FEATURE – 2009 custom Harley-Davidson trike
Words Mike Ryan
Photos: Peter Ström
When asked to name things Swedish, most of us run out of answers after ABBA, IKEA and Volvo. Of course, there’s plenty more to Sweden than that, including a healthy custom motorcycle scene and a love of choppers. That love runs so deep that there’s even a “Swedish Style” within the chopper lexicon.
And speaking of love, what you’re looking at here is the result of one man’s love for his wife and a commitment to get her into motorcycling, despite a few obstacles.
Borne out of Love
Based in Södertälje, close to the Swedish capital Stockholm, Peter Ström really loves choppers. He eats, sleeps and breathes them, with most of his creations following the Swedish Style of a high headstem, stretched rake and minimal ornamentation for what he calls a “long, lean and clean” look.
After creating many bikes for himself, Peter’s wife Febe decided she wanted one, too. Building a ride for Febe came with a special set of challenges, though, as she suffers from a degenerative muscle disease that would make riding a conventional chopper impossible. Add in the after effects of a fractured tailbone and that complicated things even further.
Love finds a way, though, and the way Peter found to get Febe into motorcycling was to build her a trike instead.
With Peter being a chopper lover, it was a given that this creation – which would be Febe’s first motorcycle, by the way - would be chopper-inspired. So, in 2008, work on what came to be known as “3 Wheels Bastard” got underway.
CCS and FXR
Peter’s pretty skilled at fabrication, but for this project, he called on Calles Chopperdelar Sweden (CCS) and Kenta Falkered of Ace Performance to help bring 3 Wheels Bastard to life.
Aside from the need to accommodate a trike back end, a few other things had to be factored in to the design, too, including a low seat height, easy to reach and use footpegs, comfortable hand controls and easy steering – at least for a chopper! It also had to look like a chopper.
“Many trikes are short and thick – I wanted this one to be tall and narrow,” Peter explained.
Febe made some contributions to the design and specification, too, so by the time CCS started welding up the frame, the basics had already been worked out – a single downtube frame, stretched 4 inches, that splits to cradle the engine, with a Softail rear end and a whopping 42-degree rake on the front end.
On that rake, 36 degrees was built into the frame design itself, with the extra 6 coming from the fork yokes. Connected to these are ‘Bullet’ forks from DNA Specialty in the USA that are 18 inches (45cm) longer than stock.
CCS also made a new oil tank and a custom handlebar with the desired height and reach (including welded-in risers) to allow Febe to steer the trike comfortably.
For the powerplant, Peter and Kenta chose an 82ci (1340cc) Evo motor out of an ‘80s-era Harley-Davidson FXR. As this bike was always going to be a cruiser, all the stock internals and standard carb induction were retained, but an FXD ‘Inferno’ exhaust was added, along with a few engine dress-up parts.
The FXR Harley’s 5-speed transmission was retained, too, but now uses a chain final drive that connects to a reproduction Harley Servi Car axle from DNA Specialty.
The rolling stock combines a 21-inch front rim with 15-inch BMW alloys at the rear that Peter widened to 10 inches. Shod with Hankook Ventus ST tyres, those rear wheels look tough, while the extra dish helps hide the dual rear DNA disc brakes. The front disc and caliper set-up is from DNA, too.
Rock…
By early 2009, after a full years’ work, Peter and Kenta were close to bringing Febe’s trike to fruition – just in time for the ‘riding season’ in the short Swedish summer.
The 15.5-litre fuel tank is a bespoke piece, 22 inches long and made to wrap around the custom frame, with a spinner-style cap added. The tyre-hugging front mudguard and small tail section aft of the seat were also scratch built, while the seat itself was specially made by Peter so Febe sits closer to the bars. This seat can be swapped out for another with less padding when Peter himself takes 3 Wheels Bastard for a spin.
