The SUB: A Three-Wheeler “Motorcycle” “From the side, it looks like a submarine.”

From the February 2006 issue of Cycle World. What happens when a racecar builder and two motorcycle guys get together on a project? A three-wheeler, of course. This odd-but-cool conveyance is the SUB, built by Jay Brett, Niki Smart and Nick Mynott. All three are top-level designer/fabricators who work in a GM automotive design studio in Southern California and have been involved with several high-profile show cars. They built the SUB (www.sub3wheeler.com) partly because they simply wanted to “finish” something. “So many of the things we work on are taken from us after initial concept and completed elsewhere, or we get something to finish that we didn’t conceive,” says Brett. “The SUB was something we got to do everything on.” Including riding. Or do we call it driving? The basic design ensures a thrilling experience. The tubular-steel chassis is racecar-style, with inboard shocks and double, unequal-length A-arms at the front, a single-sided, four-bar-linkage swingarm and shock at the rear. The frame tubing is gorgeously butted and TIG Welded by Smart, who grew up working and playing in his family’s racecar-building shop in England. Penske coil-over shocks are used all around, while huge 350mm Wilwood cross-drilled discs handle stopping. Power comes from a Suzuki TL1000R engine, which is bone-stock save for the custom airbox and exhaust system. Neither of these latter pieces is quiet—my ears are still ringing from a spin in the SUB. Each member of the build team brought his own skills. As mentioned, Smart’s metal-fab is top-quality, while Mynott is a 3D computer-modeling specialist. Brett’s excellent work with the composites and fiberglass that make up the body and seat, for example, is plain to see. “We all worked on everything,” says Brett. “But on some things you led the work, on others you were assisting.”

Fancy fabrication and excellent design set the SUB apart from other three-wheelers. Suzuki TL1000R V-twin engine is mounted next to pilot seat, under black air scoop. Built in California, the SUB falls under "motorcycle" heading, allowing it to be used in HOV lanes and not be subject to crash testing. And the name? “From the side it looks like a submarine," says one of the builders.

The level of craftsmanship is impressive. “Because we built three of them, the level to which they were made is higher than what it might have been if we’d only built one,” says Smart. "Building more than one of each part meant we really wanted them to be right.” Even the custom wheels are gorgeous. You climb into the cockpit only after you get the Momo quick-release steering wheel out of the way. Gear selection is sequential shift, the pedals arranged just like in a car. Fire up with the starter button, and you’re off! "What is that?” asked the guy next to me in traffic. I told him. "Man, I’d sure hate to crash something like that.” "We don’t drive them to crash them, do we?” No, we don’t. But three wheels is neither two nor four, and mixing car-style heel-and-toe down-shifting with a motorcycle gearbox crossed a few wires in my head. And having that single wheel in the back meant that when I botched a downshift, I nearly spun the thing into a parked car. Shhh! Don’t tell the guys! If I had spun, I might have been in a bind, for there is no reverse as yet. “Park uphill or get a push,” say the crew. At about 750 pounds, the SUB is about 1.5 times heavier than your average sportbike, so the reasoning on tire contact patch is that there are 1.5 times as many tires. Grip is excellent from the trio of Avon motorcycle tires (a pair of 180-18s at the front, a 200-18 at the rear). Steering response is insanely quick, thanks in part to the single turn from lock-to-lock of the quick-ratio rack. The eight-valve, liquid-cooled, 996cc V-twin makes 120 horsepower at the rear wheel; couple this with the low seating position, loud engine sitting in your right ear and a hard epoxy/composite seat and just motoring along at a sedate pace feels fast. And when you’re actually going fast, it is absolutely mind-bending. Can you buy one? “It would be a dream to produce the vehicle and sell it so people can enjoy it,” says Brett, “and we’d love to start a company tomorrow and make a living at it, but we don’t have a business plan.” Probably too busy out riding around. Or is that driving?

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