Fancy a 3-wheeled V-Max?

Fancy the idea of a Piaggio MP3 but don't want a scooter? Then Washington, USA, resident Bob Mighell may have the answer.

Mighell, who refurbishes operating room equipment for a living, has been working on the idea for at least a couple of years.

He began by building a prototype with his son's Leggo set, before moving up to a couple of small-capacity Hondas.

He has built a couple of prototypes using small capacity Hondas, before building the V-Max you see here.

The plan is to eventually sell kits for V-Max, Gold Wing and Harley-Davidson, possibly by the start of 2009.

Mighell explains: "The concept of a tilting three wheeler has been around for many years and several attempts have been made to produce such vehicles but none have appeared to have been too successful. My first decision was whether to go with two wheels in front or with two wheels in the rear. Having two wheels in the rear does nothing to improve the stability of the vehicle and despite the current market of three wheeled Gold Wings, no one advertises them as performance vehicles. The stability is so poor with the one forward wheel and two rear wheel design that major motorcycle manufactures stopped production of the three wheeled ATV in 1987 after a lawsuit by the United States Justice Department alleged that the manufacturers were in violation of the Consumer Product Safety Act. My decision to go with two wheels up front was fairly easy."

The V-Max version has some similarities to Piaggio's 3-wheeler, though it does not yet have a locking device - Mighell says he is working on that.

In its current form, it bolts straight to a stock bike, with the lower end attaching via 8 bolts where crash bars would normally mount, and the top section fitted via a pair of rigid fork legs.

Brakes are inboard of the front wheels, using 6-piston Buell perimeter discs.

See this link (www.tiltingmotorworks.com)