Bonneville America Forums Forums General Motorcycle Forums Other Bikes I finally bought a Triumph!

Well I've been a member of these forums even before I bought my first bike, wishing I could own a Triumph. Unfortunately I didn't have a big enough budget to do so, and to customise it the way I'd want, so I went down the metric path and built a Bobber using a late model Kawasaki as the base. (see blue bike)



But I'm now happy to announce that I have just sold that bike, and now my second bike is a Triumph and cooler than I could have hoped for even before I've attacked it wih my customising skills.



This hot little scoot is running a 1971 750cc motor, racing 5 speed gearbox (which does not require the clutch for changes), custom made stretched rigid frame, coffin tank, front and rear disk brakes, hydraulic clutch, the bike has been fully rebuilt and just relicensed here in Western Australia. It's registered as a 1952? from memory so is pre compliance and so doesn't legally need junk like indicators, speedo and other crap, it's just pure hardcore old school Chop

Welcome aboard brother, great job on the Kaw.
Mike

Congrats on getting what you want! I remember seeing that Kwak before, very nicely done!!

you did a really nice job on that kawi, would luv to see what you do with one an america or speedy

Very nice score, congratulations!

I am not much into Bobbers and Choppers, but both your Kawasaki and your Triumph look real cool. Your work appears excellent.

I originally wanted to build an America up, but I just couldn't scrape enough $$$ together to do it. Don't worry I've got big plans for the little trumpy!

I'm just the opposite. Did my America first, but my next road bike will be a '50,'60 Triumph Bobber.
(The Kaw looks good, and so does your T. )

Nicely done!

Nice work!

Nothing on that bike is 1952. In 1952 they were pre-unit construction. That means the engine and transmission were 2 separate parts and you pull the tranny back to tighten the primary chain. The "racing" tranny also was not available on that bike. What you refer to was called a slick shift. There was a part under the outer cover that disengaged the clutch as you moved the gearshift. That is a very distinctive cover and is nopt the one that you have on your bike. Cool bike though.

Oh definitely not a '52. The frame was built in 1993, apparently the engine is a 1971 but I suspect it could be a 1973. I'm just lucky that the rego papers have 1952 on it as at that age I don't need indicators and all the other things modern bikes do.

just hope you never get a guy who knows his stuff and is a strictly by the law kind of guy. Not sure about there but here those false papers break several laws and you have no argument since the papers don't go with either the frame or engine. I have a couple bikes with the engine and frame numbers don't match and have the title to the frame because the engine was swapped out. Still have the engines that belong in those bikes too though.

Apparently the frame was all engineer certified and I get all that paperwork too, just at rego time that was the year they must have decided to put in the system. I've had the same when I've registered American cars down here, they have no idea and so just take your word for it, and once it's on the rego paper it's done.

As long as no one questions it then there is no problem. I was just trying to make you aware of the situation. Maintain that bike and it should give you years of fairly trouble free service. Keep after the points, primary chain, valve adjustment, and watch the point area for any oil. There is a seal behind the breaker plate that seals the end of the cam. Those are known to leak with age and get oil on the points. Very easy to change. If that time ever comes or you need help with timing it or anything drop me a PM and I can walk you through the steps and advise on tools or substitutes for the tools. One other thing is I would put heavy duty springs on the advance unit if it doesn't have them already.

Thanks for all that Dog33!!

Well got the thing home safely last night and it rides like a beast!! It's got some serious mumbo, and I only got up to 4th gear once rest of the way was 3rd gear, never needed 5th?!?!

I was expecting the ride on the rigid to be rough, but it didn't feel much different to my last bike, so I probably won't bother swapping to a sprung seat at this stage.

Here's what you want though, the pics










You can see here the trick setup to adapt a hydraulic master cyclinder for the rear disk brake.



The engine is super clean, and you can see the brand spanking new Amal carbs.



You can't see it here but the paint on the tins is actually a very very dark metallic blue. The hand controls for the hydraulic clutch and front brake look to be new and are Brembo items!

that is a stunning bike congrats, I dont like the tank and would put a peanut type on but thats just a wee cosmetic thing, welldone you.

nice!

Yeah a peanut tank is one of the first items on the agenda.

I advise against a peanut tank unless you stay close to gas stations and don't mind stopping a lot. I got rid of the peanut tank on my chopper and put a king snortster tank on it for the extra capacity. I never liked those coffin tanks either.

I love the feel of those old Triumph twins, They have a great sound and you can feel the way the 360º crank just thumps. I love those old drip tube Amal carbs too.

By the way run about 10PSI in that rear tire it will absorb some of the bumps ,that's what I always did. PSI= Pounds per Square Inch

The King Sportster tank I have is a shallow tunnel like the coffin you have. You lose even more volume due to the angle so a deep tunnel would hold more but I personally like the shallow tunnel.The King Sportster tank is on it in these shots. The King holds more gas than a normal Sportster tank.

I could always move the gas cap to the very top of the tank too to gain a little more fuel storage

I saw your kawa bobber on tv last night. It was on a show called Riding WA on the Aurora channel on Foxtel. The show is sponsored by Triumph australia, and had road tests on the America and Tiger. Your bike was at the start of the show at the start of a ride to some cafe in York.Good show as far as community television goes!

Danm I missed it!!!

Well I have now swapped out the Coffin tank, but instead of going for a peanut tank I decided to do something a little different and opted for an Indian Larry dished tank. This thing holds 3 gallons, and with the filler at the highest point on the tank it will hold waaaay more fuel than the coffin tank did.

You can see the new seat pan I made in these pics, which is currently off at the trimmers. Hopfeully I'll have a picture by the end of the week showing the design we'll use for the hand tooled leather that will cover it.

That's a cool tank, and something Indian Larry probably would have put on a Triumph himself! Very cool!

That new tank is Bitchin!

Ummm, duh... and ummmm... (clear throat) well I think that... it ummm, I mean... (cough) that is... (finally) those are some kool bikes. BOTH OF THEM! But the Triumph... oh the Triumph. Hmmmmmmmmmmmm!

Sorry about the lack of updates with this bike, but things have been moving a lot slower than I would have liked. However, after 2 months my seat is finally trimmed. It tooks us 6 versions before we got the artwork spot on, but I think the end result it worth it.

That seat is so cool.

That is great work...

Watch out for the Roo's, be a shame to see something happento that sweet of a ride!