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 Forty-Eight (or any Sporty), strip it of the complete rear wheel and stock swingarm and replace it with a one-piece swingarm/axle unit made by Yelvington. Nothing’s modified from stock, the rear fender and lighting stays where it was born, so it could be converted back to a two-wheeler just by swapping around the parts without anybody having the slightest idea.
It is a simple, solid rear axle, not an independent setup, that comes ready to bolt-on to your Sporty without having to scrounge up any parts like sprockets or brake rotors. The differential (yes, I was surprised it had a differential because of its small size) is straddled by a belt sprocket on one side and a probably ample single rotor on the other side. I say “ample” as far as a single rear brake as this conversion doesn’t seem to add a lot of weight to the stock bike it’s attached to. The new swingarm is directly attached to the axle assembly making this basically a one-piece bolt-on unit. Slip on the belt, bolt on the wheels, bleed the brakes and you’re basically ready to rip.
The whole package is nice looking with a modern appearance and it’s finished off with a set of Yelvington’s own fiberglass rear fenders that are quite good looking and a nice match for the Forty-Eight’s. A quite massive fender mount straps around the axle and looks like it could hold that fender in place during a direct nuclear attack. Not bad looking, just beefy honest like the Forty-Eight’s character.
Yelvington’s choice of a spoked wheel to match the stock front rim was what really brings this whole thing together in my book. With matching black rims and stainless spokes topped with a small hubcap that looks like an old ‘30s Ford hubcap minus the V8 logo, it totally looks the biz. Even the choice of wheel and tire size fits in nicely with the fat front tire. Personally, I’m so glad that nobody went the 22-inch billet mag route with super low profile tires looking totally out of place. As old Huey said, “It’s hip to be square.” The whole wheel package is muy perfecto in any language.
As I said before, the rest of this gorgeous gold metal flake Forty-Eight is dead stock even down to the blinkers and that includes the 74-inch rubber-mounted Evo engine. There is one and only one exception, though, and that’s the Vance & Hines ShortShots Staggered exhaust. Besides the universally-accepted idea we all love the rich sound of a Harley’s exhaust, one of Yelvington’s claims is that any exhaust you already have on your not-yet-converted Sportster will fit right in the mix. And there you go if you needed proof of Yelvington’s aftermarket exhaust compatibility claim.
I love the looks of Harley’s Forty-Eight and this Yelvington conversion did nothing to hurt that look. This trike sure looks like fun and it’s great to look at from one end to the other. Making a Forty-Eight into a trike was possibly one of the last things on my mind, but I gotta admit I’m a sucker for the looks of this particular trike. That’s not something I say much about any trike, so take that as a compliment of my highest order.
Since this is the first time I became even aware of this trike conversion, I can’t pass along any info on the actual kit itself. It looks good, but then I’m easily mechanically persuaded by good looks. You’ll have to do your own research on Yelvington Trikes and see if it’s right for you. No prices were listed on their website, but you can contact them for more information on pricing and product info at http://yelvingtontrikes.com/.