1952 Triumph Thunderbird Survivor (Part One)

Just when you come to the conclusion that the well must now be drawn dry, they float to the top again. Pete discovered this 6T in his native Portland Oregon area.

Here's what he says about his stroke of good fortune 

Just unloaded this matching numbers 1952 Triumph Thunderbird 650. It was bobbed back in the 50’s, and sports a PK Lamp taillight, Flanders #26 bars, Bates seat, and a small custom headlight. Interestingly, it still has the large stock tank. The bike spent many years in the Portland area, and allegedly has local drag racing history, but the verdict is still out. It’s got good compression, spark, shifts through all the gears, and all the cables are free, so it SHOULD run. It’s got a Connolly Cam badge on the timing cover, so I’m excited to see what’s in the motor.

Tom's Born Free 11Triumph

 Tom was an Invited Builder at the year's Born Free Show and credit where credit is due, the folks in charge of handing out the invites were right on the money contacting Tom.

This 650 Trumpet oozes Sixties show bike style and panache all the way from the axle plates of the chromed frame, right through to the rockers of the original 1930 H-D Peashooter springer front end.

The frame is a '53 with the classic light stretch in the lower rear rails to straighten out the line from the head stock to the rear axle. The motor consists of a set of T110 cases, restraining a heavily massaged crank that saw action in a Hill Climber back in the day. This is topped off with a set of 8 stud barrels carrying an early T120 head.

Although it was declared a winner at BF11, in the valley of the V Twins, it rightly caught the attention of the head honchos at Mooneyes as Tom received an invite to attend Yokohama 2019 and that's a validation of quality in anybody's book.

Thanks Tom. 

Inspirational stuff.

Alan Richards' build for Born Free 5!

I don't know if it's the quality of the light in the States, or just the quality of the finish by painters and chromers but they all seem to sparkle more than they do here!

Triumph Factory Custom.................

Whether the Cali dealers were trying to cash in on a fashion thing, or trying to clear old stock off of the showroom floor is not known, but somehow the bike in the picture falls somewhere short of the mark.
Be interesting to know how many were sold in this format.

Scandinavian Strychnine With An Italian Flair (Part 1)

There's been a unit Triumph that has been causing a stir, and ticking all the right boxes since it's debut at the Verona show last month, and it belongs to Luca. A well travelled Italian fellah that now resides in Sweden, knocking out some knockout bikes.

Luca has kindly sent some pics of the build up, so we can all get an insight into how a bike of this caliber is created

This is the bike as found, an ex-police 1966 650 Trophy found in, of all places, Karachi, Pakistan. Not in the best of condition but all there and in need of love and personal intention.

The start of the build was carried out in his garage in Naples, Italy. Originally fitted with a David Bird hardtail, but this was later changed for a one off rear section made by Frankie at Chopworks

There was some more work carried out on the front half to give the bike some more of the individuality that goes to make show winners. The lower top tube was remodelled to give the finished frame the full custom look. The tank was originally fitted to some type of sixties Italian moped and after reworking seems quite at home in it's new job of feeding the big Triumph motor.

The motor had had a hard life carrying around the Karachi boys in blue and was shipped off to Grin Triumph in Fife Scotland for a full head to toe overhaul, including the fitting of a belt drive primary from Lytedrive in Australia. As you can see the international connections of this build go on and on, crossing continents in a single bound. 

Part 2 to follow when more pics come in from Luca.

Triumph T100C For Sale

Y'all know how it goes, something's gotta go when something new turns up. Markus is offering up his sweet unit T100 Bobber  to make way for something a little different. Here's the lowdown;

Fully rebuilt T100c Engine (Reground Crank, All Bearings, New Clutch and Rebuilt Gearbox, all vapor blasted, powdered or Nickel'd)

Hand Milled Timing cover showing Nickel Clutch

Fully rebuilt Forks (New stanchions, bushes, de-lugged fork bottoms, MCM shrouds, de-seamed yokes, new fork seals and holders - all coppered, polished and nickel'd)

Fully rebuilt wheels - reconditioned hubs, stainless spokes, stainless rims, avon front Firestone rear

Factory Metal Works hard tail - all mounts and sissy bar made by barons

Semi de-seamed and restored fuel tank

Pill style Nickel Oil Tank

Maund Speed licence plate holder

After Hours Choppers Tail Light

HD Parts Seat

Hippy Killer Pegs and Grips

Every Nut, Bolt Washer Nickel plated

Electronic ignition

Brand new Amal mono-block Carb

Cloth wired or hidden in frame

New Battery

10 Months MOT

Excellent Condition with only a few very minor chips to paint in tank - but I can get this redone if required for cost

Registered as a 350 - just needs engine updating on V5

Markus is open to discussion on price, and from what I understand it's a good price for what's on offer here.

