Triumph Flat Track Blog

70's Triumph Flattrack Bike

I just found this blog dedicated to Triumph flattrack racing. A lot of cool pics, but hate to report that the most recent posts are from 2010. Nonetheless, if you are a Triumph fan, check it out for a lot of pics of vintage and modern Triumph flatttrack racers and racing photos.

Triumph Hurricane Tribute for the New Millennium from Vicente Design

Vicente Triumph Millennium 900 Hurricane Tribute

Designer Jean Francois Vicente created this beautiful tribute to the Craig Vetter designed Triumph Hurricane X75. He started with a Triumph 900 Adventurer. The composite body work and triple pipes are of his own design. I think it captures the look and spirit well in modern technology. You can read more about it at the Kneeslider blog.

You can read more about Craig Vetter and the Triumph Hurricane at his Craig Vetter Hurricane pages. You will also find links there to a gallery of Hurricane pictures and a listing of Hurricane articles.

1973 Triumph Hurricane X75

McQueen Inspired Triumph Motorcycle Design Concepts by Designcube

Designcube "Great Escape" Triumph Concept Bike

The design team at Designcube, a Barcelona-based industrial design house, has shared renderings of two Triumph concept bikes inspired by classic Steve McQueen films, the "The Great Escape" and  "The Getaway". Both are based on the 885cc Triumph Speed Triple.

Will either one or both ever be brought to market, whether as a conversion kit or custom bike? They aren't saying. These may well remain just design exercises, though it would be very cool to see at least the Great Escape scrambler pictured here come to life as either a custom or a conversion kit.

You can see more Designcube motorcycle and automotive concepts and projects at their online Coroflot portfolio.

P.S. The stunt riding in "The Great Escape" was performed by the late, legendary SoCal motorcycle racer, Bud Ekins, who was a friend of McQueen's. Ekins also stood-in for McQueen as the stunt driver of the Ford Mustang in the awesome chase scene in "Bullit." Here's the 1966 Triumph desert sled that Ekins built for McQueen.

Triumph Thruxton "Steampunk Racer" from Benjie's Cafe Racers

BCR Steampunk Racer Triumph

We found this new steampunk-styled cafe racer by builder Benjie Flibbrboi of Benjie's Cafe Racers (BCR) at Pipeburn blog. The base model is a 2008 Triumph Thruxton.

Pipeburn has a load of pics at the link above. The bike was also just featured at another favorite blog, Return of the Cafe Racers.

We've previously posted about BCR and Benjie here at Cool Stuff. It's great to see that BCR is still going strong, and very cool to see Benjie's work back in the news again. You can follow BCR news and activities here at their blog.

BCR Seat, Tank & Fairing Combo Set

And if you are in the market for beautiful, high quality cafe racer parts and accessories, check out the BCR online parts store. A beautiful example is the steampunk-styled body set pictured to the left here. 

TriFlyer Vintage Triumph Boardtracker-Styled Custom from TT Cycles

TT Cycles TriFlyer Vintage Triumph Custom

Dennis Harrold of TT Cycles exhibited this boardtracker-themed Triumph custom at the Steve McQueen Bonneville tribute at Progressive's IMS motorcycle show in New York last year. The engine is a 1970 Bonneville mill.

TT Cycles was founded in 1998 to "meet the growing demand for quality work on vintage Triumph motorcycles." A picture gallery featuring the TriFlyer is here.

Sucker Punch Sallys Thruxton II Cafe Racer

Sucker Punch Thruxton II

Last year we featured a post about the Sucker Punch Sally's Triumph Thruxton cafe racer. (That build was commissioned by Fender Guitars.) We recently found this new Sucker Punch Triumph Thruxton custom at The Bullitt Blog.

Photo Credit: The Bullitt Blog

Hammarhead Industries, Minimalist Bikes Brought to You by a Neuropsychologist

Hammarhead Jake Pine Triumph Scrambler

So, you think you've made a big change in career direction somewhere along the way?  Well, it's safe to bet that James Loughead's got you beat when it comes to doing a career 180... He's absolutely gotta be the only guy on the planet with a PhD in neuropsychology who builds custom bikes for a living. And excels at it, to boot.

James takes a minimalist approach, building stripped-down customs, often in a matte-black finish, at his Hammarhead Industries shop in Philadelphia. His Jack Pine scrambler, a modified Triumph TT100, that you see here got a lot of great press and rave reviews when it debuted recently. It's available for $16,500 a copy.

