PAGE 19. Cyclemaster 3-Wheelers: Harding Tricycle & Pashley Delivery Trike

Harding Adult Tricycle

As you can see from the article below, R.A. Harding (Bath) Ltd fitted some of their tricycles with Cyclemaster engines.

As mine has no brakes and no front mudguards, I assume mine is not the ‘Model C’ mentioned in the advertisement. Nevertheless, we’ll have a go at fitting an engine and seeing how it performs using the Cyclemaster back-pedal brake.

R.A. Harding was also well-established as a manufacturer of ‘bath chairs’ (advert below courtesy Stuart Cyphus)

UPDATE 18 January 2008: Another Harding

Well, I found a solution to the brakes and mudguards missing on the Harding trike. The solution was another Harding! It appeared out of the blue, on ebay, and is in such good original – and complete – condition that I snapped it up. It cost me a lot more than my original Harding, but the seller has dropped it off at Andy Tiernan Classic Bikes in Suffolk for me and Andy will deliver it to me at Kempton Park autojumble this
weekend.

The Harding created quite a bit of interest on Andy Tiernan’s stall at Kempton. I parked my 1954 Royal Enfield Clipper next to it with a for sale sign on it, and a few guys came over to check that out too.

But then my friend Alain – who was visiting from France and had come to Kempton with me for his first visit – opened his van and pushed over the 1912 Indian 1000cc V-Twin. Encouraged by my for sale sign, he added one to the Indian: for £16,000. The crowds were suddenly so thick around us that we couldn’t move! I had to wait a while to take this photo.

After only 10 minutes, another stall-holder bought it, and it was wheeled around the corner to his stall. 10 minutes after that, Andy and I were sitting on the back of his van eating crisps when 3 Germans arrived asking where the Indian was. We told them – and next thing we heard, they’d bought it.

All in all, quite a bit of excitement for a Kempton Park Autojumble in January.

As for my new Harding, it is quite delightful. But as it transpires, I’ve still not totally solved the problem of brakes. The new one has brakes – but they both work on the rear wheel.

I’ll keep you up to date as the Cyclemaster engine is fitted to the Harding…

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1950s Pashley Light Delivery Trike

Another contender for the clip-on treatment – my dear old Pashley Grocer’s Delivery Truck.

Compare my late 40s/early 50s version with the up-to-date version, below:

The ‘Pashley Freightmate’ has electric power assist, independent steering for each of the front wheels with Ackerman steering (like the Harding tricycle), disk brakes, turn signals, lights, and a horn. Unfortunately, it’s a ‘design and development’ model only and is not currently available.

I wasn’t too sure about motorizing my Pashley, as I also like to keep my vehicles original; however, once I saw that Pashley’s new design model had ‘electric power assist’ – ie the modern equivalent of a cycle-attachment – I decided that mine was definitely fair game for cyclemotorization.

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