 07584449425
if it floats your boat.

Boneshakin' Benny's Bonnie Blowout

It's a TR6 really, but that didn't sound so good as a header.

Benny has put this ex Phil Piper project up for grabs on the Bay of Doom.

The motor has been recently rebuilt and reported to run strong, sittin' on Sportster forks and 21" shod hubs it's got all the makings of a sweet ride. 

Although not a great fan of custom frames, they do offer a blank canvas to allow the creative juices to flow upon and the constraints of standard architecture are removed.

Class Unit From The Flatlands

Dan from the wide open plains of Norfolk sent these pictures of his recently finished 1971 unit Trophy.

Running a stock pre OIF front section mated to a David Bird 6" stretch, 2" drop hard tail, it definitely looks a helluva lot better than those numbers would make you think.

Home made exhaust system looks the dog's on there, far better than the factory option where they kink in behind the barrels.

The full build is covered HERE it makes for a good and inspirational read.

Thanks Dan, can't wait for the next build.

The Way We Were

Nice! 

Snapshots of the British chopper scene in Hazel Grove Village, Cheshire, from the late 60's and early 70's. Song is 'My Generation' by the Who (as if you didn't know!) Easy Rider was the catalyst that inspired the chopper scene in England. The most popular bike to chop was the Triumph 500 or 650, and the frame of choice was the 'sprung hub'. As more and more American films and magazines featuring custom bike trends started to reach our shores, we built things like stretched frames, goosenecks, springers, ect. We had to build them as you couldn't buy the stuff! 74 c.i. Harley's were beyond reach for most with their cost, and lack of availibility, so Triumphs were the bikes of choice. Riding time was short in the North of England, so when there was nice weather in the summer, you rode the crap out of them and rebuilt and modified them (plus added more chrome) every winter. Hope this brings back memories for some.

Tom's 1960 5TA

Tom from Northampton got his build time just about cock on, he's just got this pretty little 5TA out and about.  I' ll let him explain

 Started life as a bog standard running T100A I did have a general idea of how I wanted it to look, but typically deviated from that during the build, but not too much.

Off the shelf hardtail, petrol and oil tanks from Lowbrow customs, Complete front wheel and brake plate repatriated and flown home in my suitcase after a holiday to the States, wheels powdercoated and rebuilt at central. 

The hardtail had a 2" drop which lent the engine backwards, to counter this I had to lower the forks by 2", but that didn't look rights, so I swapped out the yokes for pre-unit Items, which have a little more inbuilt rake. Runs batteryless with new sparks rotor, stator and reg/rec. And I added a cartridge oil filter cause I don't trust sludge traps!

Only real gripe I've got is that I mounted the oil tank a little too far back, so it sits too low and a bit too close to the chain, re-mounting it is not an option, so I've had to make a chain guard for the oil tank and I've got a spring loaded chain tensioner on order to try and take out any slap.

http://shedmadecycles.blogspot.com/

Great Bike On Offer Over At Pete's Place

Pete over at Eat The Rich has just posted this. Not the prettiest for sure but pretty much everything you need to build a cracking bike. Here's what Pete has to say about it;

'54 uncut rigid frame with original transferable reg, sprung hub, big bearing T'bird 650 with 9 stud Bonneville splayed head, Borrani 19" up front, strangely laced offset rear, engine turns nice with plenty of compo, no spark as yet but will clean points tomorrow. I don't want to sell it, i don't want to sell anything, but its better than a job so a gnats* cock over £3k and you got yourself a project.

*Gnats are quite big boys up here.

Triumph..................Class on a Plate

‘Two nations separated by a common language.’  George Bernard Shaw.

Due to a slight misunderstanding between ourselves and Joe at Chopped Triumphs there are now two pairs of the bitchinest front plates in Christendom over here in England, and they are up for grabs.

These plates will fit dynamo type pre-unit Triumph 500s and 650s, they will of course fit the alternator type as well if you don't mind the hole, although alternator types (without the hole) are available.  The fit and finish is second to none and will pop straight on in place of the stock steel numbers. 

Price here in the UK is £100.00 per pair and that includes the postage in the UK.

If you want either of the two pairs available, get in early and claim your's by reserving a pair in the comments box, or take your chances and e-mail.