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Blue Lewallen
RIFLE — He uses a car motor, transmission and a rear end, but the rest he builds in his brain and with his hands.
That's how Blue Lewallen of Rifle constructs his custom three-wheeler bikes — the latest which garnered him the People's Choice award at the eighth annual FUOCO Motor Company Car Show in Grand Junction on Sept. 26.
Many local residents in the valley recognize Lewallen with his signature long white beard and his show-stopping three-wheeler bike.
What they might not know is that Lewallen builds three-wheelers from the ground up.
“Almost all the components are handmade. The rest comes out of my own little pea-brain,” Lewallen joked. “They're my own creations. I make sketches, but I can see it in my head already.”
It took Lewallen five years to build his own three-wheeler, and he's been working on completing the prize-winning three-wheeler for a friend for the past two years. The motorcycle is black with orange flames that turn blue in the sun.
“If you're looking at the dash, it looks black, but if you catch the light just right, it looks like the Fourth of July,” he said proudly. “I entered it because I just wanted people to see it.”
The bike is the fifth one Lewallen has built. The first bike he built was a manual transmission and the last four have been automatic. And the 61-year-old is no stranger to motorcycles. He's been riding bikes since his senior year in high school back in 1967.
“I like the freedom,” he admitted. “It's kinda like kicking your brain into neutral. Nothing's buggin' ya. You get in the wind and get away. It's total freedom.”
Lewallen is hoping to enter the fifth bike he's built in the Rocky Mountain Rod and Custom Show in Denver at the end of the month.
He and his wife, Julie, run a business called Wind Rider Creations — Iron works at their home north of Rifle and have done work for a number of area businesses. Most of their business comes from word of mouth.
Lewallen, originally from Weizer, Idaho, has lived in the Roaring Fork Valley since 1977. A welder by trade, he has worked in the oil shale industry and other jobs, before he started building three-wheelers.
“I do all my own designs, I've built everything I ride, except my Harley (Davidson),” Lewallen said.
But why does he do it?
“Because I can,” Lewallen said with a laugh. “Because I like motorcycles and hot rods and this is a combination of the two. I like three-wheelers — they're different. I like creating stuff and building things.”
HEIDI RICE
Citizen Telegram
He uses a car motor, transmission and a rear end, but the rest he builds in his brain and with his hands.
That's how Blue Lewallen of Rifle constructs his custom three-wheeler bikes — the latest which garnered him the People's Choice award at the eighth annual FUOCO Motor Company Car Show in Grand Junction on Sept. 26.
Many local residents in the valley recognize Lewallen with his signature long white beard and his show-stopping three-wheeler bike.
What they might not know is that Lewallen builds three-wheelers from the ground up.
“Almost all the components are handmade. The rest comes out of my own little pea-brain,” Lewallen joked. “They're my own creations. I make sketches, but I can see it in my head already.”
It took Lewallen five years to build his own three-wheeler, and he's been working on completing the prize-winning three-wheeler for a friend for the past two years. The motorcycle is black with orange flames that turn blue in the sun.
“If you're looking at the dash, it looks black, but if you catch the light just right, it looks like the Fourth of July,” he said proudly. “I entered it because I just wanted people to see it.”
The bike is the fifth one Lewallen has built. The first bike he built was a manual transmission and the last four have been automatic. And the 61-year-old is no stranger to motorcycles. He's been riding bikes since his senior year in high school back in 1967.
“I like the freedom,” he admitted. “It's kinda like kicking your brain into neutral. Nothing's buggin' ya. You get in the wind and get away. It's total freedom.”
Lewallen is hoping to enter the fifth bike he's built in the Rocky Mountain Rod and Custom Show in Denver at the end of the month.
He and his wife, Julie, run a business called Wind Rider Creations — Iron works at their home north of Rifle and have done work for a number of area businesses. Most of their business comes from word of mouth.
Lewallen, originally from Weizer, Idaho, has lived in the Roaring Fork Valley since 1977. A welder by trade, he has worked in the oil shale industry and other jobs, before he started building three-wheelers.
“I do all my own designs, I've built everything I ride, except my Harley (Davidson),” Lewallen said.
But why does he do it?
“Because I can,” Lewallen said with a laugh. “Because I like motorcycles and hot rods and this is a combination of the two. I like three-wheelers — they're different. I like creating stuff and building things.”
