Twice Three

The idea is not new, in fact, the first successful motor vehicle was a steam-powered three-wheeled wagon built by Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot in 1769.  Karl Benz’s "Motowagen" of 1885 was the first successful car to be powered by an internal combustion engine -- it had three wheels.  Di-Dion Boulton tricycles were introduced in1895 and these were powered by the 138cc, 1.5-horsepower gasoline engine that would create the motorcycle industry.   Three-wheeled vehicles were huffing and puffing along a full century before Sylvester Roper first mounted a boiler on two wheels to create the first motorcycle.

My practical experience with three-wheeled vehicles dates back a mere decade to when I met Bob Keyes, a rocket scientist who developed the quickest, meanest street-legal vehicle on the planet to illustrate what he called “the physics of three.”  I never did get to pilot the Vigilante, but rode in it enough times to know that his arcane diagrams and string of mathematical formula had led to creation of the ultimate cycle-car.  Subsequent day trips on exotic trikes –Lehman’s R1100 BMW, the new 1800GL Honda as envisioned by Hannigan, and the Boss Hoss with a 302ci small-block V-8 – have shown me how much fun three wheels can be. 

Trikes (single wheel and steering in front; two wheels behind) and cycle-cars (two wheels and steering in front) have attained popularity at various times and for different reasons during the last century.  Harley-Davidson ceased production of the Servi-Car in 1973; Leman reinvented the trike in 1984.  In the past decade they’ve gone from being an eccentric oddity on the road to becoming the fastest growing segment of the motorcycle industry.  I hate to think it’s because we’re getting older, but I know that when the time comes that I can no longer lift my reclined bike to an upright position (which gets more difficult each year) I’ll be switching to the stability of three wheels. 

            This summer I get to try out two very different three-wheeled motorcycles: three weeks piloting Campagna Motors’ new T-Rex that’s built in Montreal (www.campagnamotors.com) and three weeks aboard Harley-Davidson’s new Street Glide Trike from Deeley H-D in Toronto. Street Glide Trike  The first is a true cycle-car while the other is a classic incarnation of Harley-Davidson’s most famous trike model. 

                  Besides the obvious fun factor, I’ve been given the opportunity to test both systems, although each has its own merits and adherents.  I’ve always wanted a Morgan, especially the sexy Super Sport F (1933-37), and have lusted after more than one vintage H-D Servi-Car (especially those after 1951, the first to be fitted with hydraulic brakes).  Now I have my chance, although the horsepower of the T-Rex is equivalent to a half-dozen Morgans and the H-D has amenities not even conceived of half a century ago. It’s two three-week trips back-to-back: twice three for me.

I’ll be reporting my journeys on Twitter (www.twitter.com/touringroads) and in this blog beginning May 16^th.