Bending steel like a metal sculptor, T-Bone, aka Scott Jones, has been known to put together custom motorcycles that are very pleasing to the eye. And as you can see, he’s done it again. You may have heard of this guy. He’s a bit low-key these days but his name gets dropped quite frequently among certain chopper circles in the Southern California area and beyond.
I always dug T-Bone; he always goes into his projects with a vision. He uses a basic form and makes a few changes, adding what he believes is necessary to create exactly what he wants. And with an extra wheel added this big chunk of eye candy is rollin’ deep, dog. So I’ll step back and just ask the questions and let my homey explain the details:
It started with my mom, who wanted a bike, but my stepdad had never been on one. They made a deal: If she would never ask him to go on another boat cruise, he would let her have a bike. But it had to be three wheels, because he’s scared of two.
Ha ha, I’ve never been on a boat cruise myself. I’m guessing they suck. What did you do next?
I collected a bunch of photos for her—trikes from the early ’70s until now. Different types and eras of bikes. She ended up picking some gnarly trike going down the beach with a wooden crate on the back. It was some guy with a big mustache riding it, with long flowing hair. That bike had a flathead in it but with the same stance I ended up building for them. I couldn’t do one with a flathead, though, I didn’t want to do that to them. They’re not that mechanically inclined, so I wanted to give them something more reliable and comfortable.
I like the fact that you used some newer stuff on a trike that screams ’70s.
Yeah, since they are pushing 60, I chose a softail-style frame, which you can barely tell by looking at it. I put a brand-new Evo in it with a five-speed transmission. I didn’t want them to worry, just wanted them to enjoy themselves. It’s got a differential rear end so it’s not nearly as bad as people might think.
Who picked out the paint?
They decided on a color which was white. I tried to figure out what color would go with that, because it is a little hard to match colors with white. At first it was white and red, but then I thought it was a candy cane. I came up with this one, which is actually the second paint job. I like the ribbon; it gives it a little flare. There’s a lot of gold in the white, which is why there’s also a gold-mustard flame on it, too.