All-Terrain Motorcycle

All-Terrain Motorcycle ATV'S ATV'S 8-4-32 When Larry Rauenhorst, Olivia, Minn., needed a vehicle to get up and down his bean fields, he removed the over-sized rubber tires on a 3-wheeler bike and replaced them with narrow motorcycle wheels that let him run through beans up to 10 in. high without doing damage. A side benefit is that the 3-wheeler is also faster and more maneuverable with the narrower tires. "It runs up to 10 mph faster," says Rauenhorst, noting that the conversion project took him only an afternoon of work. "Even if you don't need it to get through crops, it's a lot cheaper to replace the wide ATC wheels with motorcycle tires when they're worn out." The first step was to remove the rear wheels and bolt on the new ones. He had to tap into the wheel hub to mount the motorcycle wheels but says that otherwise, there were no problems. Up front, he removed the old 3-wheeler front spindle and installed the entire front spindle assembly from a small motorcycle. "It bolted right into the handlebars and we were able to hook up the front brakes. The only modification up front was to cut the spring down so the front end didn't ride up so high."

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