From The Phoenix Gazette, August 30 1973
by Sarah Auffret

Gary is used to the stares and double takes he gets when he goes trucking on the streets of Phoenix. The 24-year-old Vietnam veteran is a double amputee, and his big-wheeled trike is thought to be the only one in the world with complete hand controls, power brakes, and automatic transmission. “Roth said he considered it a challenge just to build a bike like this,” said Gary who contacted the California designer as soon as his 15 month stay in a VA hospital in El Paso ended last year. “I do a lot of short trucking around town in it just to get out and go riding. I take it up to the lake too, but no long excursions yet, because it’s hard to carry my wheelchair and I’m still getting used to my legs. Riding a bike is a sense of freedom you can’t put into words. With the wind blowing in your face you could ride all night. Maybe you’ll meet another biker and just ride. You don’t have to talk. You’ve got a common bond.”

During the long period of convalescence and therapy at the hospital, Gary learned to drive a car with hand controls and began returning to Phoenix once or twice a month to watch the big drag races he had once participated in. He thought his own biking days were over. Then a friend brought him a magazine about trikes. He realized his limitations weren’t as great as he thought, and soon afterwards he contacted Roth.

Gary’s eyes sparkled as he talked of working with friends on putting together cars, tinkering with motorcycles, racing. He’s a photography buff who takes pictures at all the drags; he also lifts weights and participates in archery. Though he’s sick of hospitals, he admitted hopes of being a doctor someday.

For more on the First International Motorcycle Art Show at the Phoenix Art Museum in 1973, stay tuned. The clipping was provided by the Phoenix Art Museum, from their archives. (Additional photos used here are courtesy Mike Vils and the Roth Family Archive)

Leave it to Big Daddy to create such a very cool outrageous bike for such a deserving individual .
And yeah I’ll bet the rider had an ear to ear grin every time he ripped down the road .
I mean really … look at the bike … how could you not ? Then add in the Big Daddy provenance ….phew !
And yeah for all you naysayers … trikes ( two in back one in front ) and sidecars are motorcycles … and a viable alternative should circumstances make riding on two wheels either unsafe or impossible
😎