5k: Unknown: Suzuki Powered Trike
This next feature comes to us as a tip from Jon who simply writes: Weird – Wacky – Wonderful? Let’s dissect that –but first you gotta see these pictures. Find this Suzuki Powered Mystery Trike offered for an unlisted price, located in Seattle, WA via craigslist.
Weird: In the great catalog of automobiles that look like a giant wasp is mating with a Model T, this is just about the coolest looking example I’ve seen. Wherever you go, it will be the weirdest car you’ve seen all day and people will pull out their cellphone like you are a celebrity or have a giant wasp humping the back of your Model T.
Wacky — The handling dynamics of three wheeled vehicle that uses nineteenth century suspension up front and a motorcycle wheel out back is going to be delightfully strange.
Wonderful — This thing is powered by a 1 liter sport bike engine and should be a handful with anything other than light throttle on a perfectly flat and dry tarmac. It looks great! tips@dailyturismo.com
Wacky handling is right. Motorcycle tires only really work on Motorcycles. They've commonly got a softer compound towards the edges and a harder rubber in the middle. Since, you know, you kinda have to lean in order to turn. CanAms and Harley trikes use car tires. Even Morgan three wheelers use car-type tires, albeit a car from 1927. I like the concept, but I hate inadequately spec'd equipment and flawed engineering. It kinda amazes me somebody has the skill to put something like that together, but they don't have the chops to make it handle. I guess it's something to be seen in and not to run to the limit. That's sort of the opposite of my MO.
Bottom line: I doubt this would be more fun than the bike it was built on.
But the ad says it runs grate. Not sure who to believe.
Yeezus, Mary and Emma what the hell is that thing?
The "wasp tail" may in fact be the wheelie bar…
Makes perfect sense to me. Build a trike based on the British (ancient) trike model using a high powered modern Japanese rear end and live in the Seattle Wa area which is the rain forest of the west coast. Sounds to me like an accident/disaster waiting to happen!
Hello Seattle is in a drought this year so it is safe to play outside this year ! Thanks to El Nino ! Cali will get the rain this year !
Actually we are not in a drought. We've had average precipitation, but have a low snow pack due to an unprecedented warm winter. No telling if we will get a drought later on this year. Check out Cliff Mass, a prof at UW Atmospheric Sciences. He doesn't blame it on global warming and also to be careful in predicting the results of such a one-off winter:
Why last winter was so unusual
This must be Stan's ride
So that's what he's been up to…