Dakota Digital Harley Trike
From Dakota Digital

When we were kids, the coolest ride any of us had was a Big Wheel. Super low, in-the-weeds stance with steam-roller rear wheels and the ability to fry the drive wheel at will, made you the boss. As righteous as the Big Wheel was when we were young, a full-size trike doesn’t carry the same clout at a motorcycle rally. Until now.
After building a new custom motorcycle year after year and struggling to stand out in the sea of billet wheels and wild paint, Dakota Digital took a deep breath, took a step back and rekindled an old flame. J&L Harley Davidson dispatched a sparkling new 2010 Harley Tri Glide in tough-guy black paint to the DD compound, and the three-wheeler was torn limb from limb like the Scarecrow on Wizard of Oz.
Twisted Choppers was pressed into service to hand-fab an all-steel rear trunk that pays homage to the obligatory ’32 Ford. Exhaust exits through a one-off bezel that also holds the two-off taillights, all created in the depths of the Dakota Digital laboratory. Paint remained basic with contrasting grey running through the bike, broken up with a poppin’ red pinstripe, all thanks to Smitty’s Custom Painting in Tea. Not just for looks, the trunk flips down like a rumble seat thanks to a 10-function remote system and a linear actuator. The unsightly handle for the E-Brake is gone, in its place, another hidden actuator operated via remote. You didn’t expect a Dakota Digital build to be devoid of technological tricks did you?
Ride Wright whipped up a trifecta of wheels, 18’s out back and a 21” front to make the neighborhood take notice. No tribal designs carved into billet aluminum here, just a fist full of fat spokes. A Saddlemen seat is snuggled up to a huge gas tank courtesy of Russ Wernimont Designs. The pilot of the trike reaches out to Klock Werks handlebars cloaked in JayBrake grips. Feet rest upon Carl Brouhard Designs floor boards and articulate matching foot controls. Eyeballs are kept moist thanks to a Klock Werks Flare windshield and kept focused on a sextet of red digital instruments tucked into one of Hell’s Foundry SoftDash inner fairings.
Drivetrain pegs the needle at ‘stock’, save for handmade exhaust (muffler-delete) and a Performance Machine air cleaner. Also adorning the 103” thumper is a one-off horn cover. Looking to step up from the dismal HD piece and complement the PM air cleaner on the other side, the engineers at DD got fired up and drew their own horn cover. Just below that sits a Pingel electric shifter dialed in to click through the six gears with the push of a button. Speaking of push-button, remember the gnarly stance of your first Big Wheel? A Legend Air Ride kit out back dumps the pseudo-Deuce back-half in short order, on the off-chance all eyes weren’t already on you.
With several shows under its belt, the trick trike has garnered a lot of attention, for both the Company as well as three-wheelers in general. Built with the perfect mix of old and new that Dakota Digital is known for, we couldn’t be happier with the end result. Keep your eyes peeled at the next cycle-friendly event you attend, you might just see this trike, with a twist.





