VULCAN
TRIBUTE
Unusually for one of our features, I
didn’t actually get to meet Craig Braisby,
the gentleman who owns this rather
handsome Kawasaki Vulcan, a trike with
a very topical theme that seems to strike a
chord with everyone who sets eyes upon
it, irrespective of whether they appreciate
the finer points of custom trikery or not
WORDS & PHOTOS: KEITH HARMANI
t’s not hard to see why either,
inspired as it is by its namesake, the
Avro Vulcan, a long-range bomber
operated by the RAF from 1956 to- With its dramatic delta-wing
design, the Vulcan was probably the
most iconic post-war British military
aircraft, especially after its legendary
role in the Falklands conflict towards
the end of its service life. However,
though Craig was MIA on the day, I
did meet the builder, Lee Farmer of
Fastrikes in Andover, Hampshire.
The concept of a Vulcan aircraft-
themed tribute trike was conceived by
Craig, who was already riding a trike,
a Bunker 250cc machine previously
purchased from Fastrikes. Ex-oil rig
engineer Lee explained; “I had actually
acquired the 2004 VN as a donor for my
next charity raffle build.” Thoroughly
decent chap that he is, Lee builds a
trike a year, which he then raffles off
with the proceeds going to charities
of his choice. “Craig wanted a larger
engined machine. He turned up one
day and had a ride on my first shop
trike, which is also Kawasaki-powered
and known simply as ‘the red trike’.
He was impressed with it and asked if
he could part-exchange his 250 for the
still complete VN to be built to a similar
specification”. In case you’re wondering
by the way, a Virago 1100 has since been
sourced as a replacement for the VN as
Lee’s next raffle trike*.
Lee operates pretty much as a one
man band at his modest workshop in
Andover, but, since opening the doors
in 2012, he’s completed around twenty-
five trikes for customers. In fact, Craig’s
Vulcan trike had already completed
1500 miles when I photographed it and
as it’s in daily use, that figure is now
considerably higher.
Lee generally likes to build using
the front half of a bike (as in the VN),
mated to his own design of differential
cradle and double wishbone rear
suspension with the stock drive shaft
machined to match the diff used. In this
case, the differential and driveshafts
on the trike are from a Ford Sierra,
and, instead of using regular round
tube, the wishbones were constructed
with a distinct delta shape in keeping
with the aeronautical theme. Stock VN
shocks were utilised, but bespoke rear
hubs were supplied by West Wales
Trikeshack. Rear braking is handledhttp://www.100-biker.co.uk | issue 250 | 100% Biker | 69