Harley-Davidson V-Rod Trike For A Chick

I HAD MY first crush on two wheels when I was a young nipper. I saw this guy rock up on a Norton across the road from where I lived. I’m not sure if I liked the motorbike or him the best, but I used to perv on that iron steed from my bedroom window. Sweet 16 rocks up and I bought my first Jap crap, a 175 cc two wheel machine, and blow me down, my drop-kick boyfriend wrote-it-off before I got to ride it — and Hell did I get rid of him pretty quick.

Life marched on and before one knows it, I’m a mature woman.

A mate was selling his Harley-Davidson V–Rod. He needed some quick cash and I was on the scour for an iron steed, so after some negotiation, I picked up the V–Rod for a good price, and to boot, it’s the 100 Year Centenary Gold Badge model. What a bargain! And best bit to this story is the bloke I got the V–Rod from, he bought it from another guy with only a few thousand km on the clock. He sold it because it scared the crap outta him. Bloody pussy!

Before you could say Jack Robinson, I was heading to Brisbane with trailer in tow, picked up my V-Rod and headed back down south to Gawler. What a buy! The V-Rod had only 16,000 km on the tic toc. I was rapt.

That’s when the fun began. 

I ordered a kit to convert the two wheels into a trike through a chappie one knows. The kit was coming from MotorTrike in Texas in the good old USA, but what was meant to be a six-week delivery turned into nine weeks. It finally arrived so myself and my partner, Bones, got started on removing the arse-end (although I must confess, Bones did most of the dismantling).

We were soon gradually assembling the kit from the instructions and some photos, but we had a few minor hiccups which is to be expected. We had organised the guy who is the importer of these units to do the rest of the transformation, but we waited and waited to hear back from him. Eventually, I took the partly-built trike to my mechanic, Greg at Gawler Auto Trans, who had shown some interest in my ride. Bloody ripper! Greg was happy to finish what was needed to complete the project.

Greg and his off-sider, Kieran, set about, inch by inch, working on the three wheeler. Some times there was a bit of swearing and cursing but all was good.

My first and only choice to work on the bodywork was the guys at Willaston Auto Body Repairs. I have known the owner’s son for a quiet a few moons. I even taught him to drive. The guys had never had a job like this before so they were very eager to get stuck into it. There were two separate pieces which attach on the left and right of the back seat. These looked ugly so the fibreglasser, Adam, got stuck into moulding up the rest of the body.

A handbrake was needed for the compliance. It was fitted to the left side of the trike on a piece of checker plate and bracketed to the frame.

The original boot section was useless in my opinion as it was so small you couldn’t even put a lid or leathers in there. So bugger me dead, what’s one supposed to go in there, a handbag? Ha, I don’t think so, not for this chickie babe. I decided I didn’t want the boot section as I wanted to show off the trike diff, so they cut out as much as possible without loosing strength in the fibreglass body.

The paint job was next; Luke had the task in hand. I wanted it as true as possible, matching the air-box cover (black and silver), although I wanted the rear body mostly black. After asking all the guys in the paint shop for their honest opinions, one of the dudes suggested the whole body coated in black with a silver stripe all the way around the outside with a gold pinstripe to match the air-box cover — and shit, it looks the trick, love it, bloody awesome.

The next job was doing all the electrical installation. 

Well, it was time to get an engineer’s certificate. The quote was $1200 compared to $2500 from another two dudes. So what do you reckon I went with, the $1200 one of course. Well, when it was all done, it somehow cost me $1800. How does that happen? I was too excited to argue by that time, so I let it be and coughed up the moolah. With the Yippee Engineers report in one hand, I was off to Transport SA at Regency Park. I had heard how picky they can be down there but, hells bells, hats off to them, the trike passed for the compliance test.

Oh shit! There was a small drama with one of the LED brake lights not working. Bugger, back to the auto electrician. Turns out the internal circuitry unit were not working and could not be fixed, and we could not get another one to match anywhere in Oz. Shit! So three weeks later, two new teardrop brake lights rocked up from MotorTrike. Thinking ahead, we had ordered one for the Trike (free under warranty) and one for just in case.

Here I am, 51 weeks after buying the H-D V-Rod from good friend Coris from Brisbane, and it’s finally on the black-top. 

It took me a few days to itch me arse in the seat and get used to the power, and especially the steering! Wow, what a difference to normal iron steeds. It was weird not having to learn into a corner. One has to push the handlebar instead of leaning. It took three days or so to feel at ease before one nicked out on to the main roads. All one must remember is correct speed before entering a corner. Ha! It’s a good thing really as it forces me to ride safely as I am hoping to die of old age, not fucking up my cornering and getting up and close and personal with a tree, etc, etc.

There have not been too many days when I’m not out my trike and loving it to boot. Steering feels normal now that I’m used to it as well as getting my bearings for the body width in the back-end.

The braking is absolutely brilliant. They are very responsive, as I found out one day when this fuck-wit on Tapleys Hill Road decided to change lanes while I was next to him. The brakes pulled me up instantly. A few things was going through my mind: once a dick head always a dickhead, and there’s a wanker born every minute, and today he was next to me.

The LED brake lights are nifty as they flash three times before staying on which catches the attention of any vehicles behind.

So far most of my rides have been short rides around an hour to two hours. The trike is very comfortable thanks to a very deep seat with lower back support; great for my rump. Have to say the V-Rod Trike is magical for a short arse like myself. Oh, we fitted running boards on the front for easy riding.

Soon I’ll be heading to the golden land of Queensland. I’m planning on doing 600 km per day, so about a four-day trek to Bundaberg. Bones, my better half, will be in the Dodge and towing a 5.2 meter boat and his Harley… and our heeler, Ziggy.

Photos by Rags; words by Ann Cassidy