Manky Monkey Motors

ok children this is todays home work
in no more than 100 words you have to say why it is (or not ) a good idea for sir (me) to construct a 3 wheeled forward moving 4 geared and rearward moving 1 geared 3 seater motor vehicle based on the classic fiat 126
as this would be our 1st dive into the water of trikes I just hope that your parents could be a big help
I would like to know is it cool in the trike world to build/own/ sell/make love in/with/get caught making love to/a fiat 126
and if any of your parents have an old fiat that they would like to donate just like they do at the harvest fesival

theres a few 126 trikes about, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F90mJ2NtiA4

I remember a black & white "cow hide" painted one a few years back. Small enough to be quite nimble as a trike, but still large enough to carry a couple of passengers or lots of camping gear. Sounds like a good idea.

saw a 126 drive onto a garage forecourt once and straight down an open inspection cover..........................you just had to be there I suppose ;D ;D ;D ;D

Think that one still kicks around Andover occasionally Andy!

theres one for sale (yes you got it) on ebay

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/fiat-126-650cc-air-cooled-trike-/260781224746?pt=UK_Motorcycles&hash=item3cb7c5b32a

thats cool a little under styled for me but it brings a smile to my face

Sadly it looks very much like those Ariel three wheeler they used to sell knockout ;D ;D ;D ;D

great tale about them things a workmate of the missus used to have one then she changed to a little suzi scooter come moped type fingy and in the first 2 week of her owning this suz she used to bring it round "can you straighten the bars/footpegs/mirrors etc" cos everytime she came to a stop the silly cow forgot to put her feet on the road.
one of our local scrappies has 5 or 6 em lying around and not ones for sale
theres nowt as queer as folk

In my oppinion......why should what others say about building whatever out of which vehicle matter at all. Customising is what it says CUSTOMISING. Just do it. There is a little green beach bastard type one round here called pixy. I think it looks good. Could do with a little more styling. More rake on the fornt end and the frame made from tube not box section. At the end of the day its what floats YOUR boat not the boats of others. From the looks of them I would say tis a quite easy one to build, air cooled and simple...............................oops ran out of words  :)

been looking on the net the last couple of days and the of the few that I can find for sale there's nothing within sensible travelling distance but will carry on scouting

Skoda Estelle`s make good basis for trike`s too. Very straight forward to do as well. ;D ;D ;D ;D

If it is your first forray into trikes then I'd use a beetle.

Parts are available everywhere and at low prices.

More info out there than you could ever wish for.

Cheap to run.

More powerful than a fiat 126!

not really sure I want a lot of power for the 1st one ,want to get to know how to ride em before going into the speed option

Back to the skoda theme that was my first idea but them buggers are like hens teeth to find ,the idea was first to get a small engine and then when i'd found my feet on three rubbers go for the gungho rally prepared unit

The throttle works both ways.
You only have to ride as fast as you want.

i remember the cow trike seen it a few times if it is the same one
the fiat 126 sounds a good alrounder but the skoda drives through anything tough choice

I used to think that about the throttle ,but when the power is there you just gotta use it and in inexperienced hands lots of power is not a good thing ,got the scars to prove it ,so first time softly softly saves skin,
as for the choice still sold on the skoda with 126 second choice and a series mini a close third but reading all these threads and seeing some the rides you guys have built reliant is slowly creeping in to the inner most canyons of my mind

Ha! You know it makes sense!
Forum member Willy was building a Skoda trike wasn't he? Don't know if the photos are still there, (for new forum guys, we were hacked last year & lost quite a few photos in older threads), but it'll probably be in Trike Tech somewhere.

he was  but willy seems to have  vanished  and so has foxthound i used to pass foxthound,s house regularly but the last few time,s there,s been no sign of him ,,,,,, maybe the  fox went to ground  ,,,  lol :D :D

hi kev, another thing you may want to consider before you decide on the kind of trike you go for, is do you want the trike to dictate the way it can be ridden,or do you want to dictate it will suit the style of ridding you want to do, basically all trikes run pretty much the same in a straight line but that's wear the similarity ends

Standard Beetle engines are not gonna break any records but it's more about grunt to get you up a hill with revving the nuts of it etc.


How well it handles will depend on the design not the power.  ;)

I used to have a Skoda 130LSE (special equipment=sunroof and tape deck!!!!). Me and the maintenance fitter where I was working spent nearly an hour rolling around on the floor with a magic marker working out where to cut it to trike the bloody thing. Came up with three different ideas that would have made three radically diffent styles of trike. Never actually got round to it though. As for grunt it took me, mrs, two kids and luggage at 80 mph all the way to Tintagel from Essex without missing a beat.

Build a vw. Start with a 1300 and when you get keen swap in a bigga bugga

Ben, did you guys ever get Fiat 126s down there? Just curious, (Mr Chewie lives at the bottom of the World).
Is there a favourite motor for Antipodean car/trike conversions?

The throttle works both ways.
You only have to ride as fast as you want.
[/quote]thats funny mine seems to have 2 settings open and closed

don't get much fiat down here at all- had to google to see what it was
the trusty vw is the trike of choice, especially with home bodgers builders