California Cruiser Ed Roth

I found this pic looking up some Buick/Olds 215 stuff, anyone have more details and pics?

 

WOW, nobody knows anything?

 

There is a bit in the book by Pat Ganhal pg. 127.
IT has the same picture

 

In the "BUILDING TRIKES" book that Ed published in the eighties he explained why he built the first V8 Trike. It had something to do with him getting blown away by a Mustang while he was riding his Harley. He used a narrowed rear from the Yellow Fang dragster and he sat on the transmission still attached to a V8 engine on the floor and got the idea. He said that they were very dangerous and tipped over easily while turning and that at least a couple of his friends got killed on them. One V8 trike was appropriately named "Shock Treatment".

 

its alive and well being restored in the south mid west.
no pics, gotta respect the owners wishes.
Fritz

 

I bought the California Cruiser many years ago, it had spent many years in the Harrah's Casino Collection and then they auctioned everything off. A gentleman from LA bought two of Ed's trikes and listed them in the Walnecks magazine. If I could have afforded it at the time I would have bought the other one which was a VW trike.I did a restoration on it and put it in a couple Colorado motorcycle shows. I haven't driven it because I haven't been able to get the brakes to work properly, I may convert it to disc brakes inside the Ford 9" rear drums.
Gary
P.S. It really is a bad ass piece that need to be shown some where besides sitting in my garage.

 

gary chambers - post more info and some pics

 

Darryl admitted to me at a car show it was he who started it up in gear once and drove it into the wall of the garage.

Ed always wondered who did it.

 

Roth told the story in Tony Thacker's book. He got interested in motorcycles and liked to go out on his Harley at night. One night he got in a race with a new Mustang and got beat.

Next day he started work on a new trike using a spare narrowed rear axle from his Yellow Fang, dragster, a junkyard Buick aluminum 215 V8 and a Harley glide front end. It was great, he never got beat in a street race, it was very reliable and he could drive all week for $10 of gas.

So, he started building similar trikes with Ford 289 engines. By the time he finished #4 the first three had all been wrecked at least once. He never had trouble because he was a careful driver, others were not so careful.

So he stopped building the V8 trikes and went to work on his first VW trike, as being safer.

 

I know a owner of 2 of them..1 is a driver the other being fully restored. Both totally kool..in northern California

Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!

 

Please, cool trike.

 

The straw that broke the camel's back for Ed was when a cop's son killed himself on one.

 

who ever has it now, the person that bought it after me did a quick touch up paint and pretty sure he did not take care of the crack on downtube area by the neck gusset..

 

Ok...... Who REALLY has it???


Dustin

 

I took these pictures today and looked for signs of cracks but don't see any. Maybe "Grenade Inspector" was talking about one of the 289 trikes.About the only thing I changed on the trike was using Cragar wheels instead of those Chromies that Ed used. Frankie "The Crazy Mexican" Pedragon Gave Ed one of his 9" Ford dragster rear ends to use. Fun question for you all, which cars used that same tail light?

Gary

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/vozzygyy8j68qa4/thG_alU-4w

 

Here's an article that Ed published in the December 1969 Choppers Magazine,also owned by Ed.
Enjoy, Gary

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kUp6BNYej...3fk/s1600/Roth-V8-trike-choppers-magazine.jpg

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dwaqRv3mNJ8/UWSZlhlXCkI/AAAAAAAAF68/oLTNaXwQngc/s1600/roth-trike-01.jpg

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-BGQSDa72s24/UWSZm78_d2I/AAAAAAAAF7E/PA-5JF2znO4/s1600/roth-trike-02.jpg

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MQUTx7wK6R4/UWSZoFDQi8I/AAAAAAAAF7M/Tqsmnr1tkE4/s1600/roth-trike-04.jpg

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-S78tTsOOoJg/UWSZxVkcbXI/AAAAAAAAF7U/tphNX3y-iU8/s1600/roth-trike-05.jpg

 

I am in the process of building a Roth's "Hitler's Revenge" VW trike. Does anyone know where to find an inverted springer front end? Here's a picture of a completed trike currently on display at the Justice Brothers Mueseum with an inverted springer.
Thanks, Gary

 

Tail light looks like 68 Tbird sequential. Something I just noticed, there does not appear to be any suspension, is the rear axle bolted solid to the frame?

 

Nice try, but no on the 68 Tbird lights. Yes, that's a hard tail.
Gary

 

It looks like a school bus taillight turned sideways. I could only see the fuzzy B&W pic.

 

Gary i built one like the one on the vw trike. Its made out of stainless. You might try searching for a springer that was called the grasshopper. Ive seen them on ebay. Its the same style. Glad to see the Cruiser has been restord. Jim

 

i made an inverted springer front end for mine. easy enough.

 

So WTH is that tail light?

 

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-S78tTsOOoJ...h-trike-05.jpg


Article says its a T-Bird taillight

 

Tailight looks Shelby-ish to me. Cool trike.

 

I'm thinking a side ways school bus tail light could be correct but who did they steal it from?

 

Looking at the photos of the gold one where does one put their feet while driving I can't pick out any pegs?

 

Tail light is either a 1968,69, 70 Shelby

 

Love the mid-engine and running the exhaust forward!

 

The Shelby team pulled the tail light out of retirement, it was originally made for the 65 Thunderbird. I believe the Mercury Cougar also used it one year.