When I was first married in 1963 I bought a 52 Harley Trike for 50 bucks (BOY I WISH I STILL HAD IT). It had belonged to an auto parts place and I rode it to and from work. What a blast, but getting it started was a major issue. In the mornings I would push it into the street and wait for someone to come along to push it to get it started.
About 1966 I got a 59 Thiumph Bonniville, Later I bought a 67 Harley Sportster in the 70's. Due to an accident in 1971, where a young gentleman drove into the left side of the bike, breaking my right ankle, when the bike flipped on it's right side trapping my leg under it"OUCH". The bike then slid with my leg under it until it hit a telephone pole and bounce up in the air, and all I could see was that bike coming down toward me on the ground. Fortunately for me the rear tire his on my right side and bounced over me. It could have been a lot worse.
The bike was retired, I rebuilt it, and sold it to a guy that was walking down the street one day, he walked up and said to me is that your bike, It was setting in my open garage, I told him it was. He then asked how much, and I told him, he walked off down the street. I figured I would never see him again. He didn't look like he had two dimes to rub together. He came back a few weeks later, asking if I still had the bike, I had been keeping my garage closed since he first showed up. He asked if the price was still the same, I said yes, and he commenced to pull cash from all his pockets, one's, five's, ten's, and twenty's, and even a few coins. That was the last I saw of that bike, as he road off down the street, with me holding a large wad of cash in my hand's. It was then that I vowing to NEVER TO RIDE AGAIN.
Well you know how that goes, 10 years later a friend wanted me to store his bike for him while he went on vacation. Told me to ride it, I said "NO WAY", and then the next thing I knew, there I was riding it, and then I was buying my own Suzuki GS1000. Later on a 1983 GL1100, Gold Wing Interstate. Well I had to sell the Gold Wing to buy a home in 1994 so no more riding. BAD DEAL, not the house, but selling the bike. Love the HOUSE.
In 2001 I wanted to ride again so I found and bought another Gold Wing Interstate, a 1984 GL1200. Went to Washington and drove it back, that was when I found that I had trouble with holding the bike up, especially when riding two up, so I sold it. It was then that I decided to build a trike. This was with the encouragement of my wife Jeannette, because she loves to ride also.
When I retired from Law Enforcement in 1998. I worked building a Street Rod for a guy, a 36 Ford 3 window coupe, this took two years. I worked out of a body shop in a small community called Live Oak, California. When the job was done, I worked for a while managing small hobby shop that catered primarily to Radio Control. Then I started a small fabricating business in my shop at home. So when I decided to build my trike I had a place to work. Plus I had the tools, a welder, horizontal band saw, drill press, cutting torches and plenty of hand tools. Since then I have added to my tools and equipment. I now have a lathe, sand blast cabinet, a plasma Cutter and a frame jig among other things. I need a bigger garage.
Getting Started...
I saw a guy riding down the street on a blue fiberglass trike and followed him in to a local K-Mart, I asked him if he knew of any one who had a rebuildable trike and he told me that he had a few at his shop. He owned a Volkswagon repair shop in Yuba City, California called WAYNE'S BUGGY REPAIR , and was rebuilding a few trikes on the side. Wayne and I got together a few days later and I had the start of my trike. It was buried under a bunch of junk in the back of his shop. We made a deal for the trike frame, front end and transaxle. Boy it looked like Junk, BUT IT WAS A START.
I took it home, but before I was able to start, Wayne the guy I bought my starter kit from asked me to build him a frame, and in trade he would build me a complete engine with all the good stuff. He built a 1776, with counter weighted crank, straight cut cam gears on a W100 cam. All chromed out with alternator, degree pulley and a bunch of other tricked out stuff. The only thing that was not new was the case.
Collecting Parts..
Once I got the frame done for Wayne, other people started asking me to do work on their trikes. So mine got pushed back in the corner of the shop. I rebuilt four trikes before I was able to start mine. Then I just told everyone who wanted me to do work for them, that I was going to finish my trike before I did any other work. It was almost a year before I was able to start on my trike. While I was building or rebuilding other people's trike I started looking around on e-bay and swap meets for parts to complete my trike. Found a lot of good stuff.
