I'd had no interest in tricyles until I discovered one day that people raced them. My interest increased later when I learnt that H.R. (Dick) Morris had made a few and even rode one himself. I think anyone who has heard of Dick Morris will likely understand why I decided I'd like to try one myself one day.

Back in February last year I became aware that someone I'd bought a couple of parts from on eBay had an H.R. Morris tricycle so I sent him a message saying that if he ever wanted to sell it he should let me know. He wrote back saying he actually had a Morris frame for sale that was too big for him so I told him I was interested. Then followed a torturous series of emails as I tried to get a price out of the seller who, by return, simply told me more about the frame, and trikes in general, and the parts that would go with it.

I didn't want to be too direct in asking for a price as I felt it would be rude. Instead, I mentioned how Morris frames were very hard to find and usually very expensive when they did come onto the market. I referenced a couple of original machines I knew had changed hands privately for £6,000 each over the previous year and pointedly mentioned there was no way I could or would want to spend that much.

Then a bombshell. Out of the blue he asked me if I'd be interested in a Morris bicycle frame that he had, in the same size, 24", as well. What do you say to that!? I replied explaining that in the absence of a price I didn't even know if I could afford one Morris, let alone two. To that he asked me if I wanted the frames delivered to me in the UK or Japan. I wrote back pointing out again that I wasn't even sure if I could buy one but that I guessed that if I were to buy them I'd have them delivered to my home address in the UK.

He replied with a delivered price that was so far below my expectations that I excitedly told me wife and even she said, 'That's cheap!'. So a deal was done. That was at the beginning of April last year and I went to pick up both frames at the end of the same month.

First, the bicycle - 1956 'Special racing model' (as it says in the build records):

[IMG] 1956 H.R. Morris - finished, almost, and riding beautifully - 24th December 2014 by Dawes-man, on Flickr[/IMG]

The frame came already finished in black with gold lug lining. I've built it in its original fixed gear configuration with a pair of new old stock Harden hubs that I'd been saving for something worthy of them, Constrictor Asp rims, Stronglight Competition cranks and TA wheels. I have to say, it's one of my three best riding bikes, the other two being my 2 Rotrax machines. It has an uncanny ability to go where you 'think' it. The tubes are Reynold High Manganese, which predate 531 by abut 10 years. The head tube is interesting as it has pre-war bearing cups, probably made by Chater Lea. These mean, I think, that I can use either a headset or a head clip. Dick Morris must have had a stash of them.

[IMG] 1956 H.R. Morris - on the road - front. by Dawes-man, on Flickr[/IMG]

The stem was also made by Dick Morris and was supplied to the original owner when he bought the frame.

[IMG] Untitled by Dawes-man, on Flickr[/IMG]

Now the tricycle... when I picked it up it was in primer, and had been for the previous 5 years since when the seller stripped it.

[IMG] 1963 H.R. Morris in primer, 'as bought', on Geoff Booker's work stand at TRYKIT by Dawes-man, on Flickr[/IMG]

I had the frame converted from the original 1-wheel drive to 2-wheel drive by Trykit in the UK and then had Argos Racing in Bristol bead blast and re-enamel it in flamboyant purple and flam pale violet. It took them 6 months to get around to painting it and another couple of months to pack it up to ship to me in Tokyo but when it arrived I was very, very pleased:

[IMG] 1963 H.R. Morris tricycle frame - re-enamelled by Argos Racing Cycles, Bristol, in flam purple/pale lilac by Dawes-man, on Flickr[/IMG]

Building the trike was a very interesting experience - there are all sorts of things that surprise a biker, like the seat stays that taper upwards instead of down and the very thick forks, built to withstand lateral cornering forces. The Trykit conversion is a beautifully engineered bit of kit and I really enjoyed assembling it. In its present form, with the saddlebag, it weighs 14.1kg/31.1lbs, which considering it has 2 wheels at the back and solid stainless steel shafts I think is very light. It's certainly very flickable on the road. It's built with Reynolds DB 531 throughout (or maybe not the forks...).

[IMG] Geoff Booker / TRYKIT TWD conversion parts (inboard bearings fitted) by Dawes-man, on Flickr[/IMG]

Then, last Saturday it was ready to ride, albeit with just a single gear as I hadn't got round to fitting controls (I was so eager to throw a leg over it!) - I did that on Wednesday and yesterday tidied everything up. I'm still waiting for a Duopar FD, a GB stem, a 52T chain wheel and a pair of French thread Lyotard 460D pedals, to replace the present chrome ones, to arrive and then I'll get the bars properly taped.

[IMG] Almost done. Just waiting for the large chain wheel, a Huret Duopar FD & GB stem. by Dawes-man, on Flickr[/IMG]

I expect some of you reading this will want to know what it's like to ride. In short, absolutely amazing! Horror of horrors, I've even thought about selling my bikes (except the Morris) and just riding the trike. The Morris would stay as the seller told me the original owner of both frames wanted them to stay together as he'd had them both made by Dick Morris, who was a personal friend of his, and of the man who sold them on to me.

So what is it like?

Well, cornering is very interesting. It's completely different from riding a bike.

The first morning I took it out I was going down the moderate, short hill outside my block of flats and found myself heading towards the wall on my left at the bottom where it curves slightly - trikes readily try to go down a camber. My automatic reaction was to lean slightly to the right as you do on a bike but this has no effect on a trike. Completely confused, I braked and stopped. Later in the day I was on a sharp left hander when a car nosed out of a car park on the right. This time I leaned sharply left, a la bike, but happened to turn the handlebars as I did so and missed the car. Aha!

If you think about it, when you want to avoid something on a bike you lean away from it and push the handlebars very slightly in the direction of the obstacle (if you want to go right, you push the right hand handlebar forward a little and vice versa), which causes the bike to fall in the direction you are leaning. Doing that on a trike causes the trike to go in the direction of the obstacle. Plus, leaning away from the direction the trike has taken causes the trike to tip over. In trike circles, that bike riders crash within the first 5 yards the first time they ride a trike is well known.

Basically, you have to learn to do 2 things on a trike: to actually steer it in the direction you want to go and to constantly and finely shift your centre of balance to compensate for whichever way the trike is leaning, and lean it does, almost ceaselessly, changing quickly from left to right. It becomes 2nd nature after a couple of days... or at least, that's what I've found. I think leaning off to the inside on corners when I raced a motorcycle has helped me to adapt relatively quickly.

Honestly, if I'd known they were so much fun I would've got a trike years ago.

If you'd like to see more photos of this beast, there are lots of photos (too many... I must do some editing) here:
1963 HR Morris tricycle frame - a set on Flickr

And for photos of the bike:
1956 HR Morris - a set on Flickr