A disabled biker is planning an ambitious charity run on what he claims is the biggest trike in Britain.
It has taken Nick Priest seven years to build Grunt, his monster trike that’s powered by a 7-litre Dodge Charger V8.
In June, the metal worker and design engineer from Penryn, England plans to ride from Land’s End to John o’Groats to raise money for a disabled biker charity.
Mr Priest has suffered for 11 years from fibromyalgia syndrome, a condition which causes debilitating pain and extreme tiredness, and was forced to give up work five years ago after symptoms worsened.
“I have mobility issues,” said the 54-year-old. “I also get chronic fatigue. It’s like somebody has switched off the power. Sometimes I haven’t got the energy to even stand up. “And I get terrible pain. Once it felt like I had broken my shoulder. My shoulder wasn’t broken, but the brain told me it was. I also get muscle spasms – the shakes. “On a bad day I’m rocking in pain and I just can’t get up. It just comes and goes.”
But he gets comfort from working with metal and designing and building cars, motorbikes and trikes. He is currently working on adapting a motor trike for a friend who has one leg.
In June he hopes to ride to Scotland to raise money for the National Association of Bikers with Disabilities (NABD), which provides training and grants advice to disabled riders to get them back on their bikes. Through NABD’s network of national bike clubs and local radio stations, he plans to raise funds through donation and by selling passenger rides on his trike. “I plan to do 50 miles per day,” he said. “As long as I don’t overdo it and take my medication I should be fine.”