Finished Trike..
This is the FINISHED PRODUCT. I finished the trike in September of 2004. Got it registered and insured. The first trip was to Street Vibrations in Reno, Nevada on September 24th. No problems except for some small leaks from the engine which were quickly fixed when we got home.
I have entered it into two shows since I have gotten it on the road. Winning first place at the Chico Harley Owners Group (HOG) Bike show in March,2005. Went to the West Coast BTW Trike In, at Reedley on the last part of April. I am having a ball KEEPING MY FACE IN THE WIND. I have since completed another trike for a friend of mine, I have put a picture up on the last page of the site. Now I have one complete build to do, and two rebuilds lined up. If this is what retirement is like I think I will go back to work.
Entered a car and bike show and took second place at the Gold Rush Car Show in Oroville, California on May 7th,2005 Attended the Bikers for Christ car and bike show on June 4th and took a first place trophy.
Took my first long, I mean long trip, a total of about 1800 miles. Went to Moses Lake Washington the middle of June, 2005 to the BTW Northwest Trike In, had a great time took home the Best Trike award. Made me feel good for all the hard work getting it build. I am glad people appreciate it. I met a great bunch of people while I was there.
Jeannette and I took a vacation in 2007, we left Loma Rica on August 26 and headed north along the California Coast up into Oregon, Spent the nite in Coos Bay, Then headed out early the next morning on our way to Custer,Wa to visit some friends there, we spent 3 days and went to Victoria, BC for a day or site seeing and shopping. Headed back south from Custer to Woodinville, WA where we stayed with friend again for a couple of days, visiting the Seattle area, we went to Pike Street Market to see the fish throwing. Headed back down to the Oregon, Washington border and went west back down the coast. Took a tour of the Tillimoke Ice Cream and Cheese Factory. Very cool place, great Ice Cream. We spent the nite in Yahats, OR, the motel was right on the shore, could hear the waves all nite long. Sure Slept good. The next morning we headed back down the coast to Eureka and back home, all in all a 8 day trip on the trike. We pulled a small trailer with us to carry the basics and store our plunder. The only bad event on the whole trip, was in Seaside OR. An Idiot in a parking lot tried to run over my trailer, damaging the taillights of which I cannot replace. But I got some green out of him. We did about 2200 miles. It was a great 44th Wedding anniversary trip. Hope to do it again soon.
Jeannette and I, joined the BROTHERS OF THE THIRD WHEEL, the first of April of 2005, and we organized a new chapter here in the local area. Anyone in the Butte County, Yuba County, Sutter County and Nevada County, California can contact me if you are interested.
Northeast California Wind Rider Trikers
The chapter was organized in July 2005. We are the Northeast California, Wind Rider Trikers. Our meetings are held on the 1st Saturday of each month at the Various locations as designated by our director, call if your are interested in meeting with us. The meetings are held at 10:00 AM. We will schedule rides and events to attend at these meetings, and often taking a ride after the meeting.
The year 2009..
Well it is late Summer of 2009, the weather is changing in our area. It has been in the high 90's and low 100's. No jacket is needed and you go without riding gear until later in the day. Which is ok, except for the bugs.
I am still the Director for the Chapter and we plan during the year 2009 to have a BBQ, potlucks, and tire kicked meetings, instead of our meeting at Carl's Jr, we will once in a while have a picnic lunch on our rides somewhere. So far this year we have had a Picnic in Auburn, Ca at a friends home. A great time was had by all, here is a link to the pictures of the trip.
Auburn Picnic Pictures
We also had a July 4th potluck at one of the members home. Great food and fun was had by all. Hope to have another one next year. We have taken rides to Clearlake and had a picnic at a park, all in all 10 trikes and one chase truck came on the run. The chase truck was really just one of the members who could not bring his trike. Our last after meeting run, ended when one of the trikes broke down and we spent time fixing it, then everyone just went their own way. It was still a good time. We have learned to carry spare parts, distributor caps, coil, fuel pumps, spark plus and other stuff to fix a busted VW engine.
