It seems the folks at BMW have taken Dain Gingerelli’s idea of a “Bare Bones Bike” from the December issue of IronWorks magazine to heart. They have unveiled their Lo-Rider concept bike with the idea of selling the customer just a motorcycle. That way the customer can add whatever parts he wants to individualize his machine. The bike is designed to share common components with other BMW motorcycle models. The cruiser type looking Lo-Rider concept bike was introduced at the Milan, Italy show. There has been no word yet on whether or not the Lo-Rider project will go into production for sale to the public.

It was with great interest that I opened my copy of the December issue of IronWorks to Dain Gingerelli’s “Yikes, Trikes” feature. It took me back in time to when I’d open up my Big Bike, Super Cycle, Street Chopper magazine to look for coverage of the big motorcycle shows or rallies. I always liked the fact that there would always be a three wheeler pictured that looked like Ed “Big Daddy” Roth had designed it.

Sure you can paint and chrome custom motorcycles but with a trike you could go crazy. That extra wheel meant that you could build a box or canopy over the passenger seat and sometimes even the rider. Of course this meant even more room for paint and chrome. Best of all Harley trikes were readily available. The G Model (GE if it had electric start) had been produced for 36 years and it’s 45 ci motor for 44 years.

My first Harley, actually my first motorcycle, was a 1958 G Model with the big box on the back. It wouldn’t run fast but I could haul more beer than anyone else.