A Bonneville ‘Gin sitting patiently to be cradled once more into a roadworthy frame kicked into consciousness to ‘go down the road’ once more. The pumping sound of the twin hailing “Triumph!”
May 17, 2011
Slippery Sam
Here’s a Triumph from the history books: called Slippery Sam after the 1970 Bol d’Or endurance race when the broken oil pump covered the bike and riders with oil. It is the only machine to win five TT races in consecutive years (Ray Pickerell in 1971 and 1972, Tony Jefferies in 1973, Mick Grant in 1974 and Dave Croxford/Alex George in 1975). This triple can MOVE! A production Trident 750cc prepared by Les Williams,
1971, Ray Pickerell – 1st, 100.07mph
1972, Ray Pickerell – 1st, 100.00mph
1973, Tony Jeffries – 1st, 95.62mph
1974, Mick Grant – 1st, 99.72mph
1975, Dave Croxford/Alex George – 1st, 99.60mph
The fastest lap was Alex George in 1975 at 102.82mph
Here’s Mick Grant piloting this bike. A machne of definite charisma.
May 15, 2011
Flat Tracker with futuristic fiberglass bodywork
A racing special raced by Don Castro in ’72, then immediately banned due to streamlining rules. A wrapparound tank and seat with 70’s pinstriping extraordinaire. Go fast, turn left, repeat. The extended seat is interesting but there’s a neat custom in there somewhere…
May 12, 2011
All weather Triumph
Necessity, as they say, in the mother of invention! Need to cruise around Minnesota in the snow? No problem; pop off the back wheel, bolt on the tracks, ski assembly strapped onto the front wheel and Peary look out!
May 10, 2011
A Model Motorcycle
There are quite a few plastic model kits featuring the Triumph motorcycle, whether for historical significance, such as the red-caps machine, or TV promotion. Different scales and models… starting with this brit duo: BSA and Tri, from the Grease 2 movie (apparently!)
A nicely detailed semi-built kit, just bolt ‘er together and there you are, one Bonneville. Nice detailing too.
Here’s the MP bikes, utilitarian singles fromwartime service; (more on this later…)
Heeey! Fonz has his bobbed triumph alse modelized. See previous entries for the bike itself.
A nice little Revell kit.
May 8, 2011
Triton: Son of Poseidon
One other bike at the show yesterday was a suitably set-up Triton, Norton Featherbed frmae with Pre-Unit Triumph engine. A white tank with black pinstriping set off the cafe/manx look. Long bodies and sleek looking…
May 7, 2011
Chicago ACE Garage bike show
This afternoon the ACE garage held a small bike show for the older motos; british, japanese, german and italian were all well represented. I went to ogle the Triumph thought. A good selection to look at too! Here’s a cafe’d ’72 Bonnie, nicely done.
A line of decades… from the 60’s to the 2000’s all there! lovely to the eyes.
One of my favourites: the modern Thruxton 900.
A Hurricane: the Vetter added parts to make the triple sportier to compete with Japanese 4’s of the time, the tripe pipes are superb. This one was for sale ($?).
Hard tail bobber of an OIF, tough riding stance with ape hangers too! Though a clean neat bike.
Other marques also attending included this nice red BSA 650; cousin to my ’72 Bonnie, also oil in frame. I liked the chrome front mudguard which would fit my bike no problem.
A pair of Ducatis in Paul Smart livery, gladly seein’ double!
But one of the nicest things was this diminutive 250 Aprilla, fresh blue racebike with greyhound icon.
May 7, 2011
A hare or hound?
Great shot of young lady enjoying the speedy thrills of an old farm bike; in this case a Triumph.
May 6, 2011
An Airfix this is not!
Well, a Revell model kit of a Triumph in chopper fashion; with, it seems options for customization…
May 5, 2011
Engine Cutaway Graphic
ANother beautifully rendered engine diagram showing the workings of the 650 twin, it doesn’t help you build the engine but it helps you see how all the parts interact. It reminds me of Mr Eplsy and Mr Thwaites engineering drawing class where you were given a sheet of drawn components, a written description of the machines function; then had to assemble them graphically: plan, elevations and an isometric. Finally you had to create a revised part and show a sectional sketch of the adaptation.
May 4, 2011
Triumphs around the world
From America to Africa; these were the bikes to see the world on, across the ‘States to the steamy airs of Rhodesia and the Victoria Falls.
April 30, 2011
Tyger, Tyger burning brite!
Further to the previous post, here’s the original Tiger, the early fifties T110; 650cc, single carb pre-unit engine. Plenty of power: hence the name. The nacelle headlight is a clean feature of this model as is the banded tank badge.
Beautiful bike…
April 29, 2011
Tiger run on Diesel
Here’s something a little different: a converted Hinckley model Tiger with a triple cylinder diesel engine. Apparently it has a fair bit of oomph as well as good mileage. It uses a 3 cylinder Lombardini engine coupled to an Ultima gearbox.
This is a link to Heiko Flecks diesel blog featuring a speed triple converted to the heavy fuel… sublime stuff.
April 28, 2011
Triton
Ed Zender of Morries Place (where my Triumph engine was rebuilt) today advertised a Triton on Craigslist. Motorcycle has a 1975 Triumph 5-speed 750 motor, converted to right hand shift, in a 1960’s Norton Slimline Featherbed frame. Ceramic coated pistons, intake ported to 34mm, 510-15 Megacycle cams, Mark II Amal carbs, 7-plate Norvil clutch, Triumph disc forks with billet alloy trees, Grameca calipers.
Orange colour…. a racing style….cor blimey! … now if I can just find 8 grand!
geordiebiker.com 