About Us—Our Story

We have all heard the phrases “God works in mysterious ways” or “All bad things happen for a reason”. We didn’t realize the magnitude of these phrases until Mike’s father, Dick, was diagnosed with Muscular Sclerosis about eight years ago. We were devastated. A biker of many years, Dick was faced with the difficult fact that he may have to give up riding. That’s when Dick purchased his first Trike.

At that time, we hadn’t seen very many Trikes around and thought it was the most awesome machine we had ever seen. Dick found the stability of the Trike allowed him to ride without becoming as fatigued and balance was no longer a problem.

We decided to get our first motorcycle to spend some quality time riding with Dick and his wife Kathy. We soon discovered why they loved riding. One trip to Sturgis and we were “hooked”! We knew we would be Bikers for Life. Now the whole family loves motorcycles and it has truly changed our lives. We have met so many wonderful people while riding. You know, Bikers are truly “God’s Creatures”. They are always ready to give a helping hand and they love getting close to nature on the open road!

Meanwhile, Mike had worked most of his life in the sign and auto-glass business and was ready for a change. He had always dreamed of owning his own business. He was very skilled at design and fabrication so he began fabricating motorcycle trailers. We also discovered that the “Trike Craze” was growing in the Midwest. After intensive research, we contacted Motor Trike Corp. in Troup, Texas. We chose Motor Trike because they were the leading Trike manufacturer, they really cared about their people and their Trikes were the classiest ones we had ever seen. After completing “hands on training” at the Motor Trike factory, Mike became a certified Motor Trike Dealer. Thus, the concept of Motor Trike Central was born.

We would like to thank all of our friends and family for their care and support in this venture. We are so fortunate to be surrounded by so many wonderful people.

We also wish to thank our valued customers. It gives us utmost pride and satisfaction to see the look on the faces of our new friends as they ride off on their new Trike for the first time. We are so pleased to know we had a part in the countless hours of fun and memories they will be sharing on their Trikes. We feel very lucky that our business is one that we truly love. We couldn’t have done it without you. Thank you for making our dreams come true!

Motor Trike Central
Mike and Leah Cornett (Owners)

About Us—Motor Trike

Motor Trike, Inc. is a manufacturer of trike conversions for touring and cruising motorcycles. The corporate headquarters and manufacturing facilities are located in East Texas outside the town of Troup. Manufacturing plants, office, and warehouse facilities encompass 50,000 square feet on 70 acres. The Texas location gives them the unique ability to design and road test our trikes year round.

The Motor Trike is a patented retrofit for most popular touring motorcycles. An installed Motor Trike kit adds less than 200 pounds to the original weight of the bike. Information on the size and weight variance on your particular model can be obtained by looking at the specs on each bike. The enhanced handling and braking performance of our trike conversions in addition to the stability and safety makes the step up to a trike a wise and prudent decision.

We use a Ford differential housing on our shaft-driven trikes that are modified to meet our specifications. This process is done entirely in our manufacturing plant. We use new axles, ring and pinions, pinion flanges and brake assemblies. The only component that is not new is the actual rear end housing itself. That housing is stripped and cut to a new length. It is sand blasted and then hydro-blasted before it goes to the prep room. Next, the rear end is beveled and prepped for the weld assembly area. All the suspension components and tubes are welded in custom jigs designed and built at this facility. After the rear ends are cool, they are removed from the jigs and taken to the rear end assembly area. You will note that we did not mention that the rear ends are grinded after they have been welded. We are proud of our welders and the quality of work they perform. Grinding away poor quality welds will weaken the product because you are removing material. When you look at our trike, we encourage you to climb underneath and look at the frame, rear end, and suspension components. This quality of work and engineering is why we try to have a trike on display at different rally sites that does not have a body mounted so that you can see this quality for yourself. There is a difference, and we are proud to show it to you.

After the rear ends are welded, they are transported into the rear end assembly area. Here the rear ends are scrubbed inside and out prior to assembly. With a choice of gear ratios from a 2:73 to 4:11, any performance or economy criteria can be met. The type of trike, the load factor, and geographical location all play a role in the gear ratio you select.

Our fiberglass bodies are designed and manufactured at the plant in Troup, Texas. They are hand laid, a very labor intensive manufacturing process. Why do it this way? There are two reasons. The first reason is the quality of the finish and the strength. The strength in a fiberglass body is in the mat. The mat is actually weaved fiberglass material that is laminated into the mold. Other fiberglass methods involve using a chopper gun which shoots out a mixture of fiberglass resin and strands of fiberglass. With chopper gunned bodies, you do not get consistent section size nor do you have the same strength. The second reason we hand lay our fiberglass is weight. Our bodies usually weigh 42-48 pounds versus a chopper gunned body of the same size weighing approximately 120-148 pounds. This weight is all above the centerline of your body which is exactly where you do not want it. Superior strength, light weight—the closer you look, the more you will experience the differences that our engineering, manufacturing, and quality make in your trike. That's the rationale behind one of our slogans: Motor Trike—Experience the Difference.

Motor Trike kits are currently available for Honda GL 1200, GL 1500, and the GL 1800 along with the Valkyrie and Valkyrie Interstate. A new addition to our Honda line of trikes is the VTX Panther; it just might be the ultimate cruiser.

Motor Trike also has trikes for the Harley Davidson line of motorcycles. We call it The Trog. We have models available for the Electra Glide, Road King, Heritage Softail, Fat Boy, Dyna, and Deuce. Our Trog rear ends are fabricated completely in-house and are maintenance-free. We are very proud of the quality and smoothness of the ride we have engineered with our Trog conversions. We have eliminated the steering head shake. Please take a demo ride and see for yourself.