DING BOB TRIKES AUSTRALIA

Story by Rick McDowell featured in CUSTOM BIKE MAGAZINE

issue July 1993

'TRIKES AREN'T REAL BIKES', is what some say. They also say choppers and customs are a deviance from true motorcycling, and they insist that the 'personality' and 'character' of Brit bikes and Harleys is a joke.

They, whoever they are, don't know shit however.

Way down south in a place called Australia there's a guy called Bob Busellato who's spent the past decade turning a bike building hobby into a full time job.

Bob was actually one of the first, down under to build a chopper and succeed in having it licenced for road use. Trikes were a natural progression, and now he's the country's leading authority on the subject.

There is however one important aspect that characterises Bob's work: he specialises in building three wheelers for disabled and permanently injured bikers.

Take Colin for example: An everyday rider who enjoyed the freedom and lifestyle we so often take for granted. He was hit head-on by a jackknifing trailer and lost his right arm.

Yeah, it's a familiar enough story, yet so often the real 'problem' in such situations is that the trauma and rehabilitation can never extinguish the desire to ride again. Unfortunately, the friends and brothers to whom Colin still felt he belonged insisted that even if he could get a bike modified to suit his particular need, it would never get passed for road use by the bureaucrats.
	Redback one. Honda

"Everyone reckoned I should forget the idea because, as they saw it, I had enough problems to contend with."

Bob Busellato is no stranger to red tape legislation, yet he's gained a reputation for having an uncanny ability to overcome it. His first trike - one of the first non-factory trikes to be licenced for road use in Oz actually - used a 1000cc Moto- Guzzi engine and gearbox mated to a differential from a Subaru car.

The car diffs have remained to this day, with the trikes using them being based on everything from XS Yamaha's to Z series Kawasaki's, GS Suzuki's and, of course, but not all specifically, Harley Davidson's.

In fact Bob has recently completed a Fat Boy trike which retains the original belt drive system to the rear end. Admittedly, it's been modified to work in conjunction with automotive diffs - with Bob claiming a world first with his design.

Being able to come up with new and alternative designs is an important talent to have when involved with the physically disadvantaged. Even a quick glance at Colin's machine, for example, and you'll be aware that something is very different. That lightweight frame and the handgrip which replaces the normal handlebars is certainly distinctive.

We will look at the controls in a moment, but first of all the question of stability and ease of steering.

Again, it's one of Bobs own designs that plays a major role. His leading link front end is such that the weight is not transferred directly onto the front wheel and therefore produces a front end that a so called 'normal' person could steer with their little finger.

As for the controls on Colin's Red Goldie, well, the only thing at handlebar level is the clutch lever. The heel of the left foot operates the front brake leaving the toes clear for gear changing, while the right foot in similar fashion works the back brake and accelerator.

Of course some of Bob's customers have lost either one or both legs or have spinal damage - eg paraplegics - and can't use their legs at all. In this situation, and in order to prevent excess clutter around the handlebars, Bob fits an automatic gearbox from a car.

No matter who the customer is though, Bobs' trikes are built without the original bike frame being modified in any way whatsoever.

After the donor bike's rear wheel, swing arm, suspension and seat are removed, it's placed in a jig and measured up for it's new rear end. The triangulated tubular steel trike section, complete with independent rear suspension and sports car wheels (with disc brakes, of course) is bolted on with the aid of clamps if necessary. There is no welding, and the attachment points are taken from the bike's frame, main frame and associated parts.

Alright, so more often than not a few lugs are welded on, but not so as to prevent the original motorcycle from being rebuilt again simply by unbolting the two wheeled rear end and replacing it with he original wheel, swing arm. etc.

Redback two. Kawasaki 900

This is the key design element in Bob's trike building; the idea that you don't have to 'sacrifice' a motorcycle to make a trike.

Admittedly, it's not a feature that many of his customers can benefit from. But for those who do have the full use of their limbs it provides a unique option.

Two vehicles, separately licenced of course, but sharing one power plant. Imagine cruising down to the local boozer one evening on three wheels, then turning up the night on a very similar looking two wheeled version. Your mates would never believe it !

Bob reckons, if you are mechanically inclined of course, that a couple of hours is all it takes to transfer either way. Another common held stereotype that Bob dismisses is that modified sidecars are the perfect vehicle for bikers with physical disabilities.

"You quite often need both hands or a sidecar, especially in emergencies and in certain cornering situations. Trikes are inherently much more stable than a sidecar so it's pretty hard to lift a *wheel.

While Bob's talents are well known amongst the Aussie biker community, the word is now spreading amongst disabled people wanting a bit more excitement from life.

Different, individual, perhaps even weird......not really. Instead, it's just a matter of beating the odds. Then again Bob and his customers don't believe there are any odds.

- Story Rick McDowell. With thanks to Custom Bike Magazine issue July 1993.

* Mind you Bandit managed to do it and you can read more on 'The One Armed Bandit's' Trike HERE

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