A ‘hearse’ with a difference
He rose to the challenge admirably when he recently had the chance to convert a Triumph Rocket 3 (two-wheeler) motorcycle into a three-wheeler motorcycle
POLOKWANE – Christo Grove, owner of Grove Customs, has been in the business of customising motorcycles for 10 years.
“I was contacted by Fanie Geyer, who said he had a vision to create something that will bring honour to bikers after they have passed away. Being a biker myself I was intrigued by the idea and was excited when I saw what he had in mind. Soon after, we started the eight-month project, which has just been completed,” Grove explains.
The bike was equipped with a limited slip diff and independent suspension. Most of the bikes shaped like this are equipped with a solid axle, but the independent suspension makes the manoeuvrability on the road a lot better, especially carrying a load and this allowed the transformation from two to three wheel easie.
“A lot of fibreglass work needed to be done to the body, but on the end product you can’t even see the difference,” he says.
Grove says the work was started on the Triumph Rocket 3 to turn the bike into a black three-wheeled monster that will be used as a “hearse” at bikers’ funerals.
According to Geyer, the idea came to him at a fellow biker’s funeral.
“The mode of transportation for his coffin just didn’t do him honour, and that is when I came up with this idea,” he explains.
Grove says this was his first project of this kind and he looks forward to more such challenges. The three-wheeler has been registered and is completely roadworthy and ready for use.
“Because of the way the bike is built, it is not easy to flip it and this makes it a lot safer to drive,” Grove says.
He explains this project required a lot of research and he spent most of his time learning about similar projects online and copying what other people did. At the end of the day, the project cost around R150 000 to complete.
“The second project will be a lot cheaper as I had to make my own molds for the layout, but now I can reuse them which will reduce costs,” Grove says.
His advice to anyone who would like to try the same kind of project is to keep in mind that most of the work is in the research, which has to be done thoroughly. “Commitment to see it to the end is key.”
