Front End

As I mentioned before, one of the things that give choppers their cool look is the rake of the front end (how far the front tire is from the frame). In the old days bikers would cut the front end from the bottom, bend out the front axle until it was where they thought it looked good, and then stabilize the weld. Well, nowadays we know their is trigonometry and physics involved. I needed to buy a front end (as cheaply as possible) that would not only go with the look of my trike, but make the math work too.

I started by looking at modern Harley Davidson trikes. I gathered specifications for all the frames they used to create trikes. I decided to go with the FXFD Fat Bob. I wanted to use parts that would be easy to find. I wanted to use a front tire that would be compatible with a wide front end. The Fat Bob had what I was looking for.

Most chopper front ends are sold based on length. They are marketed as +2, +8, +14, -2, etc. This means that they are two inches over, or two inches under market length. Market length is 29". Using my online triangle calculator (mentioned before) I figured out I needed to buy a +6 over front end.

One of the issues with VW trikes is the VW motor sits in the back. This means most of the weight is behind the driver. Since VWs are rear wheel drive the combination with the weight in the rear means that the trikes tend to pop wheelies. I needed to buy a front end that was heavy and would handle being slammed into the ground after a wheelie. Some biker enthusiasts would argue a classic springer front end would provide more shock absorption and wheelie impact.

  However, I didn't like the look of the springer. I preferred the look of a glide front end.

However, these would be less resilient to rough roads and slamming down after a wheelie. So I decided to go with a more modern look which is known as an inverted glide. Instead of the front end forks being thicker at the top they are thicker at the bottom. I combined this with a wide front tire to go with the wide VW bug tires and ended up with a pretty classic look.

It is called an Inverted Wide Glide. We haven't hung it on the frame yet, because we want to get the tanks welded on and the frame painted, but in case you're wondering what it might look like...

Even though you're just eyeballing it in this little picture you can see the shock absorbers and springs are hidden inside the tubes, which is the design of a glide front end. You can also see how the fat tubes of the inverted wide glide work well with the frame it is next to.