Villa Park to host new wheelchair motorcycle

No matter how many custom bikes you've seen on reality TV or even driving down the road, there is nothing quite like the motorcycle that will roll into Villa Park this weekend.

Mobility Works, a national company that sells vehicles at its Villa Park dealership for people who use wheelchairs, will display its new wheelchair motorcycle on Saturday and Sunday at the Odeum, 1033 N. Villa Ave.

Demo rides will be offered from 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. both days.

“It's been waiting to be born for years on a (mass) production scale, and not just one at a time,” company spokesman Michael Ryan said. “We want people with disabilities to know there is a product out there for them that will give them their freedom if they like to feel the wind in their hair as they ride on the open road.”

The motorcycle, a trike dubbed the Conquest, has a fully automatic ramp that allows a rider to roll up in a wheelchair and lock in securely. The automatic-transmission vehicle can also reverse, for instances such as parallel parking, and is completely road-legal.

Mobility Works staff members have been taking a demo bike around the region to show people a new riding option exists. Soon, the bike will tour across the country at the 31st National Veterans Wheelchair Games in Pittsburgh, Penn., and then as part of a contest sponsored by the company.

Ryan said people can nominate “a hero” they know who uses a wheelchair for a chance to ride the bike cross-country to the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally this August in South Dakota. A Conquest will be given away at the rally.

In addition, Mobility Works is launching a nonprofit arm to help raise money for people who need wheelchair accessible vans and motorcycles who cannot afford them.

Ryan said he hopes people of all abilities will check out the motorcycle this weekend just to appreciate the innovation.

“Even people who aren't disabled can see people who are using this and, perhaps, get the word out to others who might need it,” he said. “Just that word-of-mouth and telling people this bike is out there is priceless.”

To register for a demo ride this weekend, visit mobilityworks.com.