Mounting a trike kit.
With “winter coming” which is a popular time for folks to build a trike we are often asked about the bolting on of a trike kit and how it works regarding the paperwork with DVLA. We only build Independent Rear Suspension (IRS) trikes to Motorcycles so this relates to them. If you are building with a quality bespoke axle like West Wales Trike Shack’s or a car axle things may be a little different but the principle is the same and you are going to need welding facilities and maybe some machining.
When building a motorcycle to trike conversion there are 2 ways to go to get the trike road legal:
1. If you weld to the bike frame in any way then you MUST go for the MSVA route which will mean taking the trike to an inspection stations and the various hoops you have to go through for that plus the cost is higher than the second way.
2. You make sure you bolt everything to the bike frame so that it is considered and adaptation and can be unbolted from the bike frame and returned to a motorcycle without the need for welding or breaking welds. You need to download a form from the DVLA website for that is called a 627/1 and supply receipts and weigh ticket and mot certificate and tax when you send the registration document in. we supply all of this stuff with our kits.
If you have trouble finding what you need just send us an e-mail to info@casarva.co.uk (not messenger) or use the contact us” page on this website, and we can email you the 627/1 form and a checklist of the others stuff you’ll need. You don’t need to be fitting our kit and there’s no charge it’s just to help out.
The DVLA don’t charge you to change the V5c registration document.
Where do you bolt it to?
This depends on the bike you are converting e.g. Twin shock or mono shock or does it have a centre stand or not etc. In short there is no standard way to bolt to all bikes so you have to use your noggin a bit.
Donor bikes with twin shocks have an obvious place for an upper mount i.e. the top shock mount mounts. Those with a mono shock may need you to make bolt through spacers of you may ignore that all together and bolt a threaded stretcher across the upper frame and then weld to that.
Lower mounts can be the swing arm picot points with bolts through using rose joint and threaded bosses welded into the tube or transverse bosses welded to the tube end and then bolted through (take a look at the photo below on an Indian that shown a welded boss at the top and a rose joint at the bottom)
Our kits are supplied with tube packs which you will weld to the suspension framework that hold the differential.
I’m not going to go through everything here but it is not rocket science and just takes a bit of working out and we always give support and advice to our trike builders with photos of what we have done at the Casarva Trike works (where we have 5 ramps dedicated to trike conversions and over 20 odd years we’ve done a few).
If we haven’t done exactly the same bike then we will have built something similar.
If you want more info have a look at the kits pages on the website which shows the kits prices and a shopping list of the other stuff you’ll need to build your trike https://www.casarva.co.uk/trike…/casarva-diy-trike-kits/
There’s lots of ways of solving problems
The comments made here are only our opinion and others may think differently and that’s OK. We are just trying to help with a bit of info and if you need more just ask. If we don’t know the answer we’ll say so.
Happy building
Cheers
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Casarva are experienced in converting not only the standard but the unusual. Backed by years of experience, attention to detail and quality of finish – get in touch about your ideas today for expert advice from the Casarva team.
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16 Axis Park, Orton Southgate
Peterborough, PE2 6UP
(Just off Junction 17 of the A1)
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