WHY A VW TRIKE?
 
 
 

As you get more involved with the idea of Trikeing and this motley crew that you have found here, (BTW FORUM)  you will find that the VW is by far the Trike of choice for more than 90 % of the Trike builders out there and for good reason.

The VW rear section from any old bug makes up about 2/3`s of the needed parts to build a Trike and it comes in one nice neat package. From that point its fairly easy to build just about any type and style of Trike that your little heart desires. There are litterly hundreds of other motors that can be adapted to the VW transaxle, or you can build the little 1600cc stocker up to a race worthy motor and anything you want in between. The VW transaxle comes in standard 4 speed, simi auto or what is known as the auto stick version and even a full automatic from the Fastback and Squareback models are out there. Any one of them will make a great beginning for your Trike.

Then of course as others have already stated, you can choose just about any FWR car you want and cut the back off, and add a front end and you got instant Trike. Last but not least, you can take any combination of motor and trans and build a frame and suspension to carry it and get on down the road on your own special creation. Your any limited by your own ability or lack there off.

There is all the help and information you could want right here. The next step is to just decide what you want and get started. I doubt that you can think of anything that hasn`t already been done by several guys out there so when you need a little help or advice, just ask, someone will jump in and tell you what you need to know.

Good luck.

Trikerbob
 

 

My own opinion
 
While on vacation, on the trike, my friend Rod Bouder and I were entering a town in Montana called Alder. The town had a casino and a restaurant and motel and a little store/gas station.  It was a little late and I asked if there was a mechanic around and they told me there was and showed me where he lived.  I got the trike over to his place and he said that I could use his garage to work on it.  So I parked it for the night and we got a room  The next day I pulled the trike into Doug's garage and pulled the back off so we could get to the engine.  It was leaking oil out of the front and it was decided it was shot.  We went over to the restaurant for lunch and there was a guy there who said he remembered a place in Divide (about 60 miles north of Dillon) that worked on VW's.  He found the place in the phone book and we called them.  They had a rebuilt 1600 DP for $1150. with a $200. core charge.  Having no choice now I had to pay it.  Doug took me over to Divide the next day in his pick up truck, picked up the engine and back to Alder.    Got the parts exchanged and got the engine mounted back into the trike, went to start it and then found that I also had a froze up Alt.  Now I wasn't sure where to get one for the VW.  Called the guy in Divide and yes he had one, so Doug tossed me the keys to his truck and said he had work to do, I know how to drive so go get it.  Which I did. 
We got everything mounted and started it, ran it for 10 min. at 1500 RMP then drained the oil and put new oil in.  The next morning Doug adjusted the valves.  and we put the back on it.  As I was getting ready to leave I asked Doug how much I owed him, he said "well, the oil cost $14.00."  That was all he wanted.  I was amazed and gave him $100.00.    Thanks Doug!!!!!!

All I'm saying here is that having a VW type 1 the engine was  available and it wasn't any problem for me to change out.  Had it been some other type engine it may have been a problem.