Cool Ride a Problem Solver

Tracy Thatcher has always loved motorcycles. 

Failing that, his next ride of choice is a one-of-a-kind modified super scooter of his own design.

“There's nothing like it,” Thatcher said. “In a car, you're a driver, and a motorcycle, you're a rider, but with this, you're a pilot. It doesn't handle like anything else.”

Thatcher has lived in Chehalis for 10 years but has been a resident of Southwest Washington for about 25 years. He grew up in Idaho Falls and said his interest in motorcycles and motors spans back as far as he can remember.

“Basically, all my life I've been into something with two wheels,” Thatcher said.

Thatcher estimates he has owned about 25 motorcycles in his lifetime, including a couple of Harley-Davidsons. He said he loves the speed and freedom that motorcycles provide.

“I've gone about as fast as I wanted to go,” he said.

But Thatcher, who is retired, is also a welder and has built motorcycles and worked on motors for many years. So in 2000 when a childhood friend who had been a quadriplegic since 1972 following an accident asked him to build him a motorcycle he could operate independently, he jumped at the chance to make his own one-of-a-kind motorcycle.

“It was a labor of love,” Thatcher said.

He started with a Honda Helix, which is a type of cycle referred to as a super scooter. Super scooters look similar to the typical scooter type cycle except they are larger and have accompanying larger, more powerful engines. But the benefit of the super scooter over a regular motorcycle is its fairly low-lying foot bed, like a traditional scooter.

“It lends itself to a disability factor because we couldn't get him on a Harley because he can't get his leg over the gas tank and he wanted to be independent,” Thatcher explained.

To the super scooter, Thatcher built a detachable sidecar chassis to give it more stability and cargo room. Even with the added weight of the sidecar, Thatcher said, the scooter can still reach maximum speeds of about 55-60 mph.

For his quadriplegic friend's custom build, Thatcher also put all of the controls on the right side because that was the hand his friend had the most use of. Thatcher explained the friend could grip with his left hand but couldn't open it so he rode with a Velcro glove on the left side so he didn't lose grip.

“He took to it like a duck to water, which was amazing because he was basically a novice motorcycle guy,” Thatcher said of his finished product.

A couple of years after completing the first custom scooter, Thatcher built himself a similar ride from a Yamaha YZ80. Thatcher is retired disabled said he figured a more customized ride would allow him to keep riding until an older age.

“My back and knees got so bad I couldn’t stop my Harley,” he recalled.

To his own custom scooter, Thatcher replaced the seat with a salvaged tractor seat purchased at the Toledo Threshing Bee and then covered it with a custom saddle cover by a saddle maker he knows. The tractor seat is connected to the bike with an attachment that allows it to swivel so he can sit into it much like sitting in a chair, and then swivel himself forward. He said the tractor seat also allows for a lower impact to his back while riding.

“It holds you like a cup so I don’t have to use leg pressure to keep my butt from sliding off the seat when I corner,” he explained.

Thatcher’s scooter also features a customized handlebar that is turned downward to make it easier for his hands to grip without straining his back.

Another thing Thatcher loves about super scooters is that they also have a fairly substantial trunk. The added chassis also allows for even more cargo room, which has allowed him to travel fairly long distances on it.

“I can carry more gear than I ever could on my Harley and everything had to be packed precisely on the Harley and here I just start putting things on,” he said.