Wild ride

Merlin Motors is preparing to unleash a lean-mean rocket onto area roadways. The Merlin Roadster melds a motorcycle’s freedom and a race car’s good looks into a stealth package with sexy bad attitude. The single-seat vehicle has three wheels and bridges the gap between motorcycles and cars.

“This is a toy. It’s just a pure pleasure machine,” said Ron Keto, an East Valley High School graduate who is setting up a Spokane Valley production facility that will employ 15 to 20 people to assemble the vehicles.

Keto is working for his Seattle-based brother, Dan Keto, another EV graduate, and his business partner, Dean Dorcas.

It’s fitting that the brainy partners would start a cutting-edge business. Dorcas and Dan Keto both graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy, and Ron Keto graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy.

So far, the start-up company has orders for 900 vehicles, and prototypes of the roadster and coupe will hit local roads and highways for testing in the next few weeks.

“The two questions that we get most often is ‘Is there a two-seat version?’ and ‘Is there a top to this?’ ” Ron Keto said.

Prototypes were taken to a recent motorcycle show in Hollister, Calif., where the futuristic machines were swarmed by thousands of curious bikers.

Next week, the tricycles are headed to the 64th annual Black Hills Motorcycle Rally, where motorcyclists can give them a once-over. Last year the rally, held in Sturgis, S.D., attracted 450,000 bikers.

“What’s fun about it is it appeals to the tattooed biker dude and the pretty young lady. They all get in, and they like it,” Ron said.

Stories about the unique vehicles have appeared in Popular Science, Playboy, Business 2.0, Wired and Innovation magazines.

The company obtained licensing rights through Mike Corbin, who designed the machines. Corbin already had one successful business, creating fiberglass saddlebags, seats, and other accessories, when he started a spin-off company, Corbin Motors.

Unfortunately, after designing the innovative ride, the company ran out of money and Corbin’s brainchild never reached production.

The three-wheeled machines were originally invented for aging Harley riders, who needed something more stable than a motorcycle but didn’t want to sacrifice the thrill of a good ride.

However, Dan said, research found the sporty tricycles also appeal to women who travel with motorcycle-riding husbands and are sick of riding on a backseat. The vehicles also found an appreciative audience in a younger generation that rides a type of fast Japanese motorcycle dubbed “crotch rockets.”

With gasoline prices on the rise, the Merlin Motors’ team believes the time is right to introduce a single-seat fuel-efficient commuter coupe.

The European-style coupe gets a whopping 80 miles per gallon (models are expected to start at $12,000). Because it’s considered a motorcycle, it can pass through car pool lanes, thus saving commuters time and toll fees.

The roadsters boast Harley-Davidson-style V-twin engines that make that familiar thunderous roar, which appeals to traditional Harley-Davidson riders. That edgy ride gets a respectable 35 to 40 mpg (models sell for around $29,950).

“We’re just covering a niche here that we feel no one else is covering,” brother Ron said.

Merlin Motors signed a licensing agreement and is raising several million dollars through private investors to move the vehicle into production this fall, said Dan in a phone interview from his Seattle office.

While the vehicles are a far cry from providing the safety of a car, standard features include seat belts and steel tube chassis frames with roll bars. Drivers exit through a single scissor door that opens on the vehicles’ right side.

The interior boasts a single, roomy seat covered in leather or faux snake skin. The control panel looks like it was borrowed from the inside of an airplane, fitting since Ron has a degree in astronautical engineering and was a T-38 pilot and instructor for the United States Air Force.

Workers will assemble the machines from a selection of high-end parts made by companies throughout the United States and Canada. However, the sleek body is made locally at Custom Fiberglass and painted at Hammerit Auto Body, which are both on North Napa Street.

Customers who purchase roadsters can select high-performance engines, suspension and a special three-wheel turning system.

Ron, who lives in Spokane Valley, and has tinkered with motorcycles his entire life, will run the plant and Dan will handle financing and marketing from Seattle.

As much as the brothers want to capture a piece of the Harley market, Dan explained, they also have designs on transforming the landscape of streets and highways.

“We want to change the way people think about how they get from one place to another in a practical way using today’s technology.”

To preview the roadster and coupe, visit www.merlinmotorsusa.com.