So with all that totally to you unnecessary blather out of the way, let’s get on to T.D.’s striking trike. If there was ever a tough, but pretty one-off trike that bridges all the gaps between show bike, eye-ball searing design, wicked performance, and the often needed practicality of three wheels, T. D. Ward and his main man and tech, Scott Fuchs, have hit the custom world’s version of a tie-breaking, last-inning grand slam. It’s a smooth, coherent design that anyone interested in trikes (or not) will stop in their tracks to check out. Personally, I’m not a big trike guy for my own stupid reasons that I won’t go into, but I couldn’t flash through the slideshow of Jack’s photos quick enough to take this bike all in. It just flows and then flows some more and in my opinion, that’s the sure sign of a good design. And, it’s a tough looking bike that looks like a trip to ride even though it’s decked out in all the necessary finery that a show bike needs.

I think that ready-to-rumble aspect comes from T.D.’s hot rod background and who doesn’t like hot rods? “We try to use hot rod themes in all of our bikes. Rods & Rides began as a custom hot rod shop only doing cars and trucks until about seven years ago. The bike business began to take over our car and truck business and today we are a full motorcycle company and registered with the U.S. Government and in the Kelly Blue Book,” said T.D. “This means our customer can have one bad-ass looking bike or trike and still be able to finance and insure it with no hassle. Our business seems to be growing every month and we are still only building one-off customs. There is never a machine that leaves our shop that can’t win a show. I won’t put our name on the line otherwise. Many of our motorcycles have been winners at Daytona and showcased in several national magazines such as Easyriders and V-Twin. The bikes are hand-built, one at a time, and sold all over the entire world from Africa to Australia. We always strive to use parts made in the USA. If you’re looking for an Old School style with a touch of new and you demand true performance with big results. Rods & Rides is the motorcycle for you.” A strong statement for sure, but one that T.D. believes in his heart and actually puts into practice after you thoroughly check out this trike.

The Rods & Rides formula for success seems to mimic the mantra of the late legendary head of the Pontiac division, Bunkie Knudsen, who was responsible starting in 1956 for successfully turning Pontiac around from a “plumber’s car” to an exciting automobile division that appealed to not only the young guys, but the old guys too. His famous quote, “You can sell an old man a young man’s car, but you can’t sell a young man an old man’s car” hits the nail right on the head as far as T.D.’s explanation of why this trike looks like it does. “We wanted to build a hot rod trike, not an old man trike, so we did it,” he said. “This bike was built off our Pro Street drop-seat frame. We wanted the bike to be easy to ship anywhere including overseas to our customers and dealers and that’s one of the reasons for the narrower rear end. It makes it easier and cheaper to ship, But it had to handle well too and with the huge rear tires and the narrow stance we achieved both. As far as comfort, the rear sprung seat helps with the front suspension and the end result is a very comfortable bike that handles very well.”

Built at T.D.’s shop in St. James, Missouri, just outside of St. Louis, the performance aspect T.D. demands is courtesy of a 113” Ultima El Bruto engine that’s got more than enough power to light up those twin 300mm rear tires whenever you feel like it. “The bike is a total cruiser and can be enjoyed at any speed,” said T.D. “ I prefer low and slow, but, it’s ready to do a wicked burn out at any given twist of the throttle.” He also told me that it’s really easy and fun to ride and handles just great with the narrower rear end. Absolutely no problems at all.

His favorite aspect of the bike and possibly yours too is the wood grain paintjob tastefully and perfectly applied by Brad Bole, owner of Blackburn Collision Center in Terre Haute, Indiana. “Brad knows how to put down some wonderful paint,” said T.D. Checking out Brad’s custom paintwork work on his website (www.blackburncollisioncenter.com), you can see that there’s a hell of a lot more going on there than just repairing crashed cars to new condition.

Summing up the build, T.D. said, “The trike went together very smoothly and we had no issues. This trike is just what our customer wanted and this is his second trike from Rods & Rides. He is a very happy guy and we love to make our customer’s smile.”

For more info on Rods & Rides by T.D., be sure to check out his website www.rodsandridesbytd.com.