Roll-X

Building a trike is not the same as building a motorcycle. The engineering demands are different, the geometry is different, and the margin for error is considerably smaller. Roll-X is a commissioned Doug Keim Creative Cycles original — and it is a machine that required every bit of the knowledge and fabrication skill that Creative Cycles has accumulated over five decades of building.

The Build

Roll-X begins with a fully custom drop-seat frame — purpose-built for this machine and the vision behind it. The rear end is where the engineering story really begins: a fully independent rear suspension assembly that required a significant investment of thought, design work, and fabrication effort to bring to life. It is a thing of beauty, and it performs exactly as intended. Independent rear suspension on a custom trike of this caliber is not something you simply bolt together — it is something you engineer, prototype, refine, and build with care. That is exactly what happened here.

The wheels are one-off DKCC/RMD billet multi-piece units — designed and machined specifically for Roll-X. Power comes from a full-polish S&S engine, backed by an open belt drive and 6-speed transmission. The exhaust is a one-off DKCC oval outlet system — fabricated in-house and shaped to complement the lines of the machine.

The bodywork is entirely hand-crafted. The two-piece fuel tanks were fabricated from scratch. The front and rear fenders were cut from blanks and shaped by hand. The sissy bar was designed not just as a functional element but as a visual one — its lines and angles were drawn to enhance and echo the geometry found throughout the rest of the bike. Every panel, every curve, every transition was considered.

The Details

Some of the gallery images show Roll-X in raw metal — before the final finishes were applied. Those images are worth studying. They reveal the quality of the fabrication underneath everything else: the fit, the form, the precision of the work before any paint or polish obscures it. That is the foundation. What came after — the understated, elegant, timeless paint work; the seat and under-seat storage; the fit and finish throughout — all of it was built on top of that foundation.

The detail work on Roll-X runs from the largest fabricated panels right down to the smallest piece of hardware. Nothing was overlooked. Nothing was left to chance. That is the Creative Cycles standard, and Roll-X holds it in every direction you look.

And the best part? Roll-X is a genuinely, seriously fun trike to ride. Great machines should be ridden — and this one is.