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Saw a morgan 3 wheeler yesterday


rnr

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Driving down 101 yesterday. Looked to be a really clean example.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7017/6547369471_a6997c27fd.jpg

Morgan 3-wheeler by rnair, on Flickr

 

Shamed me into driving the Seven to work today. I love living in CA :)

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7025/6549684237_8c78bc9dca.jpg

Untitled by rnair, on Flickr

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Not a Morgan but an ACE . American Cycle Car Endeavor. And yes a Harley Engine. The cars are made in Seattle. They have some sort of licensing agreement with Morgan and somewhere I read where Morgan were basing their new 3 wheeler on the ACE which was based on their old 3 wheeler !!?? Too confusing Need to read up on that one. Great car though . Always loved them.

Edited by timax
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Not a Morgan but an ACE . American Cycle Car Endeavor. And yes a Harley Engine. The cars are made in Seattle. They have some sort of licensing agreement with Morgan and somewhere I read where Morgan were basing their new 3 wheeler on the ACE which was based on their old 3 wheeler !!?? Too confusing Need to read up on that one. Great car though . Always loved them.

 

That would explain the ACE 11 numberplate and why it looked much cleaner than the average Morgan version :)

http://cycle-car.com/

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The new Morgan uses an S&S engine which is based on the H-D. The transmission is from a Miata.

 

There is a Morgan dealer in the Denver area. He brings various Morgans to our Cars and Coffee events. He was passing out brochures on the three wheeler awhile back and will bring a three wheeler to the C&C when he gets one in.

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As for the "Harley based" power plant, I don't know why anyone would choose such a piss-poor engine for anything more than a boat anchor. There are all kinds of inherent design flaws with a 45º v-twin mainly the vibration. That was fine for torque a hundred years ago but when compared to current 60º or even better 90º twins i.e. Ducati, all incarnations of 45º twins are best left below the water's surface.

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ACE wanted to use a Guzzi V twin like the "Triking" from the UK but was having troubles getting them. When you start digging with these cycle cars there are some fantastic creations. Personally i liked the Triking with a 4 cam Guzzi 1100 supercharged engine.. You would never keep it straight. Google "Triking" and then hit "images". You will be there for ages. Cafe racer for those who don't want a bike.

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In some states a 3 wheelers considered to be a bike?

 

Equivalent of a motorcycle with sidecar. I believe most states will let them into the carpool lane as well.

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Out here in Aus basically if it has a steering wheel instead of handlebars and you sit in it rather than on it , its a car. Being then a car it has to pass all the legalities of other cars . Noise etc with is WAY harder than a bike. We had 1 Triking come into the country back in the 80's and I think that was it!! Very sad really. And annoying when you hear a new Harley go past thats loud enough to have me taken off the road if it was my car.

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I agree with Crazymike in your assessment of the Harley motor. The Morgan uses an S&S motor which is a combination of car engine, Harley and S&S parts. With 1900 cc capacity and a little more than 100 hp delivered it is a heavy inefficient unit although it has a great torque curve. It does have visual appeal and being a pre unit motor it is easy to separate the gearbox (not the case with more modern bike motors) and run the Mazda transmission with reverse.

The Italians and Japanese build better V twins but they do not have the visual appeal in the sportbike models (water cooling and fairings cover up the engine architecture on most models) and the big Jap cruiser V twins are too asymmetrical, in my opinion, to be appealing.

I had a Moto Guzzi Le Mans during my bike riding days and I like them a lot. If I was in a position to do a 3 wheeler in the Morgan tradition I would seriously consider a Guzzi powered unit.

The ACE, Triking and Morgan all look to be nice cars and I would be happy to have any one in my garage. Having a Hayabusa LSIS myself I am a fan of bike powered cars.

 

Dermot.

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