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Definition
VW trikes are three-wheeled motorcycles using an air-cooled, Volkswagen, 4-cylinder, boxer motor, transaxle, and often complete rear end of a first generation Type 1 Volkswagen Beetle (aka Bug) and a motorcycle front-end. The resulting vehicle is defined simply by lieu of its three wheels as a "motorcycle" by the NHTSA (National Highway Safety Administration) and by most state laws and DMVs.

History
In the 1960s, a major part of the Southern California (SoCal) Kustom Kulture movement was creation of crazy, customized cars, vans, and motorcycles.

Some guys hit upon the idea of using the rear end (engine, transaxle and rear suspension) from the ubiquitous and inexpensive VW Beetle  (more commonly called VW Bugs) welded to a forward subframe with a motorcycle front end. The resulting creation was the VW trike.

While road-worthy, running new and used VW Bugs were very common and fairly inexpensive, the standard practice for building VW trikes was to use the rear of a inexpensively-obtained VW Bug that had been wrecked in the front. The motorcycle front end used was generally either a donor front end - the front of an existing, rear-wrecked motorcycle - or a custom-built front end, typically a springer front end which was very popular for custom choppers. Some of the impetus for the VW trike idea came from customizers using such VW Bugs rear ends to build the very popular Dune buggy of the time that were all the rage in Southern California. Later some VW Bugs with only slightly-wrecked front-ends also became the source for VW Bajas made from special kits with new, shortened, fiberglass front hoods, raised fiberglass fenders, etc. Many custom cars for movies, TV shows, and the car shows built by famous vehicle customizers like George Barris were also based on the VW Bug.

The VW Bug - especially one inexpensively obtained from a junk yard - was ideal for converting into custom vehicles. The mechanical aspect of the car was extremely simple. The engine was small, lightweight and air-cooled - like a motorcycle engine. The entire drive train (engine, transaxle, suspension) was essentially one simple compact unit. The mechanical heart of the VW Bug - the rear end - had no drive shafts, radiations, heater hoses, steering mechanisms, etc. The Bug was virtually as simple as a motorcycle but because the engine was bigger it made itself much more useful for versatile applications such as buggies, sand rails, Bajas, odd-ball custom cars, and VW trikes.

Vehicle customizer Ed Roth saw some of the homemade VW trikes driving by his shop in So Cal and realized he could create a great VW trike with one of his own wild-creation bodies made from fiberglass. Roth thus created the first VW trike fiberglass body designs and the very first production VW trikes. The VW trikes soon became one of the most popular vehicles of the Kustom Kulture movement and swept the country and eventually even Europe. The VW trike was safer to ride than a regular two-wheeled motorcycle and was more practical for carrying passengers and cargo. The rear engine weight of the VW set-up was heavy versus the lightweight motorcycle front-end, making wheelies (wheel stands) very easy and because of the 2 rear wheels, more stable than with standard two-wheeled motorcycles.

VW Trikes Developments Over The Years
Roth's original VW trikes featured a front frame/connecting frame that was based on just a single tube - specifically a 3-inch Schedule-40 plumbing pipe. While this single tube frame was simple and inexpensive to build it did not create the best platform for mounting the driver seat and for mounting and setting-up a reliable shifter. This single tube aspect resulted in a fairly complex shifter connection that was often prone to mechanical problems. Other designers utilized a double tube connecting frame since the shifter could be mounted straight forward from the transaxle shift rod, as in the VW Bug itself and its off-shoot sand rails, dune buggies, and other custom cars utilizing the VW Bug as a donor car. The double tube front frame also allows for better and easier mounting of the driver seat. Eventually, shifter cables were used to replace the complex and unreliable shifter mechanisms in single-tube front framed VW trikes. However, the single tube frames are much more susceptible to bending and cracking from hitting the pavement following a wheelie that is very easy to do - even accidentally - in the inherently heavy-rear VW trike.

Over the years, many enthusiasts specialized in building custom VW trikes and unique body designs. Various configurations and adaptations have taken place with many VW trike famously sporting overhead covers, vintage-car-style roofs or c-cabs to give them a more stylish look and more practicality by shading the passenger(s) and driver in long rides in warm summer weather especially in the strong summer sun in the American Southwest and Florida. Many popular builds have employed very wide back seats capable of carrying multiple passenger, rear hood luggage racks and the ability to tow much larger trailers than a typical two-wheel motorcycle. The VW trike customization progressed substantially with the creation of custom steel-bodied VW trikes which took VW trikes to show-winning standards and away from simply customizing the fiberglass bodies such as those made by Roth and Stiers.

VW Trikes Today
By the late 1980's, following the US earlier banning the import of the air-cooled rear engine Type 1 VW Beetles, the VW trike trend tapered off somewhat as the supply of Bugs and Bug parts diminished. Through the 80s and 90s, and the even through the early 2000's the continued manufacturer of Bugs and components for markets such as Brazil and Mexico kept the VW trike enthusiasts going through the availability of parts and the massive numbers of back-yard and junkyard Bugs. VW trikes are becoming much more rare today as donor cars and new parts continue to dry up.

Still, many trikers around the country such as Possum Pride Customs still make and sell many different VW trike fiberglass bodies, kits and companies like Pacific Customs continue to supply VW Bug mechanical parts, while custom fabricators like Al Banks (Cosmic Customs in Phoenix) still build custom steel-bodied VW trikes.

The Trike Trend
Eventually, the popularity and convenience of the VW trike led to creation trike kit adaptations for existing two-wheeled motorcycles - particularly Harleys and Honda - but these kit motorcycle-based trikes lacked safety of the VW trikes' the complete independent rear suspension and the smaller 2-cylinder motorcycle engines still don't offer the load capacity or towing capacity of the VW trikes, let alone the ability to create a large enough back seat area for multiple passengers.