In the months that followed that experiment, trikes have gained popularity. "It's sort of taken off. Yaffe and other builders came out with their trikes about the same time we did. The custom world is always pushing the limits of front ends, fat tires, and so forth, but there's only so far you can go. The trike genre was ripe for picking. It'll always be a fringe thing, but it's bigger now than it was," he continued. Russell also told us Exile sells about three trikes a year and makes kits for the home builder.
Hinkle's chopped three-wheeler was one of those sold in '06. All of Exile's three-wheeled creations have a lot of parts in common: the rear wheel and driveline setup (of course) and other signature parts the shop is known for, like the brake calipers and oil tank. What separates this one is its homage to classic chops from back in the day.
To begin with, there's the bare minimum for skin. No fenders, just gas and oil tanks, with the latter done up Sportster-style like you'd see on a lot of old choppers. The motor's a shovel-style TP Engineering 121-incher, which gives the trike a touch of the classic but in modern form. Also, it's mated to a set of wrapped pipes that don't exactly detract from the machine's mean image.
All of this is centered in and around a trike frame Exile manufactures in conjunction with Daytec. It's a rigid chassis raked 45 degrees with an 8-over fork set that really sets the stage for chopper style.
It isn't all chop, though. Three-wheelers run car wheels and tires out back, and this one's no exception, with VW brakes and Goodyear 25.5x14-16 tires set in Boyd's solid wheels. Obviously, this configuration has an, ahem, slight effect on the handling characteristics. According to Russell: "When you go into a corner, it's all about steering, not banking. There's a lot more arm work than with a bike. I was apprehensive when I first rode a trike. It took a couple of days, but after that I could throw it through a corner left, right, and center."
Ed got to feel that firsthand once he got his paws on this machine. Not only that, but several months later he flew out to Los Angeles and put faces to the names of the folks he'd bought so many bikes from. It was a whirlwind trip with two major highlights: a thorough arm sleeving at the hands of Russell Mitchell's tat artist, and a tour of the shop that ended with Hinkle ordering up two more bikes before making his way back home. As cool as the Internet is, there are just some things that are better done in person.