Cool Color

Saw this bike in our work parking lot. You might consider this color, with either silver or gold "goldleaf" on the front. The picture is more blue; the real color is more cobalt. Very cool...

Helmet

I know if I were cool I'd spend $350 for a non-DOT rated 35 year old Buco/Fulmer or some other crap. Quality vintage Bell's are going for like $2000. How do you like my new $30 Snell rated helmet?

Paint

I'm just obsessing over paint lately. I like this scheme quite a bit, the layout not so much the color.

Ride

I met Nate today and we started a ride up to Juan Tabo Picnic Grounds. We turned back before the top as the road is just TRASHED! The Triumph ran great in spite of that though and my back faired OK. Cool to hear two old Brits knocking around together.

Pardon a four-wheeled posting...

Hope you will forgive the four wheeled posting... I met this couple at a local cruise-in. The man bought it from a used car lot in 1957, for $75.00. The paint that you see is original.

The top developed a leak, and he put the car in storage... for 40 years! They pulled it out about eight years ago, and went through the drive train (completely stock, except for dual exhaust). They still haven't replaced the top, still leaks! He added radial tires on 15" rims, but assured me that the original steel wheels were in the garage.

I can't even imagine what this car is worth today... He was not willing to adopt me.

Zito Tank

I discovered the Ryzart Blog today. There's a great post on how Joe Zito's Triumph tank was painted. I can't believe it's not actually gold leaf!



I'd still love to have Ryzart paint my bike but I'm damn tempted to try it myself now.

Here are a couple pics of the completed tank.

Father's Day

Not typical fair for this blog but ultimately still pretty gearheaded. I wish the regular photographer for this dump was this good.

Thanks Joey! Best FD ever but man did I miss the big kids.

Triumph Hauler

This is just the machine to haul your Bonnie, on those rare occasions when it isn't self-motivating...  This started life as a 1944 WC-62 Dodge Troop Carrier, and a 1935 Dodge pickup.  The first step involved flipping the frame and running gear UPSIDE DOWN to make it underslung....

It has a 250 c.i.d. inline six, and a two speed hydromatic, so I'm sure it's easy on gas. The good news:  nice and low, makes loading your bike a snap.

The bad news:  I suspect that the ride is just a bit firm... 

Travel Agent

Motormaniac's sporty had this really cool cable device on the top of the carb.  I thought it was a clean way to make the 90 degree bend, and might work on your Amals.  It's called a "Travel Agent", and it's a mountain bike part.  You can apparently set it up to magnify the cable displacement, or just to turn the corner.

Speed Shop Design Sporty - Rolling Art

Saw this bike today at Eastside HD in Bellevue.  Couldn't get my pictures off my cell phone yet, but I found that "Motormaniac" is a member of JJ, and found a link with pictures:

http://www.jockeyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?p=495917

I admit the look is unorthodox, but the craftsmanship and attention to detail is amazing...

Trackers

Lovin' the flat tracker thread on JJ.


What a rig!


Hmm... maybe my bike needs a set of TT pipes


I'm diggin' the Cub oil tanks lately too

Weesner Custom Sickle

This bike on eBay right now is pretty cool. The seller states is was patterned after Keith Weesner artwork. Custom one-off David Bird frame.

Rampar

Flathead45 might remember the Raleigh Rampar I once had. The tip of the BMX iceberg of parts I eventually amassed.

Ever wonder why I was drawn to the looped Triumph hardtail?

Pre-Unit

Sweet! I think this is an original Triumph racing hardtail. David Bird supposedly models his looped hardtails after them. I've seen a couple pre-units lately that kinda make me wish I'd gone with less stretch on mine...

Southbound Pachyderm

Shamelessly lifted off the Falcon Motorcycles blog.

Systematic domestication and rearing of pachyderms is not an easy task. On average, it takes around three months to school a wild elephant and for them to learn the essential 6 commands: sit, stand, walk, stop, turn and carry a 500lb BSA motorcycle on your back...

Pee Wee

Yep BLAM, still makes me laugh every single time.

Lurkingclass

Posted before, farther along now. I can't wait to get paint done on mine.

XY MC

Ugly

I may have posted a pic of this bike before. Every time I see it I just feel sorry for it. For some reason it had never sold despite numerous listings on eBay.

Well, Clay Rathburn of Atom Bomb Customs bought it. This is gonna be an interesting make-over. I think this bike just hit the lottery!

Boardtracker

I've posted before about this scratch-built boardtracker. Looks like it's done now.

Powder

Paradise

Shamelessly lifted from the Wingnut's blog.

Fins

Fins can be overdone on Triumph mills but I love this timing cover. The redheaded Amal is kinda weird though (and HUGE!).

Defensive Riding

Flathead45 has expressed some concern about the risks of riding the road, he's a good brother. My wife was kind enough to follow me and film part of my trip to the grocery store the other day. I doubt anyone would argue I'm not riding fairly conservatively here.

eBay

*UPDATE* - The Thunderbird sold for $5299. I expected to to get more. Atom Bomb bike didn't meet reserve with $6100.

There are a couple of really cool Trumps on eBay. The '51 Thunderbird pictured above is just period perfect. I also noticed Clay of Atom Bomb Custom's '70 Tiger is up there again. I won't bother with a pic cuz I've posted it before.

Triumph Tanks

There's a lot of confusion surrounding the late 60's Triumph gas tanks. Factor in the TR6's and 500's and I think they used about 7 different tanks.



Triumph Bonneville gas tanks. The big one is a UK 1968 in hi-fi scarlet and silver. The next on is the large export tank rare to find same 1968 hi-fi scarlet and silver and the small one is the export tank for 1970 in astral red and silver.

Another interesting point (to me), hi-fi scarlet (like my bike) is a candy over a silver base. I suspect Triumph simply masked off the base coat for many of the two-tone schemes. The candy may also explain why my tank has faded so dramatically over the years.

Beetlecycle

Ever astounded by the amount work people are willing to put into a completely tasteless project?

Flathead Anyone?

Bicycle Trials

The tree backflip here is one of the coolest things I've ever seen done on a bike.