patience to build a trike .
Once Nece Trikes had the kit , they had to dismantle the whole bike to get it ready for the conversion process and custom paint . The Cheiftan is 111 cubic inches , with the power it needs to become a trike . The Indian sales person tried to convince me to use the Lehman trike kit ( so they could sell it to me ). I wanted the Hannigan so I told him that “ Well I guess we can ’ t do business ”, they sold me the Indian without the Lehman kit and had it shipped to me in Cheyenne , WY .
When the Indian was ready for the custom paint it went to High Tech Auto Body in Greeley , Colorado . The Chieftain was black when I purchased it , but I wanted to change the color to that Indian cream to give it that vintage look . The problem was , getting the paint color . Polaris doesn ’ t like to give up their paint colors . Luckily for me , Steve at High Tech Auto Body knew someone who had the vintage Indian crème color paint and he matched it and mixed it from that color .
I had many suggestions as to what to put on the bike . Feathers , pin striping and other design ideas were given to me , but I wanted to keep it sleek and use the chrome on it for the decoration . The entire bike had to be painted along with the trike kit since the kit is primer coated from the factory . The painting process added another two weeks to the process . It was a handson experience to make sure my trike was customized perfectly for me .
While the painting was in progress , I started making my decisions on the custom accessories I wanted to add . I chose Rusty Jones chrome footboards , passenger boards and toe shifter with a heel shifter to match , Aeromach accent coins , a chrome horn cover and chrome bolt covers , chrome windshield trim from Indian . I also chose lighted trim , passenger seat , heated grips , leather tassels , highway pegs , led light and a front chrome bumper .
The trike has too many accessories to list all of
them here but I ordered all of the accessories with the encouragement of my brothers .
The Indian then went back to Nece Trikes for installation of the trike kit and reassembly . This took several more weeks to complete . During reassembly Monty added the customized accessories that I chose .
I am an admirer of the American free spirit and this beautiful trike that I feel very connected to deserves to be labeled “ Crazy Horse ” in my eyes . Having the opportunity to own and ride two custom trikes has helped me to feel confident with the safety , stability , visibility , of the trikes which has brought me a lot of pleasure . I also just like the looks of these two fantastic custom motorcycles because they lend themselves to my personality and character . I am caregiver for my 90 year old Mom who has Alzheimer ’ s disease . Taking care of her sometimes takes so much out of me and sometimes I just need a break . When I throw a leg over one of my trikes , my whole demeanor changes and I
26 Thunder Roads Magazine ® Colorado December 2015 www . thunderroadscolorado . com