Back to the Future Triumph Trophy Motorcycle

This old style Triumph Trophy was a steal.

MY DAD has a small collection of British bikes: a BSA and two ’66 Triumph Trophys, one original and the one I painted up, a rigid bobber. When a group of friends said they were going to the Mooneyes Custom Show in Japan last year, I said, “What the Hell, I’m going too.” For a long time I’ve been wanting to build a bike and Mooneyes was the fuel to get me really going, so when I got home, I was like, “Dad, I need a project; I’m taking a bike, sorry.”

I grabbed the rigid Triumph, stripped it down, painted the tank and guards, put different handlebars on it, made a sissy-bar using the top off a fence post. It was already a rigid so I pretty much just cleaned up the frame.

Originally, it had no front brake so it was a bit scary coming down the road so I laced a 21-inch rim to an original front hub.

I need a new exhaust for it. It’s got the twin exhausts on one side and it just scrapes as soon as you start to lean.

I wanted to get it finished for the Throttle Roll bike show in Sydney. Putting the bike back together last minute, it was me, dad and my brother Rick, jammin away; we finished 10.30 pm the night before; the paint was still a little fresh. I was riding it to Throttle Roll when it started leaking fuel. I had to stop and put a kit through the carby. Still, riding to and from Throttle Roll, about 50 km, was not bad for its first ride.

I’ve got some more painting to do on it: trace some gold-leaf onto it, pinstriping, things like that. I plan on riding it for a while, and once she’s not looking too happy, I’ll give it a full rebuild.

Kyle Smith from Smith Concepts in Brookvale gave me a few pointers on the painting and said if I needed help to give him a call. Thanks Kyle. Thanks also to Anthony Corona at Custom Body Works for the last minute paint supplies, the girlfriend Cassie for putting up with my late-night shed time, and an extra thanks to my dad for letting me steal his bike.