Some welcome good news for the bike trade, as Cambridgeshire trike building firm Casarva announces an increase in business. The firm, based in Peterborough, has been building trikes and selling conversion kits since 2004. Now, sales director Steve Read, says it’s having an unprecedented boom, with more new bikes being converted than ever before.
“In the 20-plus years we have been building trikes, we have never seen so many donor bikes being delivered to us direct from dealers’ showrooms”, said Read. “We have a reputation for quality engineering and the ability to convert many different marques of bikes from BMW to Triumph. In the past, most customers wanting a trike conversion built used their existing bike, but in the last year or so we have seen new bikes being delivered into the workshop direct from the dealer showroom.”
It seems like a trend being driven by demographics. Bikers are getting older, with less physical capacity to manage big, heavy two-wheelers. But they want to stick with biking in some form, and those older riders have the funds to do it on three wheels.
“People’s attitude towards trikes has changed over the years,” said Read. “Older riders still want to stay behind the handlebars despite the challenges of mobility or health. We are seeing non-bikers too, as trikes can be ridden on a car licence.”
Casarva builds around 30 trikes a year using its independent rear-suspension chassis designs and says it’s now converting a wide range of machines. That includes DCT automatic Hondas such as the NC750X DCT, NT1100 DCT and Honda Rebel CMX 1100, as well as Triumph’s Rocket 3, Kawasaki’s Eliminator 500 and Ninja 500, and Harley-Davidson’s Fat Boy in the last year alone. For more information, see: www.casarva.co.uk.