A Fast Triumph at Bonneville ~ Gotta love the color!

Taking a bike up to speed on the Salt Flats must be exciting; that bike being a Triumph must be exhilarating! Here's a team from Madison WI who have a blown 650 engine from a '66 TR6 'horned into a stretched drag frame, set up to hare along the black line between the mile markers.

http://bonnevilleproject.wordpress.com/

Von Dutch tank on a 70's Bonnie

Here's a beautiful lightly custom Triumph, bobbed and given a nice monochromatic appearance centered on a tank painted and pinstriped by the hand of Von Dutch (a.k.a. Kenny Howard); motorcycle and hotrod custom painter and pinstriper extraordinaire from the sixties. This bike sold recently at an auction of Bud Ekins items by Bonhams.

http://www.bonhams.com/cgi-bin/public.sh/WService=wslive_pub/pubweb/publicSite.r?sContinent=USA&screen=lotdetailsNoFlash&iSaleItemNo=4831489&iSaleNo=18553&iSaleSectionNo=2

 

Bud Ekins 1930-2007

Triumph motorcycles in the sixties can't be discussed without mentioning Bud Ekins; one time owner of a Triumph dealership in California, desert racer and Syeve McQueen stand in ("The Jump" on The Great Escape) he appears to have an old school coolness when atop his bikes. He ran the ISDN (International Six Days Trial) winning a gold medal 4 times and silver once, no mean feat.

Logos and branding

The use of the Triumph logo with another marque, somewhat like the bike in the previous post. Let the good times roll!  Now the converse could be achieved with Triumph represented with the Helvetica of the Kawasaki logo...

Kawasaki W800 - Bonnie lookalike

Several years ago Kawasaki came out with the W650, a short lived cult classic which had the looks of a British twin, even more so than the then newly debuted Triumph Bonneville, and the unleaking, electric unfailing reliabiliy of a modern bike. Well Team Green have come out with a larger one, to compete directly with the Bonnie perhaps, but this time in classic Kawasaki colors of the time. This should sell by the truckload... sign me up!

Some Triumph specific locations in and near Chicago

First off a couple of dealers where the new Triumph motorcycle range can be found. Note to self: "must go for a test ride of the new Bonneville...". Looking at reviews on http://www.yelp.com/ they both have 5 star ratings for both customer care s well as maintenance. A good motorcycle mechanic you get on with is worth his weight in old british iron!

http://www.motoworkschicago.com/

http://www.teammcc.com/

Here's a place which specialises in vintage bikes, British as well as other European marques such as BMW. Again good review results so worth a try when looking for expertise in the realm of old motorcycles.

http://acemotorcycleandscooter.com/

Finally Morries Place in RIngwood, Illinois. A wee bit of a hike to northern Lake Co. but well worth it. Both for Ed Zenders immeasurable knowledge on Brit Iron as well as his display of Triumphs, Nortons, BSA's and all. He worked on my bikes engine and I trust him with all vintage mechanical work.

http://www.morriesplacecycle.com/

Eye Candy for sure...

Royal Enfield

Triumph Speed Twin

A Pair of Norton Commandos

Making the Triumph look Vintage

 I've doctored a couple of photo's of the bike to give it a more vintage quality. Very period looking. Evocative of halcyon days ripping along english country lanes...