James also rebuilt a Royal Enfield Bullet as an EnerTrac powered electric cafe racer, and dubbed it the Volta 102. It looks like a classic GP racer of the Sixties, high-tech and retro at the same time. You can have one for $18,500.

You can see some bike builds at the Hammarhead video channel that James maintains.
You can read more about the Jack Pine special in a recent piece by the crew at BikeEXIF. Several good, high-res pics there with lots details concerning its construction. Also check out this Hold Fast interview with James we've embedded here.

BikeCraft Magazine Issue No. 1 Has Hit the Newstands

So-Cal Triumph Featured in BikeCraft

 BikeCraft magazine is here at last... bobbers, cafe racers, streettrackers, oh my. I just bought a copy of issue numero uno, Summer 2012, and I love it already... great photography, excellent writing, and lots of bikes... in this issue alone, more than a dozen innovative and novel customs from across a wide spectrum of brands. 

Dave Edwards, editor-in-chief of Cycle World  for many years, is at the helm of this new quarterly from Mark Barnett, publisher of the now-defunct Barnett's Magazine (which I really liked and bought on a regular basis). The design and layout of the mag reminds me very much of Cycle World.

The Triumph streettracker pictured here was one of the very cool featured bikes. It was designed and built by the legendary designers and craftsmen at So-Cal Speed Shop for Champions Moto, the first in a limited production run of ten bikes.

Harleyton 45 Featured in BikeCraft

At the other end of the spectrum, there was a great piece about Englishman Nick Roskelley's Harleyton 45 Cafe Racer, a Harley 45ci flathead in a Norton frame. 

I've been eagerly awaiting the debut after seeing the preview of BikeCraft at the back of the now-defunct  Barnett's Magazine final issue. It's better than I hoped for. Check it out at your favorite newstand now, or get setup with a subscription online for $14.99 per year (four issues) at their website.


Update: Actually the Champions Moto Triumph will be a limited production run of twenty bikes, not ten... my mistake

         

Dime City Cycles, Vintage Bobbers & Cafe Racers

Dime City Honda CB450 Bobber

Dime City Motorcycles, "Redefining the motorcycle, one rusty bolt at a time."

Great tagline for an outfit that transforms everything from classic Hondas, Kawis, Suzukis to modern Triumph twins into nicely crafted cafe racers and bobbers. Their work has gained them some recognition... Herm Narciso of Dime City has been featured on Cafe Racer TV.

In addition to complete bike builds, Dime City design and sells parts for the do-it-yourselfer. They also offer a lineup of parts from other small, boutique makers, such as Roccity Cafe Racers.

Dime City is located in Largo, FL, but is setup to take orders domestically and internationally.

Dime City Honda Shadow VT800 Cafe Racer

Dime City has a very extensive, well-designed and well-organized website with plenty of technical content. Their blog here is good place to start.

Update May 12: Dime City guys just tweeted about their interview at Cafe Racer Podcast. 

Falcon Motorcycles, Ten One-of-a-Kind Customs

Falcon Motorcycles Vincent, "The Black"

Falcon Motorcycles was founded in 2007 by Ian Barry and Amaryllis Knight with a very specific mission: They would design and build "ten unique machines without compromise" based on  "ten unique British [motorcycle] engines," each with a racing pedigree. Each bike would truly be one-of-a-kind, never to be duplicated.

Falcon Motorcycles Triumph, "The Bullet"

Their first bike was "The Bullet," based on a Triumph Thunderbird pre-unit construction twin engine, which gained fame as the bike that Marlon Brando rode in The Wild Ones. It immediately caught the attention of the custom motorcycle world and enthusiasts all around the world, putting Falcon Motorcycles on the map.

Three of the ten are completed now and sold: "The Bullet," "The Kestrel," and "The Black." Seven are planned and still available as of this writing. Go to the Falcon gallery to see info concerning the remaining seven project bikes.

Cool Triumph Bobbers Blog

Vintage Triumph Thunderbird Bobber

Just stumbled onto this great blog dedicated to Triumph bobbers and flattrackers. Lots of photos of cool customs. Check it out.

The Triumph Motorcycles Steve McQueen Special Edition

Steven McQueen was a big fan of Triumph motorcycles back in the day. The new, reborn Triumph Motorcycles has teamed up with the McQueen estate to bring this limited edition special to the marketplace this year. Only 1,100 bikes will be made.