This is my fourth trike & was originally built in 2003 by Steve Shaw of Middlesborough. It was featured in 100% Biker magazine, issue 54. In it’s day it won 25 trophies, including the Bulldog twice, and 2nd place at the European Trike Show. I bought it from Ebay for £5,000 in December 2007 with 5,000 miles on the clock in it’s trike form, but the guy I bought it from had neglected it and it needed quite a bit of TLC. Although I might not be able to get it back to it’s former glory, I’m aiming to ride the hell out of it. I’ve already started with the Wirral Egg Run and the NABD do near Manchester, (the custom bike scene is almost non-existent in my home town of Liverpool). It rides very well, but the narrow bars require muscles like Hulk Hogan to steer them –unfortunately I’m more like the guy from the "Mr Muscle" oven cleaner ads!
Once I’d got the trike home I found all kinds of problems with fuel starvation, carbs etc. Being a mechanical halfwit, I struggled badly. Fortunately I managed to contact the guy who built it, Steve Shaw in Middlesborough, who was a mine of information and a great help, sending me spec’ sheets and telling me what to look for, eventually travelling all the way down in person to sort it out once & for all! In the end, it was the fuel pump that was the major problem. After a good clean up & check over, it worked fine. The carbs are unusually set up and not Pan Euro ones, (they’re GPZ 900Rs), so they’re not exactly straight forward, (are any carbs straight forward?), & the K & N airfilters don’t like the extreme cold. I had a bit of a job with them, but got there in the end! The sparkplugs need to be cleaned regularly as, being fairly small, they get sooted up quite quickly, meaning I struggled to start the thing many times until Steve put me right.
It took three months of head scratching & swearing, plus a lot of money spent on parts I didn’t need, to finally get the trike running as it should, but it was well worth the hassle. I couldn’t have done it without the help of the original builder, Steve Shaw, & my good mate Paul. Rob at Exmoor Customs was also a really great help –I’ll be talking to him when I’m ready for my next project. In the meantime though, look out for me & the purple Pan European this Summer!

-Scouse Mick

ENGINE                                                                                                  Honda ST1100 Pan European
CARBS                                                                                                   Kawasaki GPZ 900R
EXHAUSTS                                                                                           Stainless steel
FORKS & FRONT WHEEL                                                                  Yamaha FJ1200
YOKES & RISERS                                                                                aftermarket billet aluminium
GAUGES                                                                                                Suzuki Bandit
HEADLIGHTS                                                                                        twin Bates style
REAR AXLE                                                                                          BMW 3 Series
FRAME,                                                                                                  one off, (fully x rayed), by Steve Shaw
REAR MUDGUARDS                                                                           moulded into the frame by Steve Shaw
UNDER-SEAT PETROL TANK,
HAND BRAKE SYSTEM, SEAT & BATTERY BOX                          by Steve Shaw