58 Trike Magazine 01 09 01 09 Trike Magazine 59

TRIKEFEATURE GRINNALL R1200C

GRINNALLR1200C

When We Went doWn to see Grinnall Cars in WorCestershire the other

month to have a look at their roCket iii trike, the lovely people doWn

there asked us if We fanCied a spin on their BmW Cruiser

trike too? of Course, We said yes – it’d just have Been plain

rude to do, Wouldn’t it?

Grinnall have been constructing Beemer trikes for … ooo … yonks now and they offer three models as part of their fleet (although they’ll happily trike other models

and, of course, other makes too) – one based on the CL1200 (the tourer thing with the weirdly insectoid headlights), the sporty R1150 and this model, the 1200C (both the cooking machine and the more exclusive Independent too).

Steve Harper, Volvo’s chief designer, who was also responsible for the world-famous Grinnall Scorpion three-wheeled sports car, designed the Cruiser trike and his work blends perfectly with the styling of the R1200C to produce an appealing and coherent whole that looks for all the world like a Bavarian original. Mechanically, the machine is built to a high standard with sophisticated double-wishbone rear suspension mounted on a light, but torsionally rigid, space frame sub-chassis which replaces the standard rear end, and uses the same mounting points. There’s a new top yoke at the front too to give the correct steering geometry and minimise handlebar wobble, and the new bodywork at the rear end offers a useful boot space too.

It’s available as either fully assembled onto a new or good secondhand bike supplied by Grinnall, or you, or you can buy it in kit form and fit it yourself. Build time takes about thirty hours and converting it back to stock takes about the same time too. The conversion kit costs £4795 (plus an extra £1895 if you want them to do the work for you) and the only extra parts you need are another BMW rear light (‘cos the design uses two of them) which costs £137, and a BMW ‘Comfort’ pillion seat ‘cos the original small one that comes with the bike isn’t suitable (£169). Of course, there’s a list of extrs available that’s as long as R

WORDS: NIK • PIX: KING RAT

60 Trike Magazine 01 09

your arm (assuming you have quite short arms) – screens, engine bars, back rests, custom colours (complete colour change), back support brackets and grab handles, driver back rests, luggage racks, CNC billet racks with handles, Givi luggage, electronic push-button gear-shifts, linked braking systems for both hand and foot operation, Brembo/BMW rear brake conversions, tow bars, upgraded master-cylinders, billet wheels etcetera etcetera etcetera.

So that’s what it is – what’s it like to ride? Well, after the Rocket III – tiny. It’s not that the BeEm is actually small, it’s just that the Triumph is feckin’ enormous and almost anything else you ride directly after it is going to feel like a moped … V8s excepted, natch. It’s lower to the ground (or at least it feels like is) and, while the steering on the Rocket isn’t heavy by any stretch of the imagination, the Beemer feels a lot sharper and more responsive – when doing cornering shots for this article I felt happier to fling the R1200C into bends a lot harder than I did on the Triumph, not because the Triumph doesn’t corner well but, simply, because you’re more aware of the extra weight (it weighs forty kilos more) of the big Trumpet. The difference is, I s’pose, that the Triumph is supremely competent, ridiculously comfortable and physically imposing, while the BMW is by way of comparison lithe and quick steering – the sort of thing you can hustle along back roads and grin until your face hurts, y’know?

The 1200cc eight valve flat twin engine

makes just 61bhp at 5,000rpm, but a useful 72 ft/lbs of torque at 3000 rpm, so while it’s never going to be an out-and-out speed freak like its bigger brother, it’s more than capable of cruising at motorway speeds and keeping up a good pace on normal roads too. The digital fuel injection keeps the fueling spot on although, just like with any bike-engined trike, you do perhaps have to cog down slightly higher up the rev range than you would do on a bike to stop the extra weight of the trike making the motor bog. Apart from that, it’s an almost instantly forgettable engine – by that I mean that it does exactly what it’s s’posed to so you just get on and ride it, no dramas, no hiccups, turn the key, press the button and forget about it.

There’s no drama in the braking either – for day-to-day riding the stock BM front brakes are all you’ll ever need and you can brake a lot harder with them than you can with a solo because you know that, if the front wheel does do something silly, you’re aren’t going to instantly end up in a big ungainly heap on the floor. The single piston rear brakes, if you do use them, are equally competent, but there’s the option of upgrading to Brembos if you so desire.

I s’pose the best way to describe the R1200 trike is simply that it doesn’t feel like a modified vehicle at all – it feels like a factory one. Some trikes you ride let you know that they’re something special – the Grinnall doesn’t, it just gets on with doing what it’s s’posed to do and doesn’t make a fuss about it. That may sound like a

backhanded compliment but, as I said in the article on the Rocket, that’s exactly what you want from a trike really – it shouldn’t be any effort to ride, if it is then it’s doing something wrong, isn’t it?

I’ll leave you with just this one thought – I wonder if the triked version of the BMW Cruiser bounces when you do burnouts like the bike version does? ‘Ere, Mark, can I have another go on it?

CONTACTS Grinnall Cars, Westridge House, Heightington, near Bewdley, Worcestershire, DY12 2YJ (01299 822862 or www.grinnallcars.com)

TRIKEFEATURE GRINNALL R1200C

@

‘… the BmW is lithe and quiCk steerinG – the sort of thinG you Can hustle alonG BaCk roads and

Grin until your faCe hurts …’

ENGINE:BMW R1200C

CHASSIS:BMW & Grinnall Cars steel tube space frame, blasted surface protected by zinc primer & polyester powder coating by Redditch Shotblasting

AXLE SET-UP:Grinnall Cars framework/axle/diff, 252mm discs, Girling single piston sliding calipers with handbrake, cast aluminium Rimstock 6.5x15” wheels, 195/70 ZR 15 tyres

FRONT END:BMW R1200C with new Grinnall Cars top yoke

BODYWORK:BMW R1200C front mudguard/tank/sidepanels/front seat/pillion pad, optional passenger back rest, Grinnall Cars boot area & rear mudguards

FINISH:As stock bike or custom painted