Three wheels sometimes better than four

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This article was published 16/04/2021 (1718 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

While tricycles are usually seen as a mode of transportation for young kids, Ron Baryluk’s motorized three-wheeler is a whole different story.

The 81-year-old retired rail worker told the Sun on Monday that he decided to build this custom trike roughly 12 years ago, wanting to combine the handling of a motorcycle with the raw power of a classic car.

To make this vision a reality, Baryluk merged the motor and frame of a 1976 Cadillac Eldorado with a 1986 Suzuki 650 cc motorcycle — a process that took him around a year and a half to complete.

“So … it’s still like driving a motorcycle, but all behind me is a V8 engine with the 425 Cadillac transaxle,” he said.

Baryluk fired up the motorized trike for the Sun outside his Brandon home later that week, showcasing the custom vehicle’s massive rear tires and suspension system that sets it apart from the motorcycles he drove in his younger days.

“They were awfully rough to ride because there’s no suspension in the back. The tires are the only suspension you’ve got,” he said.

“Whereas this trike has a Suzuki frame and a little shock absorber on the seat, mounted in the frame. Plus, for the Caddy part, I put coil springs in there as well … so it’s a smoother ride.”

Of course, this process wasn’t without its challenges, with Baryluk revealing that the different wiring of the Cadillac and the Suzuki also needed to be fused together in order to make sure that the turn signals would function.

“They’re two different ignition systems, completely different wiring systems, so that was the most challenging thing on the trike,” he said.

However, Baryluk has encountered these kinds of obstacles many times before.

In fact, the Brandon resident has been obsessed with fixing up classic vehicles since he was 15 years old and got the chance to customize a 1949 Mercury inside and out.

“I’m not a trained mechanic. I’m just self-taught,” Baryluk told the Sun back in 2017. “I picked it up through books and reading and asking people a lot of questions.”

This kind of outsider approach to automotive repair allowed Baryluk to spearhead countless unorthodox projects throughout his life, from sports cars to old trucks to custom rat rods and other motorized trikes, including one with a Volkswagen engine.

After retiring from CP Rail in 1993, Baryluk got a lot more free time and further ramped up his vehicle-flipping efforts, while managing the Hillcrest Motel and Domo gas station at the same time.

While Baryluk has managed to retain this sense of curiosity and experimentation in 2021, he admits that he is feeling his age, meaning that a province-wide odyssey using his latest motorized three-wheeler is probably out of the question.

“I don’t have any plans in taking long trips on the thing,” he said.

“A lot of the guys like it, but I’ve had enough driving for years on the road.”

However, Baryluk is still committed to firing up the trike for some short-range cruises around the Brandon area this spring and summer, especially if his Yorkshire terrier Lucy will accompany him along the way.

“I just added a backpack and reversed it on my chest to carry her around,” he said. “She wants to ride on the trike all the time, so she must like it.”

» kdarbyson@brandonsun.com

» Twitter:@KyleDarbyson