That's how Blue Lewallen of Rifle constructs his custom three-wheeler bikes — the latest which garnered him the People's Choice award at the eighth annual FUOCO Motor Company Car Show in Grand Junction on Sept. 26.
Many local residents in the valley recognize Lewallen with his signature long white beard and his show-stopping three-wheeler bike.
What they might not know is that Lewallen builds three-wheelers from the ground up.
“Almost all the components are handmade. The rest comes out of my own little pea-brain,” Lewallen joked. “They're my own creations. I make sketches, but I can see it in my head already.”
It took Lewallen five years to build his own three-wheeler, and he's been working on completing the prize-winning three-wheeler for a friend for the past two years. The motorcycle is black with orange flames that turn blue in the sun.
“If you're looking at the dash, it looks black, but if you catch the light just right, it looks like the Fourth of July,” he said proudly. “I entered it because I just wanted people to see it.”
The bike is the fifth one Lewallen has built. The first bike he built was a manual transmission and the last four have been automatic. And the 61-year-old is no stranger to motorcycles. He's been riding bikes since his senior year in high school back in 1967.
“I like the freedom,” he admitted. “It's kinda like kicking your brain into neutral. Nothing's buggin' ya. You get in the wind and get away. It's total freedom.”
Lewallen is hoping to enter the fifth bike he's built in the Rocky Mountain Rod and Custom Show in Denver at the end of the month.
He and his wife, Julie, run a business called Wind Rider Creations — Iron works at their home north of Rifle and have done work for a number of area businesses. Most of their business comes from word of mouth.
Lewallen, originally from Weizer, Idaho, has lived in the Roaring Fork Valley since 1977. A welder by trade, he has worked in the oil shale industry and other jobs, before he started building three-wheelers.
“I do all my own designs, I've built everything I ride, except my Harley (Davidson),” Lewallen said.
But why does he do it?
“Because I can,” Lewallen said with a laugh. “Because I like motorcycles and hot rods and this is a combination of the two. I like three-wheelers — they're different. I like creating stuff and building things.”
HEIDI RICE
Citizen Telegram
He uses a car motor, transmission and a rear end, but the rest he builds in his brain and with his hands.
That's how Blue Lewallen of Rifle constructs his custom three-wheeler bikes — the latest which garnered him the People's Choice award at the eighth annual FUOCO Motor Company Car Show in Grand Junction on Sept. 26.
Many local residents in the valley recognize Lewallen with his signature long white beard and his show-stopping three-wheeler bike.
What they might not know is that Lewallen builds three-wheelers from the ground up.
“Almost all the components are handmade. The rest comes out of my own little pea-brain,” Lewallen joked. “They're my own creations. I make sketches, but I can see it in my head already.”
It took Lewallen five years to build his own three-wheeler, and he's been working on completing the prize-winning three-wheeler for a friend for the past two years. The motorcycle is black with orange flames that turn blue in the sun.
“If you're looking at the dash, it looks black, but if you catch the light just right, it looks like the Fourth of July,” he said proudly. “I entered it because I just wanted people to see it.”
The bike is the fifth one Lewallen has built. The first bike he built was a manual transmission and the last four have been automatic. And the 61-year-old is no stranger to motorcycles. He's been riding bikes since his senior year in high school back in 1967.
“I like the freedom,” he admitted. “It's kinda like kicking your brain into neutral. Nothing's buggin' ya. You get in the wind and get away. It's total freedom.”
Lewallen is hoping to enter the fifth bike he's built in the Rocky Mountain Rod and Custom Show in Denver at the end of the month.
He and his wife, Julie, run a business called Wind Rider Creations — Iron works at their home north of Rifle and have done work for a number of area businesses. Most of their business comes from word of mouth.
Lewallen, originally from Weizer, Idaho, has lived in the Roaring Fork Valley since 1977. A welder by trade, he has worked in the oil shale industry and other jobs, before he started building three-wheelers.
“I do all my own designs, I've built everything I ride, except my Harley (Davidson),” Lewallen said.
But why does he do it?
“Because I can,” Lewallen said with a laugh. “Because I like motorcycles and hot rods and this is a combination of the two. I like three-wheelers — they're different. I like creating stuff and building things.”
