More Cobra Trike

Here's two more shots of Dick Allen's Cobra trike. It changed hands and paint jobs a couple of times. First to Jim Andrews and then to Gordon Labell. I believe it belonged to Gordon when both of these were taken. Photos courtesy of Joe Hurst.

Those tiller bars are way long. Makes you wonder what it's like to steer this monster.
Taken at the Indio Run.The paint only looks different here because it's in the shade.

2 More Sac Trikes

Here's a couple more trikes from Dr. Sprocket.

Nice!. Dig the Harman springer and Principal's office school chair.
Holy fiberglass Batman!

Roth's Experiments

When Ed Roth built each new custom vehicle (car, bike, or trike), they weren't just frivolous show vehicles. They were also experiments for new ideas or bulding techniques like using fiberglass for building the body for the Outlaw and then applying these successes on future vehicles.

The California Cruiser was such a vehicle and became the starting point for other V8 trikes and kits. 

Roth didn't care that the Mail Box used a fairly underpowered Crosley 4 cylinder engine. The main idea was to see if a water cooled car engine would work with the radiator mounted in the rear. It did so the next project was to apply this knowlegde to a larger engine for the California Cruiser. One lesson learned was to never again build a body that cut off your side and rear field of vsion.

The Candy Wagon was his first experiment with trikes and although also underpowered it was built for long hauls, so it used the large fiberglass seat/body as the fuel tank.

Roth's California Cruiser The Article

Here's the article from the December 1969 issue of Choppers Magazine featuring the finished project. Click on each image to enlarge and read.

 This is the prototype and grand daddy of all the Roth/Allen V8 Trikes. It used a small aluminum Olds V8 instead of the Ford 289 used in Dick Allen's and the kits.

In a lot of ways it is also the grand daddy of all V8 trikes, as builders to this day still build frames eeriely close to the original. For the Kits, Dick supplied the frames (and engine mounts), while Roth supplied the fiberglass bodies.



Cross Bones Trike

Recently on ebay

Seller said he was trying to make it look as if it was stock. Custom made steel pick-up truck style box plus wire wheels do a pretty good job of it.

The Thinker

More of Big Roy from Kerry Crist.

 Big Roy comtemplates his next move. Everything about this photo is classic Biker. It could be a David Mann painting.


Nice molding. Sadly, Big Roy past away before finishing his trike's rebuild.

Sacraknucklehead Trike

Continuing with the trike coverage, here's a Sacramento based Knucklehead trike from the early '70's.

The seats and pipes look to be inspired by Tom McMullen's Corviar trike. Photo courtesy of Dr. Sprocket.

Jasper's Trike

I still have a bunch of photos from Mr. Joe Hurst that never got posted. First up, his friend Jasper and his trike.

Joe say's Jasper (may he R.I.P.), was one cool dude.

I also have more trike photos from Dr. Sprocket and others, so like it or not...  More Tirkes To Come!

Wise Guy Trike

The infamous Dr. Sprocket sent these vintage photos of Bob Wise's  chopped trike circa 1970.

While chronically underpowered, the 45 cubic inch falthead Serv-car makes for one cool chopper.

Talk about stance! Chopped Trikes were once very common. Even with todays re-intrest in vintage choppers, you don't see that many trikes.

 It's a small world after all! The very same Bob Wise submitted the two black conept drawings for Street Chopper's (June 1972), Trick Trike contest. My art is on the facing page. I posted this a few years ago which lead to me meeting the good doctor.

Roth's California Cruiser

Ed Roth's V8 powered California Cruiser was the prototype for the Ed Roth/Dick Allen joint venture Cobra Trike kits. I'll be posting the article from this issue soon.

This Month's Header-The South Bay and Trikes

Sorry about the new all time low. Two months headers back to back without any other postings! A few things have conspired against me.  1. Blog burn out. 2. My ancient computer's browser is not supported. 3. I hate the new posting process. 4. More important issues to address. 

I hope to do better and plan to partially dedicate the next month (or two), to trike stuff and more South Bay Chopper history.

Just when you thought you'd seen every Dick Allen photo. Dick at his Artesia blvd. shop aboard the Cobra trike running mock up. Courtesy of Joe Hurst.