Powerhouse S.W.A.T. Bobber

KELLY was in the market for a classic styled Triumph bobber. He searched relentlessly until he found what he thought was his dream bike in the good old US of A. It was love at first sight and the arrangements were quickly made to have the bike crated up and shipped to Aussie shores.

The bike arrived and Kelly’s dream quickly became a nightmare.

The bike was a rolling suicide machine. The brakes, engine mounts and front-end were dangerously inappropriate, and it was riddled with stripped, seized and mismatched nuts, bolts and inspection plugs. The tinware was rusting under some of the poorly prepped paint work and there was more oil getting pumped out of the bike than internally.

Not one to be deterred easily, Kelly realised that he had bitten off more than he could chew with this two wheeled accident waiting to happen. And as a famous Aussie race driver once said, “If you bite off more than you can chew, chew like hell!” which is just what Kelly did.

The 1968 TR6SR motor had also been extensively bastardised and needed a lot of work. There were multiple stripped threads on the cracked primary and gearbox covers and the stator bolts had copped some unwanted modifications via a sloppy primary chain.

Internally, the bores were badly pitted so a new set of 750 barrels, pistons, rings, bearings and crank, etc, were sourced to give the old girls heart a little more soul.

A set of Wassel carbs now breath in through new manifolds.

Kelly broke out the spanners and started fixing a few of the problems himself before employing the services of Redstar Garage in Coopers Plains on Brisbane’s south.

The donk was now a strong reliable unit so the gearbox, clutch and primary were completely rebuilt to specs to handle the new found power and reliability.

The paint work was laid on by Kez at Redstar and matches in well with the overall minimalist theme of the bike.

So, what could well have been a crippled heartbreak of a bike that got pushed into the far reaches of the garage, never to be ridden again, Kelly has turned it all around and ended up with one very classy looking bobber that grabs people’s attention wherever it goes.

Kelly wants to thank Marty, Johnny, Kez, and the team at Redstar Garage. “Their work is meticulous and second to none,” he said.

The pics were taken in and around Brisbane’s new home of music and arts, the old Powerhouse. A few years ago, this building was also destitute and served as shelter for the homeless. Recently, the Powerhouse has enjoyed a thorough makeover, and much like Kelly’s S.W.A.T. Trumpy, has now been restored to its former glory for all to enjoy.

Well done, Kelly, good to see the old British iron out there being enjoyed.

A Tri-spark electronic ignition and twin spark kit were utilised as well as new leads, plugs and cables.

A new primary chain was fitted, the stator bolts were replace and Kelly had a good strong drive train for his bobber.

Time to start on the chassis.

Just about everything was either replaced or modified. The battery is tucked away neatly in its new battery box and custom stainless steel fender mounts were fabricated to keep those cool looking guards from rubbing on the tyres.

The frame copped a new David Bird, six-inch stretched hardtail section with a two-inch-under DNA powder-coated springer front-end.

The chain guard was still being fabricated at the time of the shoot and the new seat, springs and chain tensioner really suit the bike to a tee.

A Cole Foster, flush-fill Sporty styled tank holds the fuel while a polished alloy unit contains the slippery stuff which now stays mainly inside the bike.

Pics by Jo; words by Chuck U Farley.