8 Choppers trike could be considered pretty far out as old John Denver used to say, but this goes to a whole ‘nother level of far out. It’s far far out. Their big V8 engines dominate the landscape of their design, but nothing like this wicked gem of a build. Compared to this orange UFO, they’re...

   Hey, I’m not flaming on V-Rods or their owners in any way, but unfortunately the Harley-Davidson Revolution engine VRSCA just never caught on like The Motor Company hoped it would. From the 2001 introduction to the present day, there have been some decent improvements, but not much has changed. It’s just been the same single platform served warmed over year after year. As a...

     Old Jack Cofano captured this Forty-Eight trike at rest looking comfy in the wild at Smoke Out 17. Comfy enough with itself to possibly be a factory model looks-wise on a Harley platform that looks like it was made for this USA-made trike conversion by Yelvington Trikes of Seminole, Florida. Designed by Richard Yelvington, this patented conversion allows one to take a...

    What Mike’s more well known for is making some amazing vintage metric café bikes and modern metric customs. I will admit I am a fan of his other work especially the café stuff as he has a delicate hand and a good eye even though he’s colorblind. The quality is impeccable and imaginative and they don’t look like caricatures of what a café or metric chopper should be. They all...

    While I’m confessing away, I should add that it was an unfinished VW trike I bought from my buddy Randy Costa. More of an unfinished mockup than a unfinished trike, I built up a hot rod VW engine, got the wheels and tires I wanted and dabbled in fiberglass for my very first time. That’s where my stolen style of Mr. Roth came in (or so I thought proudly at the time, but not...

    Now, the thing about this is that I’m so used to seeing Kenny Williams’ ultra-radical, long, low and s-m-o-o-t-h bikes and long, low and s-m-o-o-t-h baggers that probably don’t have a Motor Company part anywhere. Nothing wrong with that approach, of course, unless you’re invested financially in Harley-Davidson in one way or another. But, and yes it’s a big but, this time he...

     I pulled in, parked off to the side, and shut the engine off. Dead silence. I wondered what the hell was up as it was strangely quiet for a body shop during work hours. There’s always something extremely noisy going on in any body shop and usually a combo of loud air-powered tools backed by a bit of hammering. I got out, hit the horn button hard through the driver’s window and...