Boom Trike Mustang ll

A COUPLE of years ago I had the pleasure of road testing the Boom Trike Mustang. An updated version — the Mustang ll — is now available at OzTrikes (Somersby, NSW) and I was invited to take it for a test ride. The original Mustang was pretty amazing so I was looking forward to taking the newer version for a spin.

Somersby is about an hour north of Sydney, and when I arrived at Ozbike HQ in Balmain, I found Skol (Ozbike Publisher) fitting a windscreen to his Softail Slim. This meant two things: one, it was going to rain, and two, we would be riding on the Expressway. As Skol pulled his leather jacket over his leather waistcoat, I realised I had not even fitted the thermal lining to my jacket. Hell, I was only wearing summer gloves. I knew it was winter but the early morning Sydney sun had lulled me into a false sense of security. Bugger!

We made a slight detour to Frasers Motorcycles in Concord looking for a Sportster 48. Harley had just announced there’d be no more Evolution Sportsters so I figured it’d be great to buy the last one. Sadly, they’d all been sold. As a consolation, I got to go for a quick ride on Harley’s new Low Rider S. It was just a 20-minute squirt but man that Milwaukee-Eight 114 engine has some proper go. 

By mid-morning we were riding north up the Pacific Expressway. As predicted by Skol, it rained. Not much rain, just enough to make me feel even colder. Eventually, Skol took pity on me and we left the Expressway at the Mt White turn off. I was still cold and wet but the familiar twists and turns of the Old Road instantly made me feel better.

We pulled into OzTrikes to find Johann (the owner) had lined up his entire range of Boom Trikes along the driveway. Quite an impressive sight. These things are not for the introvert. 

Johann ran through the various models and showed us some of the many factory extras available. Basically, no two Boom Trikes are exactly the same. It is always good to talk with Johann — his enthusiasm for his trikes is infectious; his knowledge of them is virtually encyclopaedic. 

Boom Trikes have been hand-built in southern Germany for more than 30 years. The fit and finish is in line with that of a factory-built race car; the attention to detail on each trike is truly astonishing; there is so much stainless steel on them they seem built to last a lifetime.

Boom Trike has added a new 1500 cc engine to their ever-growing range. The engine is available normally aspirated or with a turbo-charger. Both engines are mated to a Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT). The new Mustang ll which we had come to ride was fitted with the new turbo-charged motor. 

It has more than a few updates from the previous model, the most obvious being the new more curvaceous bodywork. 

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I slipped into the welcoming seat while Johann ran through a few reminders. A little bit of readjustment is required when jumping off a two-wheeled vehicle onto a three-wheeled one. There are no levers on the bars, just a conventional throttle. The brakes are operated by foot control. Although as with all Boom Trikes this can be changed to hand-operated brakes. Obviously, there is no clutch lever as the transmission is CVT. Johann ended with a reminder to keep the front wheel in the middle of my lane.

Just as I was about to set off Skol decided he would ride shot-gun with his camera. I was mildly concerned as Skol normally never rides pillion. That said the Mustang ll’s pillion accommodation is basically an armchair. 

Off we set. I was trying to relearn the whole riding a trike thing while Skol gave directions. Left. Right. Next left… we rounded a corner and the road turned into a dirt track. 

“Keep going,” said Skol, “There will be somewhere to turn around.” 

I wasn’t so sure. It was a pretty narrow track and the Mustang ll is nearly four metres long. I didn’t fancy reversing all the way out. However, we did eventually find somewhere to turn around and I didn’t actually need as much space as I thought I would. The other thing I discovered is that the trike is pretty good on a dirt track.

You can ride the Mustang ll like you have all the time in the world — bimbling along and enjoying the view; maybe accompanied by your significant other on the passenger seat and a delicious picnic in the massive boot; roaming Australia’s abundant back roads in search of the perfect picnic spot. Or you can also ride it like the Hounds of Hell are chasing you. It is very accomplished in both roles. It is also highly unlikely that the Hounds of Hell would catch you — it’s fast — it goes like a Bat out of Hell!

The suspension is beautifully damped. The whole machine remains flat though a corner. Thanks to the mid-engine configuration you can open the throttle very early on exiting a corner and the whole machine just sits down and goes. 

The turbo-charged engine has more than enough shove to keep it very interesting while the CVT transmission is remarkably smooth. The transmission is controlled by some sort of ‘electrical brain thing’ that seems to be spot-on in picking the right gear for the right occasion. Seriously, I am no big fan of automatic boxes, but this thing is pure witchcraft. 

Mostly the Mustang ll is just plain fun. Look at the pictures. It is impossible to ride something like this without it being an adventure.

As I write this we are stuck in Sydney’s COVID lock down. How good would it be when all this madness is finally over to load up a Boom Trike with all your gear and set off to really see Australia… 

As always you don’t need to believe my word for it. Give Johann a call at OzTrikes and organise a test ride. 

OzTrikes 6 Ainslie Close Somersby NSW 2250; info@oztrikes.com.au; 02-4372-1100; www.oztrikes.com.au

article submitted by Paul Angus.