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		More>> Con Kennedy Samantha Dempsey Jean-Michel Schiettecatte Possibly the most air cooled of all air cooled volkswagens is Neil Ogilvy's ride! Though not strictly a Volkswagen as we know it, it is in fact a hybrid of Volkswagen, Kawasaki and Yamaha engineering! Neil, who works for German Autoparts in Bray, Co. Wicklow has been into VWs since the mid 1980's having previously owned a Type 2 pick-up and now has a dub which is unusual to say the least! This dub is a beetle based trike, with the rear end from a 1982 Carlow registered IRS beetle. Sporting the 1584cc engine and Independent Rear Suspension, this motor goes! The donor beetle was in pretty bad shape to start, really beyond any restoration, so this dub required some special treatment! Having acquired the beetle from a friend, as Neil put it "it was sitting in his garden for a couple of years". Neil carried out most of the work himself in his own shed! Which was had custom built to facilitate this project. But on occasion some assistance from friends was required. The required parts were removed form the dub and grafting them onto a custom fabricated chassis to hold the gearbox and fuel tank began in earnest! The front forks suspension, handle bars, wheel and mud guard were taken from a donor Yamaha Dragstar 650 2002 which was six months old when it was made into a chopper! The front head stock tube for was removed from a Yamaha XS 750 1982 which was used for the steering. Essential in a project like this is getting the frame correct, 'Lots of hours' were spent by Neil cutting and welding tubing to the front of the bike and subframe of car. Trying to achieve the right angle while keeping strength was of utmost importance. Most important is the triangle. See diagram. At the back end of the Trike we find the suspension from the swing axle beetle, on top of which is the 1584cc dub motor. The motor fitted is the third engine in this Trike as the engine first ran a main bearing, the second had no compression so Neil promptly fitted new heads pistons and liners. It too suffered when it broke a con rod. So eventually Neil 'bit the bullet' and ordered a brand new Volkswagen Engine engine from Vege Holland. Amongst the list of items Neil purchased for this project were, 'Everything on the beetle engine and all the ancillaries' including, bushes, cylinders, shoes, hoses, wheels tyres, chrome.! One the difficulties of the mechanics were complete, Neil turned his thoughts to the difficulty of paint! Opting for a 'very expensive' chameleon multi five tone flip paint, making the already eye catching trike more unusual and unique in the purple to blue hue! Neil mentioned that there were occasional difficulties in completing the projects, as this was his first time to do everything in the restoration. 'Lots of wasted (but gaining experience), time and money' is how Neil puts it! No doubt you'll agree, the effort and care taken by Neil definitely shows in the exceptional quality of the finish. Amongst the interesting features of this ride are the use of late beetle indicators, facing rearward on the rear wings! Other features include the over sized EMPI 8's rear wheels for the extra traction and the extra chrome found in what you might call 'the engine bay'. Neil drives the trike 3 to 4 times per week, every day in the summer stating that the Trike is interesting to drive (to say the least), explaining how the ride 'Handles like a go-kart'. Neil also goes on to say that the would drive the Trike more often, but unfortunately 'it doesn't have a roof'!!! Subframe Aug 1972 - July 1973 Rear brakes standard beetle with clutch master cylinder Yamaha XVS1100 Front brakes standard Yamaha Dragstar single disc with brake master Yamaha XVS1100 The handlebar setup is like a moped