1981 XK1 Tri-Hawk: Never Seen One

microcar

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What’s that you say? You’d like to ride a motorcycle but you don’t want to get wet from the rain or bugs in your teeth? Well, have we found a solution for you. Called the XKI Tri-Hawk, this curiosity is listed here on eBay with no reserve and bidding up to $400. Apparently, it is a custom creation by a motorcycle shop on Long Island in the ’80s, used as a functional roadside display for the store. Featuring gullwing doors and a Honda motorcycle engine, this custom creation also has a full interior and a 5-speed manual transmission! It’s like the Reliant Robin, but – cooler? I don’t know how useful this trike would be for anything other than a promotional display, but for short money, it could be fun to keep in the garage for days when it’s too cold for a motorcycle or if your scooter is out of gas. How would you use this mystery machine?

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Comments

  1. JW454

    It sort of looks like an enclosed boat. Sitting on a converted boat trailer doesn’t help. Fun to look at but I wouldn’t want to be in it in a crash.

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  2. Gary Chittenden

    Never seen one before. Never want to see one again.

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  3. jim s

    nice mustang in the background. what is the other white car in some of the photos?. as long and narrow as this is with 1 front wheel i think this would handle very badly at best. interesting find.

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  4. johnT

    I wonder if its rollover stability is any better than a Reliant Robin…… Probably not.

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  5. Andrew M

    it’s amazing what you could find in the back of a Mechanix Illustrated back in 1981

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  6. Mark E

    I remember reading about these in the early 1980s but I never actually saw one.

    I guess there’s a good reason for that… o_0

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  7. francisco

    Seller was ambiguous about the drivability of the vehicle. Then when a potential bidder asked a question about it, seller got cocky with him. With an attitude like that, I say keep the damn thing. I wouldn’t take for nothing.

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  8. DanielDC

    I have seen these before and LOVE it. This is the quirky, oddball, type that I would love to drive around in. I do agree that rollover stability would be an issue, but it ould definately turn heads.

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  9. krash

    ….attach some outriggers with little casters on each side of the front end and the rollover problem is solved…(not bad)
    ….OR….
    …. don’t buy it, and there will be no rollover issue…(even better)..

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    • D. King

      That’s about what they did in the Top Gear episode–crashed anyway!

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  10. Jase

    Looks like a stretched bond bug .. Great

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  11. PR

    It used to be at Top of the World in Laguna Beach, CA in the ’80s. From what I remember it’s handling was atrocious! there was some talk of actually producing them, but it never got off the ground. It was fun to see again.

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  12. Cameron Bater UK

    I’d say this was perhaps inspired by the Bond Bug, sort of a Bond Bug Longnose/2+2? The lights look the same and to all intents and purposes the shell, aside from being longer looks the same, I don’t expect it to have any real value above curiosity. I’m not saying if you get two or more bidders on the same screen at the same time it wont go for a lot of money but I am saying that really its going to sit in someone’s garage and be used as a point of conversation at bbqs.

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  13. PAW

    One of One? Check what is lurking behind Ken Weger

    https://youtu.be/hev-LN4O2EQ?t=83

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  14. allen

    i remember this vehicle! it was parked behind Ghost Motorcycles i think! for years it sat there. i always wondered what it was!

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  15. Justin

    The front end problem would be an easy fix, just add a chrome t-bucket style front end underneath it.
    The thing that concerns me is the ventilation. Do the windows roll down? Is there any defrost ducts for the windshield or would you have to have a rag at all times?
    Is there a heater?

    Like 0

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