Last Update 5/12/10
Some Assembly Required!
Do you want to own one of the reverse trike kits you see on this site, but you want someone else to do the assembly? Here's how that can happen...
1) You purchase and pay for the kit of your choice and ship it to the RT Club Headquarters in Branson, Missouri which is in the Southwest Missouri area. Or you airfreight it to either the Kansas City or St. Louis airport where I can pick it up.
2) The trike is assembled and painted according to plans and according to your specific instructions.
3) The trike is test driven and made ready for delivery.
I test drive each trike to make sure everything is in working order before it goes out the door. I built ultralight airplanes back in the 80's when they were real popular. Whoever built it, flew it on it's first flight. Keeps mistakes down to a minimum! I've been repairing 6-cylinder Kawasaki motorcycles for 29 years now, and I also run the largest Club dedicated to this classic high powered touring bike. I'm not known for being especially fast getting mechanical work done, but I am dedicated to my work and historically, the bikes I put together, stay together.
I can do the same with your trike kit. Whether you ship the trike or come and pick it up when it is finished, is your choice. Airfreight is actually a good way to ship motorcycles these days, but these trikes may be too big to use a service like Forward Air, an airfreight service which does a good business shipping motorcycles by plane. There are some motorcycle specific transporters that only do bikes and ATV's. So that might be a better option.
If you buy me the fuel and a plane ticket home, you might be able to twist my arm and get me to drive it to your location anywhere within the 48 states. I don't really think you'd have to twist too hard to get me to deliver it to you if I get to drive it on a trip across country! If you can do so, the best thing would be to come pick it up. Whatever works, I'll try to be accommodating, but I don't want it sitting around my shop too long or I'll be overly tempted to put some miles on it! Just to keep it in perfect running condition of course!
How much will it cost to assemble a trike for you? This is going to vary some based on the style kit you're buying. For example, assembling a kit like the Blackjack Zero is quite a bit different than assembling a kit like the Aero Trike Roadster. The Blackjack Zero is assembled with all new parts. However, even though it's just a straight 'bolt everything together' job, we still have to purchase the motor and transmission from someone. I don't have much control over how long it will take to get the particular motor/trans combo you want installed. There may be other new, used or rebuilt parts I have to source on some kits. Getting my hands on these parts are things I have no control over.
The Aero Trike Roadster on the other hand uses a donor motorcycle for the power-train. On kits like this I need a donor motorcycle that's in good running condition. I don't want to have to rebuild your motorcycle engine, and I don't want to get too involved doing a lot of custom work outside of what's required to build the kit. I'm simply not setup for it. I've got a new 1500 sq ft shop behind my house with a MIG welder, air and all the basic work tools to deal with motorcycle repair. There's enough room to have 2 trikes in my shop at the same time in various states of assembly, plus maybe room to store another trike, but I have limitations. If you want something much outside the norm I might have to load the trike up on my trailer and take it to a local shop that could best do that particular task. Not a big issue, but it slows down the process. I don't do paint, so I'll probably be taking the body parts or other parts to be painted or powdercoated anyway.
I notice that Cirbin advertises $3500 to factory assemble their VT-Rod. On the other hand they're just starting out with this kit around the first of 2007. That price could change as they get busy. I figure it will take a good month to assemble one of these kits from scratch. For that, I can live with $4000 to do the work at half up front and half on delivery. I just want to get some trikes out on the highway. If I can help you with that dream of owning one of these machines please call me!
Keep in mind, I'll assemble a kit for you, but I don't do 'scratch built' or 'plans built' machines! I'm not willing to design or fabricate a whole trike from metal tubing. I can make a support brace to adapt a motorcycle frame to an existing kit, or make a custom bracket, or something along these lines, but that's the extent of my desires to do welding or fabrication. We do have a member that advertises he's willing to design you a trike from scratch. Contact:
Fleming Engineering
17252 Hawthorne Blvd. 222
Torrance, CA 90504
Phone: 310.766.5222
If you want something built to your specifications, all large cities have shops that build custom choppers these days. Visit these shops, and they'll usually know someone who's a bike fabricator, and can do a custom project like you have in mind. Much better to keep something like that local. You could also contact some of the manufacturers on this site and ask if they would be willing to do a vehicle 'one off' for you. Or you can possibly contact some of the guys that have already done a homebuilt trike, and see if they would be willing to do something for you. You could post that thought in our discussion group, post in some of the discussion groups listed on the links page, or place a wanted ad on our for sale / wanted ad page.
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