Rat Bike

I think you will enjoy this story of how William in Perth Western Australia bought a bunch of parts and a dream. Williams web-site is Bikers and Trikers of Faith http://www.geocities.com/bike_trike_faith/
Be Blessed Ya'll......Brother Punkin

This is the faith story of this 1953 Servicar. Please check back for irregular updates. The Trike pictured here is a 1953 Harley Davidson Servicar complete with a 1974 Honda 750/4 front end. I have owned her for about 13 years and this is her story. I bought her as a basket case, she had no front end and the back box was all bent out of shape. Along with this the motor and gearbox were out of the frame and there was no wiring or electrics of any kind. I basically brought a piece of junk and a dream. The dream was that she would be great to take on rallies and club events. My mate, at the time, said it was a deal and it wouldn’t be that hard to fix it up. It was at a time when I was prospecting with a Christian patch club. It was decided that we would fix it up as a club project. I would provide the money and the labor and others would give the expertise. Not long after I purchased her, my life had a dramatic change and I left the club. Over the next couple of months I wouldn’t talk to Christians, I still had a faith in God but felt let down by his followers. I was working as a motorcycle instructor when I met a Christian who invited me back to his church. I thought he was ok so I went along. This was definitely a non-biker church but I had friends there so my wife and I stayed for a couple of years. During my time at this church I tried to clean up my act and behave how Christians behave. That meant that the Trike stayed in the shed with no time or money being spent on her. I still had the dream but also a young family that needed the resources more. Then a friend of mine said hey I can help build that Trike, it will be easy. So he set about pulling down the motor. After he had totally striped the motor he had a life changing experience and moved away from his home and family. I never saw him again. Now she sat in the shed in more pieces, but I still had the dream. About this time my younger brother committed suicide. This changed my life again. I started to question what I wanted out of life. I decided that I would go back to school and study to be a Psychologist. I was accepted into University but to do Theology not Psychology. Here I was with no income and a family while trying to study. My wife supported the family during this time. That meant no money for the Trike. Once again she sat in the shed. While studying a friend of a friend heard about the Trike and he said he would help. I was over the moon because I had not stopped praying that she would be rebuilt. My joy lasted a short time as he also had a change in circumstances and was unable to help. I must say here I did do work on my own but as I have limited mechanical ability the work I did needed to be fixed up at a later stage. After owning her for about seven years and now having her in a bigger mess than when I brought her I finished Uni and was unemployed. I quickly found that there weren’t too many jobs for Theological graduates. After a couple of years working odd jobs and volunteering for church groups I got a job 200 kilometers (about 120 miles) from home as a chaplain. I still work as a chaplain but now closer to home. The first thing I needed to do when I became employed was to pay off the debts I had accumulated while studying. I was also able to get a small amount of money to have a going motorcycle this one was a 1980 cx500. Within months of owning her, the electrics went on her and I was again without two-wheel transport. Things now started to look up. I was able to change work places and live back home full-time with my family. This meant that the money I was spending on traveling to and from work each week could now go towards the bike and Trike. I also joined up with another Christian motorcycle club. I spent 18 months with this group and felt that at last my prayers would be answered, that the Trike would be rebuilt. However this was not to be. I was asked to leave this group because of a difference of opinion about the statement of faith. It was at this time I started to think that it would not be rebuilt as a project of Christians. I had a small amount of money and a cousin who had rebuilt Triumphs and Harleys before. I asked if he would put the Trike together and I would pay him the amount of money I had. As I had already had the motor rebuilt he had to put everything else together. One day he came over and picked up what I had and away it went. I visited him about a month later when it was nearly complete and what a change in that time. He had it up and running. I had never seen the Trike running before but there it was going down the driveway under it own power. A short time later I picked her up and rode her home. Next it was off to license her. I rocked up to licensing one afternoon to find they wouldn’t touch it. They didn’t believe that Harley made a 1953 Servicar. They also would not accept the modified front end. I was sent of to another department to get it cleared. This is where the paper nightmare began. I was told that because I had a Honda front end on I needed an engineers certificate for her. I would also need the Trike to undertake a brake test because I had improved the front brakes. That is where we are at the moment. I have hired an engineer who is arranging the test and the paper work. I hope and pray to have it registered here in Perth by the end of June 2004. I still have her and I still have the dream of taking her to Rallies but I no longer have the dream that this would be Christian project