Harley Davidson Penster Tilting Reverse Trike

by Paul Crowe - "The Kneeslider" on 8/3/2011

in Motorcycle Business, Three Wheel Vehicles

Harley Davidson Penster reverse tilting trike

Remember the drawings for the Harley Davidson Leaning Trike Patent we showed you way back in 2007? Well, theHarley Davidson Museum takes the wraps off of the real trikes (code name "Penster") behind those drawings.

Harley Davidson Penster reverse tilting trike

John Buttera, the legendary custom and race car builder, originally hailed from Wisconsin, and I guess he got to know some of the guys at Harley Davidson because they hired him to do some design and prototype work for the company. In 1998, he built the original version of this tilting reverse trike, which is shown below, and over the ensuing years, the Motor Company refined the design until it was pretty much ready for production. The final orange 2006 version you see here looks exactly like the patent drawings. This might have been in the Harley showrooms, but instead, we got the Tri-Glide.

There was a lot of speculation when these drawings came out about when or if this would ever see the light of day. Well, it's out there now, at the museum, but it is no longer destined for the showroom. Too bad. They might have had a jump on the trike market and beat the Can-Am Spyder to the punch.

All photos credit: Harley Davidson

Harley Davidson Penster prototype by John Buttera

Thanks Kerry