The part about swapping a perfectly good bike that basically does what I want it to for another that’s quicker, cooler, flashier, more comfortable, etc. is what makes it so financially dangerous. I know all my soft spots and can’t win an argument with myself if the thrill is gone. Sometimes there are practical reasons like Lori Jordan’s reasons for upping the ante on her lovely little Sporty trike we featured in a Barnett’s Magazine Onlne article titled Life Begins At 50. That striking trike featured the handiwork of her mega-talented hot rod/bike builder/Ridler Award contestant husband and all-round cool guy, Dave Jordan. That Sportster-based trike was totally eye-catching, yet totally usable on a daily basis and received Barnett Magazine Online’s highest trike reader response yet.

 

     Whether it’s hot rods or custom bikes and trikes, there’s always something in the works at Dave’s Rod Shop in Kaiser, Missouri, and Dave’s truly Old School in that he flat out works his ass off doing what he loves and couldn’t be happier. That he’s crazy about Lori shows in this gorgeous trike that began life back in 2012 as a regular old Street Glide. Not that he ever could, but this is no slap-and-dash effort to appease a wife and a look at the lead photo says it all in a nutshell.

 

       Dave Jordan does magnificent work. Period. Just ask any of the other contestants for the legendary Ridler Award and they’ll tell you he’s the man. Pleasant to deal with, super hard working and talented in every phase of the build from engines to chassis to bodywork to fabrication to paint, Dave’s your one-stop rod shop whether a car or a bike. Not only did he build Lori’s trike for her 50^th birthday, but he later built a knockout of a Heritage Softail trike for a customer which we also featured on Barnett’s Magazine Online. Personally, I think Lori got a bit of trike envy seeing that ride and luckily she knew exactly how to satisfy her needs. Or maybe Lori just wanted something that might be a bit easier to keep up with Dave’s custom Softail bagger we also featured online.

 

   According to Lori, “I owned and rode my Sportster trike [9,000 miles in just the first couple of years!] for five years. I just wanted something bigger with a stereo, fairing, cruise control, and tour pack to keep my stuff in.” Now that all sounds very reasonable, but you don’t think a Ridler constructor and life long hot rodder like Dave could just do slap a dual rear wheel setup on the back of a Street Glide and be done with it do you? No sirreee bob on that one.

 

   For this FLHX trike conversion, Dave chose a high-tech independent suspension rear end from Mystery Design in Dallas, Texas for a couple of good reasons. The idea of an independently suspended setup versus a straight axle unit was too much for him not to try and besides, it looked mechanically great especially in the chromed-out version he intended to not hide under bodywork, but to showcase for its mechanical beauty. The 20-inch Renegade rear wheels look high tech and totally modern day especially covered in low profile fat rubber. I guess you can teach an old guy new tricks. Light and lively is how they appear to me. 

 

    Balancing off those twenties out back with a 26-inch Renegade wheel with a single HHI six-pot caliper setup up front involves more than just bolting it on and getting a bigger fender. Dave raked it out properly with a high-quality Hawg Halters Inc (HHI) neck kit. This new replacement frame piece and included triple trees from HHI is thoroughly thought out and well built to take the worries out of radically raking out a Harley without losing structural integrity especially when installed by a Ridler guy. Extending the forks by three-inches keeps thing on the straight and level and absolutely perfect stance is what every hot rod builder lives and dies by. The five spoke wheel pattern, large diameters, and super low profile tires certainly make this trike look light on its feet even if it’s got three of them.

 

   No surprise after all the other one-off trike bodies he’s built that Dave would have to do the same to Lori’s trike. Although he’s surely a steel-is-real guy, Dave’s also a master of glass and it shows in the rear section and fenders he made and mounted over the Mystery independent rear suspension. There’s not a lot of bulk to look at, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t a lot to check out. Dave frenched in the taillights and license plate (and a couple of speakers on top) like any true rodder should, but to keep things from becoming a bit flat, he molded in a flare design to the back panel just to keep things interesting. Mounted on top is Lori’s must-have tour pack which somehow looks like an aerodynamic aid (a wing) more than luggage space. Also affecting that in the wind look is the new rake of the fairing and the Bagger Nation chin spoiler. Speaking of that fairing, Lori’s got a couple of additional tweeters mounted up there to enhance her H-D stereo setup and fulfill one of her new trike wished.

 

  The healthy 103-inch Twin Cam was enhanced a bit with a .255 cam made for bags of torque. Torque not horsepower moves a trike-enhanced Street Glide and any high-end hit is not missed for the torque at any rpm cam. A Screamin’ Eagle intake lets this baby breathe while a pair of aftermarket pipes let it exhale with a serious rumble just like Lori insists. Dave did add a reverse gear to this trike and it seems to have caught Lori’s attention as she said, “I love the reverse!”

 

   Like everything else, the paint was done in-house by you-know-who. Yeah, that’s a big surprise isn’t it? “The paint scheme is beautiful. The paint colors are gold with gold ice, black diamond, and the graphics are Popsicle green with gold leaf on the tour pack, gas tank and rear fenders. The graphics were designed from a dollar bill and hand pinstriped in green,” said Lori adding with a big laugh, “but it cost more than a buck to build.” 

 

   So is Lori finally happy with this new ride or is it just a passing fancy? “”I love this trike! It’s everything I wanted and then some. It’s first adventure was a 352 mile ride and it rides and handles beautifully. We ride around the Lake of the Ozarks here in Missouri, out to dinner, bike rallies, car and bike shows, Sturgis, Arkansas, Nevada, etc. Whenever the weather permits, we ride,” said Lori. “I don’t want to sound spoiled, but that’s how Dave rolls. People seem to flock to my trike and don’t acknowledge his bike. I just laugh, it’s pretty funny.”

 

  Lori’s got the last word here and that’s fine by me. “I might also add, we’re always building something for either a customer or ourselves. We have had Dave’s Rod Shop for over 30 years so when we build for ourselves, Dave always goes overboard. He does the same for customers. It helps out our business to have new projects out and about and we promote every bike rally and car show we go too.”

 

  For more information on Dave’s Rod Shop, click on http://www.davesrodshop.com/.