Pat's Hellbound Steel custom trike

A feast of chrome, high-end paint finishes and some cool custom touches, The Mantis was a two-year build for the Queensland-based enthusiast. More impressive than the standard of engineering, custom touches and overall finish is the fact that The Mantis is Pat's first trike build. While he's modified Harleys, Yamahas and other makes before, this creation is Pat's first foray into three wheels.

"It was a dream of mine to have a trike that looked different," Pat explained, "one that stood out, and had that 'chopper' theme and look, with the extended forks and all that."

Starting point for turning Pat's dream into reality was a 2009 Hellbound Steel (HBS) Hellion chopper. Purchased new, the Hellion already had a few of the elements Pat was looking for, and he spent a bit over a month riding it as a 2-wheel beast while getting his ideas together for the trike conversion.


Picking the Kit
Of course, the key element for this build would be the back end. There are a few conversion kits available to turn big capacity Harley, Victory, Japanese, Euro and other US-style choppers and cruisers into 3-wheelers, but Pat went for a 'Mystery Designs' kit, a top-end unit from the States. What sets this unit apart from a lot of other conversion kits is its IRS set-up.

"If anybody has ridden a trike, a straight diff is absolutely useless, because if one wheel drops into a hole, the whole bike has to twist over. With independent rear suspension, if one wheel drops in and out, you don't even know it, so you don't feel the bumps."

As Pat was planning to ride the trike regularly, the comfort that independent rear suspension delivers was an important consideration. Lots of online research convinced Pat that the Mystery Designs kit was the way to go.

"The Mystery Designs kit was designed by a NASCAR engineer, so there's quite a bit of thought and it's quite a solid, strong rear end," Pat explained.

While not fitted to Pat's trike, this rear end also has provision for attachments that allow it to actually tilt side-to-side like a bike. The future owner could easily get this attachment done.

So, with the choice of rear end settled on, how to modify the front end to suit was the decision. HBS choppers already come stretched up and out, with a decent rake. In the case of this unit, it's 38 degrees in the neck and 6 in the triple trees for 44 degrees total.

Pat then set about dismantling everything required for the conversion. The engine, an S&S 117ci (that's a fly sh*t under 2 litres, Pat says) v-twin, didn't need any mods for the conversion, but Pat still treated it to a few bling bits, along with some more practical parts like Crane ignition and a shorty carb.


Back End Blues
Transmission is a 6-speed Roadmax, as purchased on the bike, but here's where the conversion started to get "interesting". At the root of this was the fact that Mystery Designs sent Pat a kit that was the wrong size for his bike.

Even though the Hellion runs a chunky 250 rear, the kit that arrived from the States was a couple of inches wider than it was supposed to be - cue lots of swearing, followed by machining of a bunch of parts to get everything to line up properly. Pat had assistance from Jeff at Wrench Devil Cycles in Capalaba at various stages, but did the bulk of the work himself

"There was a lot of assembling, pulling apart, putting it back together, pulling apart."

With the kit finally in place, the next challenge came in getting the final drive to line up with the primary and back end. Moving 'this' and repositioning 'that' couldn't get the BDL belt to run true, so Pat called on Jeff again, hoping a second brain would come up with a solution to the dilemma.

"Lining up the belt was the biggest challenge," Pat said, "it just didn't want to sit straight.

"It took a couple of days of heavy nutting for Jeff and myself, but in the end, we reverted to the old string line and it's been great ever since!"


Getting the Green Light
Of course, any major conversion like this can hit a snag when it comes to getting it approved for the road. All the bling in the world won't make up for bad engineering!

In Pat's experience, just getting hold of someone in a government body that knows what they're talking about and are prepared to commit to a decision was half the battle.

"I didn't realise all the red tape that comes with converting something to a trike like this. There were hours and hours and hours of cross-referencing, and just finding out yourself. It's not the type of thing I would recommend, but now that I've done it, hopefully the second one will be easier."

Thanks to Pat's diligence in research, engineering and assembly, there were no dramas when it finally came to getting the trike road legal with Queensland's Transport and Main Roads compliance authority.

"I was pretty pedantic with what I did," Pat laughed. "Everything was done to the highest level, so when it came to getting it passed by the engineer, we had no trouble there - it just went straight through."


Looking the Goods
With the compliance sorted, attention could be turned to style, and it's here that Pat showed he's got an artistic brain, as well as an analytical one.

The seat is a bespoke unit from John Moorhouse, custom-made to Pat's specs, while the rear wheels are highly-polished units from the current-generation Ford Mustang. Paint was entrusted to Mark Walker, one of Queensland's best custom painters, of 'Motorcycle Panel and Paint' in Stockleigh.

Walker painted the guards in black, with iridescent green and gold flames to match the tank. This brilliant green finish led to 'The Mantis' nickname, while the black frame and black powdercoated back end gives it that extra punch.

New mirrors, pegs, grips, levers and other bolt-on parts were added at this stage, along with some locally laser-etched stainless steel panels - like the Maltese Cross at the rear.

While there are American cycle parts from nose to tail on this build, there is one exception. Can you spot it? No? We'll let Pat explain: "The sissy bar and the attachments on the back guard were from a Yamaha, would you believe?"


Show and Go
This trike was intended to be a rider from the outset, so as soon the two-year build was completed in 2011, Pat had it on the road. Proving it ain't no trailer queen, The Mantis is ridden to and from bike shows and other events, as well as on other general rides.

At the shows it's been to, this trike has understandably floored 'em. In the half dozen shows Pat's taken The Mantis to, he's walked away with a trophy from all of them; either Best in Show or Best Paint.


As indicated earlier, Pat's experience with The Mantis has served him in good stead for trike build #2. But, in order to fund the next build, this trike needs to be moved on, so if you've been looking to add a show-winning one-of-a-kind custom trike to your garage, see the details below.

Thanks to: Wrench Devil Cycles, John Moorhouse, Mark Walker and especially Carol, my wife, for sticking by me before, during and after this project!


FOR SALE
Pat's gone through the grief of getting this trike converted and complied, so you don't have to! The Mantis is a ready-made show-winner, as well as a great ride. It's only covered 4,000 kms in its total time in Pat's possession, so it's got plenty of miles left in it, too.

If the aforementioned article hasn't given you an idea of the high standards and big dollars that have been put into this build, Pat is happy to go over everything in more detail for a prospective buyer. Asking price is $59,000.

To view ad online, click here (NOTE: bike was still for sale at time of posting)


Words: Mike Ryan   Photos: Daniel Ward