Our third Saturday get together at a local restaurant for breakfast, or lunch kind of fizzled out for a while but we are going to revive it. We are planning as a group to start visiting some of the other chapters meetings in the area around us. Try to get some interaction going on with them. We made a trip to the Sacramento Chapter meeting only to find out that they had disbanded. I see now that they are trying to get a new chapter going again.. Good Luck Sacramento...
We met with the Sacramento Chapter in October. They are called the River City Trikers, they meet on the first Saturday of the month at Ernies of Lake Tahoe, 707 East Barrett, Folsum, Ca at 9:00 am. This month we all had a nice breakfast and then took a ride into the El Derado County foothills, crossed over to Auburn, Ca and then to the Grass Valley/Nevada City, CA area where we had lunch. After lunch we took the old road out of Grass Valley down to the small community of Rough and Ready. During the Civil War, Rough and Ready left the Union. There is not much left there but it is a neat place to see. It was a fun ride and good company. Next month the River City Trikers will meet with us at Carls Jr, Hwy 99 and Bridge Street on the first Saturday of November, come join us.
We have been trying to help several members of our chapter with their rides. Some don't have a ride and others need changes made to help with special physical needs. We have gotten a few on the road again. The Chapter is growing, more members are joining all the time. Some of us have been going to the Bike Night in Oroville at the Mike's Grande Burger on the second Thursday of each month. Met 3 more trike riders at the last meet, and some of them are going to start riding with us. The more the merrier.
The year 2010..
Well here we are its almost November. The year has passed quickly, I wish to thank Bill and Wanda Story for there time as Director of the Chapter. The Chapter is growing and more people are showing up out of the woodwork. We have been doing a quit a bit of riding these last few months. Made a trip down to Sacramento with a couple of members to a swap meet held at a old movie drive in. We then went to a place called Swabbies for lunch. They are located on the Sacramento River levee, which is called Garden Highway and runs just under the overpass on Interstate 5 where it crosses the river, and just west of the Sacramento International Airport. They serve a parmesan crusted taco that is just great and the prices are reasonable. They have a outdoor area where tables are set up and ya can eat along the river.
Have made a couple of runs up to Scooters in Jarbo Gap about 30 miles north of Oroville. CA. On highway 70, over the summer. The food is great if ya get there order the hot pastrami sandwich, but ya better be hungry cause it is a bunch of food. My wife Jeannette ordered the Taco Salad, and it looked like a small boat when it was served, it was more than she could eat, next time she said we could order it and share. The people that live in the area are great, we had a break down while we were there on a trip this summer. Bert Drake's trike threw a shoe, literally the tire came off the rim and was ruined by running on the edge of the rim. He said he felt the rear of the trike feel funny just as we were turning into the parking lot. This was on a Sunday and there are no tire services in Jarbo Gap. In fact there is very little of anything but Scooters and a hardware store in the area. The bunch of us were trying to remove the tire, but nobody had a jack and the tools were minimal. Have ya ever tried to remove the lug nuts with a 3/8 th ratchet wrench and a small extension. A fellow in the parking lot loaned us his car jack but the tire iron would not fit the fancy wheel on Bert's trike. We called around and found the closest place we could get a tire mounted was back in Chico, CA. But some of the folks who lived there ended up getting a car trailer and running him back to his house in Oroville about 30 miles away. As I said some nice people. They close from October to April, cant wait until the are back serving good food again next spring. Jarbo gap is the start of a great run up the Feather River Canyon toward Quincy, CA and you can you can keep going on Highway 70 and end up in Reno, NV, or head through the back roads to the east and hit Truckee, CA and from there you can ride to Lake Tahoe, and anywhere east of there.
Another trip was to Lovies Landing on the Sacramento river just east of Colusa, CA. We met as a bunch in Oroville, CA and headed out through the farmland west toward the Sacramento river and then just north of where the bridge crosses the river to Colusa, Ca we all headed along the east levee road about 6 miles to Lovies Landing. It is a small restaurant on the banks of the river. Great corned beef sandwich, almost as good as the pastrami from Scooters. They have a outdoor area where during the summer months they have a band and you can eat outside and watch the boats go by on the river.
During the summer month the Wanders MC hold a bike night at the Grande Burger on the second Thursday of the month from 5 to 8 PM, food is great and lots of good folks to visit with, the trikes generate a lot of interest every time we show up and a bunch of us have won trophy's for our trikes. They are currently shut down for the winter months and will start back up in the spring. They will start up again in April and go thru October.
