1994 Grinnall Scorpion 3 1.1 petrol
Summary:
Cheap, reliable and great fun - the best toy I have ever had
Faults:
Clutch exploded, ripping through the bell housing - my fault as I was trying to wheel spin it with a passenger. Replaced it and drove sensibly, and it's never been a problem again.
General Comments:
Great performance and good handling, but bucks around on bumpy roads and needs extreme care in the wet.
Ability to change direction in 'S' bends is amazing, and nothing much will keep up with you.
Out cornered every bike on Mad Sunday at the TT, but got annihilated on the straights (as you'd expect).
Excellent acceleration up to 85mph, and 3 or 4 cars can be overtaken at a time. Will do about 125mph flat out, but it gets twitchy past about 110mph.
Open cockpit makes leaving it unattended risky.
The styling attracts lots of attention - women are oblivious to it.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes
Review Date: 25th November, 2005
11th Mar 2006, 17:58
In answer to the comments: the mechanical gearing remains the same as the bike. The smaller rear wheel (195/50 x 16) lowers the overall gearing compared to the bike and it works out to about 15.7mph/1000rpm in top gear which makes it rev at 7700rpm at 125mph with peak power at 7500rpm so it's slightly undergeared, but not by much.
Yes, you need the engine, gearbox and rear swinging arm from the bike which you can get from a whole bike or salvage.
The car is only has 5" ground clearance and the front track is around 6ft so it's pretty stable. Physics dictates it would be better with 4 wheels in this respect, but I have never had a issue. Some testers have managed to get it onto two wheels, but despite spirited driving I have never managed it - thankfully.
26th Nov 2005, 10:45
Looks well neat.
Do you have to sacrifice a BMW motorbike to build one and how stable is that 3 wheeled configuration at monster speed?