Another interesting visitor rolled up at Wemoto on Thursday afternoon last week and although the owner was worried when we took some photos that she hadn't cleaned it (not knowing it was going to be in a photoshoot!) - it looked pretty shiny to us sitting in the sunny south coast sunshine.

We don't get too many trikes down here at Wemoto so we came out to have a look at 'Tilly Trike' as she's known. The owner said she had bought it two years ago as a Honda DN-01 motorcycle and had it 'triked' herself. However the first attempt to graft it onto a Robin Reliant rear axle went disastrously wrong so she had to have it completely re-done by her friends and it looks as though they have made a great job of it this time!

It is a 700cc trike, with Reliant Robin rear axle, and unusually on this one it has been converted to disc brakes. It has very big tyres which it's owner said she specified as she loves them. It is an automatic but has optional hand gear change on the handlebar, although the owner says she doesn't need to use it.

Apparently everyone thinks it is like something out of Judge Dread when they see her zooming by on the seafront!

"Not so good in the snow though - I thought it would be fine being on three wheels not two, but the first time I went for a ride in the snow I ended up sliding sideways all down the road - never again!"

Trikes were invented at the same time as the motorised bicycle which was the first motorcycle. They have a very specialised appeal and are a stable ride which means that it is easy to carry passengers on them and good for anyone with disabilities or mobility problems. Because they are custom built they are usually very high spec and pretty shiny!

The trike featured above it is a delta trike with one wheel in front and two at the back. A hard front brake on a delta means that the rider needs to keep the bars really straight as there is a danger of tipping otherwise due to the wheel configuration.

There are some manufacturers of trikes, but a popular option and one which our owner above chose, is to convert a motorcycle into a trike. You can even buy conversion kits for this or have it converted by a mechanic - its good to get it done by someone who knows what they are doing so that you don't have the problems which our DN-01 owner had at first! Never mind it was worth it in the end and she is very happy bombing along on her distinctive and unique trike - specially now we have the weather for it!

Our Trike visitor was going to Hastings for the bike 1066 Spring opener on the May Day weekend - Wemoto was at bike 1066 too an there were lots of trikes there - hope she had a great time!