I know this looks like a food review, but that is what we have been doing. Taking a run the ends up somewhere we can eat and kick tires and lie to each other. This is what this chapter is about. We ride for the fun and enjoyment of getting in the wind. We presently have members in Yuba City, Marysville, Loma Rica, Forbstown, Oroville, Chico and Quincy, Ca. If ya live in Sutter, Yuba, Nevada, Butte or Plumas County and want to ride and meet a great bunch of folks show up at one of our meetings on the first Saturday of the month at the Carl's Jr Restaurant on Bridge Street and Highway 99. We meet at 9:00 AM and then head out for some destination a couple of hours away. The north central Sacramento Valley is a great place and in a couple of hours you can be at many great locations.
During November and December we will be going on the many toy runs in our area. This way we can help those who don't have much for Christmas. The runs are a great cause and the benefits to the area and are well worth the time. One of the runs is from Colusa Indian Casino back to the Yuba City, Marysville area, it is great to see all the folks that show up and the run is escorted by the local Police Department all the way red lights on through the full run. The best toy run is the one held in Nevada County in December, rain or shine fully escorted by the local Leo's then once at the fairgrounds you turn in your toys and get to see the kids come and pick them up. They the kids, that is often hand out home made thank you cards to some of the riders, there will be around 3 to 4 thousand people on bikes and trikes..
The year 2011..
I have been very lax in keeping my web sit updated. During the past two years we have continued our trips around the area having some very exciting meals at various location. The directorship has changed. Clare Rabbiosi is now the director. His contact information can be located on the BTW Website. I am now the Assistant Director, which gives me a break in the operation of the Chapter. I had been director for number of years and was getting slightly burned out. In an effort to keep the Chapter fresh I decided it was a time for change. Clare is doing an outstanding job.
During 2011 we also attended many of the charity events in the are, which are a worthwhile cause. Most of the events center around Thanksgiving and Christmas.
The year 2012..
The Chapter has suspended meeting during the winter months, primarily due to the weather. But the weather has been mild to moderate here in California this year. So we have had a few rides. Yea again to eating establishments. What else. We will start up the first Saturday of April this year.
Well I will try and keep updating the site this year.
Well so far this year 2012 we have had one outing, which occurred the first Saturday of May. The weather and health issues with the chapter members delayed our restart of the meetings. Of course our first meeting was to Scooters, you knew that didn't ya. Since I am on a diet I didn't get my usual pastrami sandwich. I just had a breakfast, eggs and ham. It was good.
If you are going to be in our area give me an email and maybe you can join us, we can have a cup, or a cold soft drink. Hope to see you there and keep it on three, or two if that is what you have and enjoy you riding.
Tribute to Ben Hart the Gentle Giant
November 2nd 2009, we lost a good friend and riding companion.
I met Ben a few years ago during my career at the Sheriffs Department. He was a neighbor of Art and Lynn DuFresne. Art worked at the Sheriffs Department with me. Ben was trying to get on the Sheriffs Department as a Reserve Correctional Officer.
Then later on down the road we met again while I was building my Trike. Ben had an old trike that had been in the berry patch in his back yard, Ben had ridden the trike back in the day. He contacted a friend of mine who owned a Volkswagon repair shop that was into trikes. He wanted to see if anyone was doing rebuild work. Wayne McMillan the owner of the shop contacted me because I had build him a frame and I was in the process of building my own Trike. The trike was a real mess, it had berry vines and leaves and junk all over it. It was rusted and had other corrosion all over it.
Below is a picture of what I started with. See I didn't lie it was really a mess.
I stretched the frame out and added a body and paint. Plus all of other normal stuff you would expect to see on a trike. Well after several months and a bunch of changes the next picture is what we ended up with. Ben was a big boy he was 6'4" and needed a large trike, and that is what he got. Ben would come up to the house and watch me build on his trike. Ben had lost a leg due to diabetics, so I made special foot controls so they would work with his prosthesis. What you see below is the finished product.
