A friend idly said that he would like to ride a trike, because he has a back problem and thought the trike more stable.


Sounded like a good plan, how hard could it be?


I had a spare 80's Raleigh frame, and managed to find a 50's Holdsworth trike mechanism.


It should have been a bolt together job. I had to find a big saddle and the right straight handlebars, but a search of my workshop delivered these, plus the other bits I needed.


The bearings had gone on the Holdsworth, but I did not realise that as a result the drive shaft was bent, and the bearing housings were no longer straight. It took a couple of visits to Doug Pinkerton who managed to straighten up the shaft.


The frame and conversion were powder coated and new decals applied, and the rest was assembly. I did have a problem with the wheels as it needed 32 spoke rims, and long spokes.


Once all assembled I tried it out, without first reading the guidelines on how to ride a trike. How hard could it be???


10 yards on a heavily cambered road, scratched elbow and knee, I realised I should have checked first.


All in all, it was a nice challenge to build.