Geekfoolery

Can a tricycle be cool? The word tricycle tends to bring to mind images of toddlers on driveways. It seems that respectability derives either from being on two wheels, or four. Three-wheeled vehicles don’t get no respect. Here’s are some three wheelers that deserve another look.

The first one I saw on the highway while the way home from work the other day. The back half looked like a normal performance motorcycle, but where normally would be just the front wheel of the motorcycle, there were two, full-size wheels. After a little Googling around I learned that what I saw was the B.R.P Can-Am Spyder Roadster. You are probably familiar with other products made by this Canadian company, Sea-Doo watercraft, Evrinrude boat engines, and Bombadier snowmobiles. It was probably the snowmobile configuration that inspired this vehicle with its two front wheels and one rear wheel, also known as the “tadpole” configuration. It looks like a lot of fun, and my guess is that the target market is people who want to ride the open road, but have never ridden a motorcycle before. You’re looking at investments of $20,000 or more in a new Harley, and wondering how many times you’re going to fall off it before you get the hang of it. A lot of motorcycle riders I have talked tol advise buying a cheaper bike first to learn how to ride. The Can-Am Spyder makes it look like you can hit the road without worrying too much about ending up on America’s Funniest Home Videos the first time you hit the gas.

Another 3-wheeler that looks like a bit of fun if you enjoy pedalling rather than hitting the gas is a recumbent tricycle. Greenspeed is an Australian maker coming up on two decades in business making trikes, and they have small but dedicated (and growing) following. The advantage is that the position is very aerodynamic, and being lower to the ground, you feel like you’re going faster as well. So you get a double-whammy effect if you’re into speed. Some people put fairings on them, ranging from front windscreens to fully-enclosed shells.

One final three-wheeler worthy of mention comes from the glorious era of the 30s, full of art deco buildings, streamlined locomotives, flying boats and zeppelins docking on the Empire State building to disembark passengers (this scene in Sky Captain and World of Tomorrow is worth putting it in your Netflix queue all by itself). I am talking about the Dymaxion, brainchild of inventor Buckminster Fuller. It looks like a giant teardrop, with two wheels in front and one in back. With its streamlined shape, it got 30 miles to the gallon, which was unheard of in 1933, and could carry 11 passengers at speeds up to 120 miles per hour. The prototype crashed at the 1933 worlds fair, killing the driver, and the project. Only one Dymaxion is around today in the Harrah Collection at the National Automobile Museum in Reno, Nevada.

There are many 3 wheelers out there, and I think a lot of them are very cool, even if some of them are a tad geeky. Let me know if I missed your favorite.

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