Ben was a very patriotic person he had me put a bunch of small emblems on the back of the trike. He was very proud of his service in the Navy. Later on we added a US flag and a POW flag to the back of his trike. Ben's vest had tribute patches on the back honoring the POW's and branches of the service.
The rebuild of the trike was the start of a great friendship. Ben and I got the idea to start a local Brothers of the Third Wheel Chapter, what we wanted was to meet and ride with others of like interest. So in the first part of 2005 we formed the local chapter called the Wind Rider Trikers. The chapter started meeting in Oroville because it was kind of centrally located. Ben was the Co Director. We stated having monthly meetings and riding as much as we could. It seemed for a while that it was just Ben and Jeannette and I who showed up for many meetings. Then after a while more great people started riding with us.
On every ride except a few when Ben had health issues he was there with us. Ben would often call Jeannette his second wife, and he would often ask her as we started our rides to braid his hair so it wouldn't fly all over the place. He came to my house many times to just visit and shoot the bull. Often times saying I'm bringing lunch, he would show up with deli sandwiches and other goodies. Our dog Taffy would go nuts when she saw Ben coming down the driveway, because he always brought treats. He would bring dog bones and jerky chews. It became almost a requirement that treats were brought by all the trike riders that came to our home.
We took a trip to Porterville for a Trike In, and Ben came along. Due to his leg he had trouble getting into his cot in his tent and making his bed up. Ben called out from the tent and asked Jeannette if she would make his bed, later she helped him get into bed. Ben said never again would he camp like that, it would be a motel for him from then on. Even with his discomfort in his sleeping arrangements he had a ball and was ready to go again, but not to camp out Ben would say.
The one thing that I regret is the fact that Ben wanted to make a run to Fort Bragg and have some clam chowder soup and spend the night or weekend there, but not in a tent. This next year I plan to set up a memorial ride and take a bunch of us to Fort Bragg for some chowder and good times.
Ben always was cheerful and full of life, he will be sorely missed by all who knew him and loved him. Our thoughts and prayers go out to all his family and friends.
If there weren't a Triker in Heaven there is now, ride in glory Ben.
Roger
Tribute to Leo Bowers a good friend
Well this year we lost another friend and rider. Leo Bowers was lost in a accident late this summer while riding his trike in the foothills on the east side of the California valley. He was riding on Marysville Road just east of Bullards Bar Dam. He was going up to the little town of North San Juan to have lunch with friends when he hit a flat bed truck that was backing out onto the roadway. It appears that Leo didn't see that the truck was backing and hit it broad side. Leo always had a good word for people, during the winter months he would ride in bib overalls, but during the summer he would ride in shorts, I always wondered how he kept from getting bugs up the legs of his shorts.
I first met Leo after I saw him riding his red trike in Marysville. He was going one way and I was going the other. This was before I started building my trike. A few days later I saw him parked in front of a house on a side street in Marysville, I pulled over and got out of the car and asked a couple of guys standing in front of a house next to the trike if the owner would mind if I looked over the the trike. Leo said it was his trike and talked to me about it.
I later saw Leo at Wayne McMillan's VW repair shop and we became friends. He was a Charter member of the trike chapter. For a year or so Leo quit riding his trike due to his hearing problem. A couple of month before his death he and another friend showed up at my place and he had new hearing aids and said that he was going to start riding with us again.
Before Leo got his hearing aids he would often speak very loudly, but after a while you got used to it.
We will miss him and know that he and Ben are cruising on the highways of heaven.
Tribute to Our Dog Taffy
This is our dog Taffy, who I wrote about in the tribute to Ben. Well we lost her to old age on May 28, 2011. We got Taffy from a daughter of a friend who I worked with at the Sheriff's Department right after we moved here in Loma Rica. She was just a bundle of taffy colored fur when she arrived. Hence her name, Taffy and our Cat Freckles became fast friends and often time slept together on the big dog bed we had for Taffy in our bedroom.
You see she wasn't just a dog she was part of our family. She was just one month shy of being 14 years old, and had started to have trouble walking. She did not suffer, she just went to sleep that nite and we found her gone in the morning. She is sorely missed. We are not going to get another dog for a while.
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Email: RogerMason(at)directv(dot)net
