Motor Trike® Inc. is a manufacturer of
trike conversions for touring and cruising motorcycles. The
corporate headquarters and manufacturing facilities are located
in East Texas outside the town of Troup. there
manufacturing plants, office, and warehouse facilities encompass
50,000 square feet on 70 acres. The
Texas location gives us the unique ability to design and
road test our trikes year round.
The Motor Trike® is a patented retrofit for
most popular touring motorcycles. An
installed Motor Trike® kits adds less than 200 pounds to
the original weight of the bike. Information
on the size and weight variance on your particular model
can be obtained by looking at the different specification
sheets that are included in the information in the Motor
Trike® show room. The
enhanced handling and braking performance of our trike
conversions in addition to the stability and safety makes
the step up to a trike a wise and prudent decision.
We use a Ford differential housing on our
shaft driven trikes that are modified to meet our specifications. This
process is done entirely in our manufacturing plant. We
use new axles, ring and pinions, pinion flanges and brake
assemblies. The only
component that is not new is the actual rear end housing
itself. That housing
is stripped and cut to a new length. It
is sand blasted and then hydro blasted before it goes to
the prep room. Next,
the rear end is beveled and prepped for the weld assembly
area. All the suspension
components and tubes are welded in custom jigs designed
and built at this facility. After
the rear ends are cool, they are removed from the jigs
and taken to the rear end assembly area. You
will note that we did not mention that the rear ends are
grinded after they have been welded. We
are proud of our welders and the quality of work they perform. Grinding
away poor quality welds will weaken the product because
you are removing material. When
you look at our trike, we encourage you to climb underneath
and look at the frame, rear end, and suspension components. This
quality of work and engineering is why we try to have a
trike on display at different rally sites that does not
have a body mounted so that you can see this quality for
yourself. There is
a difference, and we are proud to show it to you.
After the rear ends are welded, they are
transported into the rear end assembly area. Here
the rear ends are scrubbed inside and out prior to assembly. With
a choice of gear ratios from a 2:73 to 4:11, any performance
or economy criteria can be met. The
type of trike, the load factor, and geographical location
all play a role in the gear ratio you select.
Our fiberglass bodies are designed and manufactured
at our plant in Troup, TX. Our
fiberglass bodies are hand laid. This
is a very labor intensive manufacturing process. Why
do it this way? There
are two reasons. The
first reason is the quality of the finish and the strength. The
strength in a fiberglass body is in the mat. The
mat is actually weaved fiberglass material that is laminated
into the mold. Other
fiberglass methods involve using a chopper gun which shoots
out a mixture of fiberglass resin and strands of fiberglass. With
chopper gunned bodies, you do not get consistent section
size nor do you have the same strength. The
second reason we hand lay our fiberglass is weight. Our
bodies usually weigh 42-48 pounds versus a chopper gunned
body of the same size weighing approximately 120-148 pounds. This
weight is all above the centerline of your body which is
exactly where you do not want it. Superior
strength, light weight -- the closer you look, the more
you will experience the differences that our engineering,
manufacturing, and quality make in your trike. That
is why one of our slogans reads, “Motor Trike® -- Experience
the Difference.”
For a list of converstin kits and "Turn Key
units please visit our Trike page.
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