1989 Kawasaki ZL1000cc Eliminator Trike *Sold £4,000*

Description

• Less than 1000 miles ridden since build
• Fully adjustable suspension
• Based on the ZL1000 Eliminator Power Cruiser
• Built by Mark Sanderson – Sandy Cycles

There’s nothing quite like the feeling of being out on the open roads or of being able to ride a motorcycle without a care in the world. Well what about if your health no longer allows that, maybe you don’t have a motorcycle license, now there is another option.  Buy a three wheeled motorcycle, or trike as they are more commonly known.

Having an extra wheel on your motorbike may be rare, but is nothing new. Over the years, manufacturers and custom bike builders have been adding extra wheels to their bikes for various reasons.

This particular Kawasaki ZL Trike is a custom build that was commissioned to help keep our vendors wife on the road following her slight decline in health, allowing them both to keep sharing their passion of bike riding for many more years.  What a wonderful story and a lovely thing to do.

Built by the award-winning Custom bike builder Mark Sanderson of Sandy Motorcycles around ten years ago and based on the Kawasaki ZL1000 Eliminator this is a wonderful bike to get your three wheeled journey started.

Being a good friend of Mark’s, it was an easy choice to commission him to build the bike and keep his wife riding for many more years, Mark is pretty famous for building the Coal Fired Steam Motorcycle that grabbed so many headlines in recent years but he originally cut his teeth custom building bikes and trikes prior to that.  With many previous builds being listed, reviewed and ridden by the wonderful “Back Street Heroes” magazine Mark was in good hands.

This Kawasaki ZL Trike started life as a 1989 Kawasaki ZL1000 Eliminator which in our opinion was a fantastic choice, with a cult following in the “Power Cruiser” category it was originally derived from the ZL900 which in turn had evolved from the Mighty GPZ900.

Those that know Kawasaki will understand the significance of the GPZ900 being the very first bike to spurn the iconic Ninja moniker.  Impressive heritage that is hard to compete with.

When Mark took on the commission to build his good friend’s wife’s first Trike, he knew it had to hit the mark, and hit the mark it did.  In its fabulous yellow livery with purple and blue detail. The paintwork is truly stunning and needs an extremely keen eye to spot the one and only blemish, a small indent that has not broken the paint liqueur, that can be found on the front mudguard, presumably caused by an over tightened strap when transported on a trailer recently.  The custom seat is in perfect condition and the black with yellow piping sits perfectly on the polished alloy subframe.

As mentioned, the vendor’s wife had some issues with her mobility so a klicktronic gear change has been fitted to the handle bars, very much like a paddle shift with sequential gears it can be used or ignored, in fact the Trike can be ridden with normal clutch and gear changes or with the paddles, like a quickshifter if you will.  Either way it is a ten-minute operation to remove and at a cost of £500 can be resold on if needed.

Our vendor also shared that his wife has travelled less than one thousand miles since it was built and looking at the virtually new 225/45 ZR17 tyres fitted to the stunning 17″ twelve spoke Team Dynamics Motorsport alloy wheels there is no reason to doubt this, in fact the condition all round lends itself to this claim.

If this is to be your first foray into three wheeled motorcycling then research will tell you it is always advised to get a trike with independent suspension and this ZL1000 was installed with just that, in fact it has been fitted with fully adjustable rear shocks within the highly polished double wishbone set up.  With the original Kawasaki driveshaft feeding the Sierra differential we expect to see carefree motorcycling for many years to come.

Our View

With so much stability and comfort we completely understand the attraction of three wheeled motorcycling, especially with such a quality build.

With the independent suspension adding another level of comfort and the ZL1000 engine pulling sweetly through the gears, after riding this Trike, you probably won’t bother getting back on two wheels.

What else can be said about this other than, if you haven’t ridden a Trike then you won’t go wrong choosing this as your first one, and if you have owned Trikes before, then this stunningly built Trike from Mark Sanderson will be one to use and enjoy for years to come.

 

Bike Location: Goole – it’s the responsibility of the winning bidder to make collection / transportation arrangements directly with the vendor

Have a question about this bike? Please contact the Evoke team at auction@evoke-classics.com and we will speak to the vendor on your behalf.

Tedious but it’s vital you read this, please.

We will always strive to offer the most descriptive and transparent auction listings available. However, we can’t claim to be perfect. Your own analysis is very important and we are here to help and also answer any and all queries you may have prior to purchase.

We offer and positively encourage bidders to view, or arrange inspections for each vehicle thoroughly prior to bidding.

If we do take a physical, as opposed to a remote, look at any of the vehicles on our platform, they are not those of a qualified vehicle inspector or other professional. Nor do they include a test drive unless expressly stated.

As with all vehicles of a certain age, localised paint repairs are common. This specifically applies with classic cars.

So, please, unless we state explicitly to the contrary, please assume that classic vehicles on our platform could have had remedial bodywork of any kind at some point in its life.

Two final comments on images and photos.

The vast majority are supplied by vendors. Camera technology has and continues to improve significantly, but please note and understand that image and sound quality does vary. If you would like vendors to provide more images please ask us and we will contact the vendor for you.

If you are at all unsure, just ask us. It is what we are here for.

Finally, finally, finally. Please note that vehicles are sold as seen and a returns policy is not applicable. This is the norm for used items acquired at auction.

Our Terms and Conditions are here and our FAQS can be found here or contact us: auction@evoke-classics.com