Details include a Bates 4-inch headlight, which nestles snugly into the fork yokes and helps accentuate the rake. Same goes for the clean treatment of the bars. A tiny front brake master cylinder and slim levers from Kustom Tech Delux have been matched to Biltwell Kung Fu grips, with the instrument pod relocated between the rear cylinder barrel and primary cover.
Aftermarket ‘brass knuckle’ footpegs were matched to DNA pedals, while genuine brass knuckles, sourced from an arms fair, were fitted to the rear axle as decoration.
A small sissy bar, bullet-style rear indicators and a combination tail light and licence plate holder keep the back end of 3 Wheels Bastard looking as minimalistic as the front, while the Harley-Davidson patent decal on the rear sprocket cover adds an old school touch.
“Peter helped me make my dream come true,” Febe said when it was completed. “From the beginning, we really didn’t know if the trike would work for me, but it turned out so much better than we hoped. The whole trike makes me happy.”
A matte black paint scheme with pinstripe detailing and red wheels – what Peter called a rockabilly style - was the trike’s initial finish, but that only lasted a while before some changes were made.
… Rattle and Roll
After racking up 35,000km, 3 Wheels Bastard was taken off the road for some changes. Most of these were aesthetic, but one was made to deal with Febe’s worsening condition.
Gear changing had become a problem, so Peter sourced and fitted an ‘auto clutch’ from EFM.
While the gear pedal is retained with this unit, it allows up and down shifting to be made simply by rolling off the throttle, thus removing the need for a clutch lever.
A set of aftermarket alloys were also added at this stage, but proved to be out of true and rattled the trike – and Febe! – so badly that the modified BMW wheels were quickly put back on. Those wheels were resprayed in black and all the tinware stripped back to bare metal for the rebuild.
Now wearing clearcoat and scallop-style stripes in gold leaf executed by Airbrush Studio in Stockholm, a series of quotes also grace the tinware and even extend to the handlebar and oil tank. The quote on the front guard – “If I wanted a windshield and stereo in front of me, I’d drive a f*king car” – is a favourite of Peter’s and he laughs when he says how much it pisses off bagger riders.
The black rocker boxes and blackout parts on the engine were replaced with polished or chromed parts for the rebuild, while an abundance of brass fasteners were added to pick up on the new gold leaf detailing.
With the rebuild completed, 3 Wheels Bastard was ready to roll again for the 2012 summer riding season and has been virtually unchanged since.
By this stage, you’re sure to be thinking how the hell this thing got approved for the road, given anything remotely close to this could never be registered in Australia.
“Here in Sweden, it is really easy to build custom bikes and cars,” Peter explained. “We have an organisation especially for custom building and making [these vehicles] road legal – it’s the best in the whole of Europe.”
Enjoying the Ride
Since the rebuild was done, Febe estimates she puts around 6,000km on the odometer of 3 Wheels Bastard each summer, mainly on social rides with Peter and friends, but also on holiday trips to Gotland (an island in eastern Sweden) and to bike shows throughout the country, where the trike has picked up a swag of trophies. It’s even ventured across to Denmark and won at a show there, too.
Febe uses it as her daily commuter on occasion and has even carried her assistant as a passenger, hence the pillion pegs!
“The trike is great!” Febe enthused. “Smooth to ride, fast and very reliable, it [also] handles like a go kart. After the rebuild, it’s been better and even more good looking!”
Febe’s enthusiasm must have been infectious, as her daughter Janine decided she wanted a motorcycle, too, so Peter built her a custom Sportster. We’ll feature that creation – named the ‘Purple Queen’ - in the near future.
Even with all the concessions to comfort this trike has, Febe’s muscle condition means long rides are an ordeal, so a big European tour is out of the question. Despite this, Febe says she’s determined to keep riding her custom-built trike for as long as she can.
Ever the optimist, Peter adds that when riding a trike becomes too difficult for Febe, he’ll build a hot rod for her.
You’ve gotta love that sort of devotion.
