# What three-wheeled motorcycles were these? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 28, 2006, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-three-wheeled-motorcycles-were-these/382125 "2006-11-28T21:02:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2006, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-three-wheeled-motorcycles-were-these/382125/1 "2006-11-28T21:02:53Z")
Last night, while leaving downtown LA at about 10pm, my friends and I spotted a pair of motorcycle-esque vehicles the likes of which none of us had ever seen. Since that time, I’ve been trying hard to figure out what the hell they were, but I haven’t had any success. The closest example I could find to how they looked was the [Phiaro Eternity](http://image.blog.livedoor.jp/livecoma/imgs/1/d/1d39fea5.JPG). Like the Eternity, these vehicles had one wheel up front and two in the rear, and very similar styling in the body lines. However, unlike the Eternity, it looked like these vehicles had handlebars instead of a steering wheel, and the top was open so that the drivers were sitting up quite high and very clearly visible to anyone else. The best analogy I can draw on is that they looked like very expensive, street-legal luxury ATVs with a single front wheel. I’m hoping that someone else has seen what I’m talking about and can possibly provide me with more information. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2006, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-three-wheeled-motorcycles-were-these/382125/2 "2006-11-28T21:26:09Z")
Home built trikes are fairly common. Sometimes using a VW powerplant they have all kinds of “bodywork” Two rear wheels, a single front often way out there. Open in the front, they can have a roof over the driver’s head. I have seen some that look like an old fashioned shed (shingles and a peaked roof), a small stake bed over the engine, some swoopy custom fiberglass body work, you get the idea. ---
**Author:** ![drillrod](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@drillrod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drillrod)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2006, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-three-wheeled-motorcycles-were-these/382125/3 "2006-11-29T14:43:51Z")
Was it a [Corbin Sparrow](http://www.corbinsparrow.com/)? ---
**Author:** ![drillrod](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@drillrod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drillrod)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2006, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-three-wheeled-motorcycles-were-these/382125/4 "2006-11-29T14:46:04Z")
Oops. I just caught the mention in your post about the open seating position, so probably not the Sparrow. ---
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2006, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-three-wheeled-motorcycles-were-these/382125/5 "2006-11-29T14:51:35Z")
Was it one of [these](http://uk.shopping.com/xPC-Movie_Billy_Connolly_s_World_Tour_Of_England_Ireland_And_Wales_3259190312395)? (Sorry, the picture is very small, I can’t find a decent one), it’s a three wheel motorbike with handlebars. ---
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2006, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-three-wheeled-motorcycles-were-these/382125/6 "2006-11-29T14:52:37Z")
[Close-up](http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/images/320/billy_connolly.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/news/2005/02/07/16907.shtml&h=220&w=320&sz=11&hl=en&sig2=qr7bCKpQyyqoZunMKPhg-A&start=1&tbnid=bxccUrBytXp1TM:&tbnh=81&tbnw=118&ei=K55tRfDzF8eOaN3MrPAB&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dbilly%2Bconnolly,%2Btour%2Bof%2Bthe%2Buk%2Band%2Bireland%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26safe%3Doff%26sa%3DN) of the handlebars. ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2006, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-three-wheeled-motorcycles-were-these/382125/7 "2006-11-29T18:07:04Z")
There is a million different forms. Some look like a production Honda Goldwing™, some look like chopped up VW’s and almost any other form you can think of. Can you draw it out? also.[Might check out this site.](http://btw-trikers.org/uploads/home.php) ---
**Author:** ![MrFloppy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/43a26b/32.png) [@MrFloppy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrFloppy)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2006, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-three-wheeled-motorcycles-were-these/382125/8 "2006-11-29T23:18:36Z")
There are a couple of guys in Socal called the Blastolene Brothers. They make some wacky trikes. Was this like the one you saw? [![](http://www.blastolene.com/images/webtwinsontrike.jpg) ](http://www.blastolene.com/images/webtwinsontrike.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2006, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-three-wheeled-motorcycles-were-these/382125/9 "2006-11-29T23:51:00Z")
Reminds me of the episode of Monster Garage where they converted a semi into a motorcycle. [http://dsc.discovery.com/fansites/monstergarage/episode/season2/episode\_34.html](http://dsc.discovery.com/fansites/monstergarage/episode/season2/episode_34.html) ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2006, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-three-wheeled-motorcycles-were-these/382125/10 "2006-11-29T23:55:09Z")
Did they look anything like the Harley and Honda trike conversions on [this site](http://www.badboyscustom.com/index.htm)? ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2006, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-three-wheeled-motorcycles-were-these/382125/11 "2006-11-30T18:57:50Z")
[QUOTE=scr4] Did they look anything like the Harley and Honda trike conversions on [this site](http://www.badboyscustom.com/index.htm)? [/QUOTE] Aaaaaaaaand, we have a winner! Sorry for my absence from my own thread – crazy week. [This link](http://www.badboyscustom.com/honda/1800-spyder.htm) for the Honda 1800 Spyder, which comes from the site **scr4** linked to, seems to be the very vehicle we saw, or a very close approximation. I have to admit…they look like fun to ride. Perhaps now I can sleep tonight. 😃 I appreciate everyone’s contributions here. **GusNSpot** , I’m still enjoying perusing photos from the link you posted. ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2006, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-three-wheeled-motorcycles-were-these/382125/12 "2006-11-30T19:53:36Z")
Glad to help. “Bugs in your teeth is always good.” 😃