Triumph Street Twin Project

WHEN YOU REACH A Certain Age, you tend to try to derive some sense from your life. That often involves making up rules that nobody asked for and even fewer people will follow, although they can be fun to argue about. After a lot of thought and discussion and approximately an equal amount of my good Irish whiskey, some close friends and I have decided that a man who passes three score and ten might consider basing the contents of his garage on just three motorcycles. This is the minimum number which can, of course, be built upon if he has special interests such as a devotion to speedway outfits or Italian 50cc two-stroke racers. Of these, he should be able to have as many as he desires.

This reminds me of the bloke in Victoria who had a goodly collection of classic bikes and had agreed with Er Indoors that he would not buy anymore. But when the Suzuki Katana was released, he was so smitten he had to have one. Barely had it arrived in his garage when his better half came down there, something she had not done for years. “What’s this?” she said, “a new bike?”-“This old thing?” he replied, “I’ve had this for years…Now I write ‘a man’ not because I am unappreciative of the fairer sex. But because I would not presume to understand its members, I look forward to a similar story to this one. But written by a female person. I am sure, considerable authority. Now, the motorcycles. One of these three basic bikes should be something from the owner’s past. It might have been that he once rode through the teeming, flooded Lachlan River on a Combat Wombat to rescue a favourite ewe; let his bike be one such. Or he may have spent many happy days wooing the (human) love of his life on a Sloper Panther, as one of our ex-Prime Ministers did. It could even be that he just admired this particular motorcycle, but could never afford it. Then again, he may have had an amazing and illegal amount of fun on a Kawasaki 750 Turbo; this has been my experience and is now my choice.

The next bike should be something that addresses a special pursuit. This could be an endurendurancee likes to hit the fire trails. It could be a GoldWing or a Road King if he and the love of his life like to spend weekends and holidays roaming the countryside with other geriatrics from the Ulysses Club. It could be a particularly hot sports bike that sees action, not on the road but on track days. For me, it is a middleweight adventure bike, a BMW F 750 GS, kitted out to take me to and through the Outback or up and down the coast when the mood strikes me.

The third bike is the everyday mount that takes him to the pub, to his friends, just around, and specifically to the supermarket or liquor shop for shopping. This story is about building that bike, and I’ll go into more details ass I proceedBut before I do that, you’re not bored, are you? – I have to draw a line in the old oil on the garage floor. As I grow increasingly mature, I also grow tired ofcafé racers. Especially of airhead BMW converted to faux café racers- none of the ton-up boys who first created café racers would have considered using a BMW as a base, any more than they would have carried a manatee wearing a leather jockstrap as their pillion down to the Ace Café. The procession of elderly British iron that passes before my wearied eyes in the guise of café racers is bad enough, especially because after a while they all begin to look the same, ingenious though they may be. After a lot of thought and discussion andan amount of my good Irish whiskey, some close friends and I have decided that a man who passes three score and ten might consider basing the contents ofhis garage on just three motorcyclesSo: although I wanted to modify the motorcycle intended to become the everyday bike, I did not want to build a café racer because, one, the world has enough of them and, two, I had no faith in my ability to create something innovative along those lines. And after all, I am unlikely ever to race down to the roundabout and back while a disc spins on the turntable of fe jukebox. I am rather more likely to race quite sedately down to Uncle Dan’s for a fresh bottle of Irish whiskey, or to the supermarket for quotidian provisions. What I wanted, then, was not a café racer but something suitable for trips too the shopping centre, say a Tearoom Racer or perhaps a High Street Twin.

I put the names up for a vote on ADVrider.com, and the overwhelming choice was High Street Twin, but we shall see. Now, just what is one of these motorcycles going to be? What will distinguish it irFirsttit must lose none of the practicality, safety, and performance of the donor bike. Possibly it could improve upon them. Second, it must retain or improve upon the comfort and convenience of the same. LONG, TERMERSBonnevilleThird, it must have a recognisable and integrated theme while looking like the duck’s guts, the cat’s pyjamas, and the cod’s wallop. Fourth, it should be fit for purpose, so it must have a carrying capacity for groceries and such. The first job after deciding to go ahead with this project was the choice of a bike. A British bike seemed obvious, and since, for some reason, the mere enunciation of the word “Norton” causes broad, hysterically tinged laughter to erupt from me, the outstanding paint and script of an old advertisement for Bonnies, brought to life by Collideascope, made me come down to Triumph. The Street Twin recreates the look of older Triumphs very nicely, without going over the top with power or price. It is also a practical motorcycle with its fork boots, relaxed riding position, ample seat, and overall fuss-free design. Edward Turner would recognise this bike as the offspring of his creations, thankfully without his mistakes.

Another reason for the selection of the Street Twin was the huge number of accessories available for the type. It is the best-selling Triumph in many markets, including Australia, so a wide range of bits is just waiting for you to order them from the web. Not as I write this, of course, international shipping is almost at a stop (how did they manage that?), and many of the parts had to come from overseas. I got in just lattlittlerly and even everything to the shores of the Land of Oz, ready to be fitted to our bike. The only parts you will no doubt notice missing from the list are a radiator guard and a chain oiler, but they weren’t available locally at the time. They will comePart of the design concept for the bike was that most of the modifications should sort of disappear on the bike.

Details below, but keep in mind that..

First: practicality, safety, and performance: These have been addressed in several major and also small but effective ways. The bike now sports a headlight protector, which is one of the things I try to fit to all of my bikes. In this case, Triumph had a smart-looking item, which is black and fits in with the other accessories. It came with a replacement headlight rim, so it and its standard ones. And they are bright! Fitment looks right. I replaced the air filter with a DNA item, and there was a definite performance improvement. As well, the filter was really easy to install. The centre stand was probably not entirely necessary, seeing that I am going to install a Cobra chain oiler, but it just seemed right to complete the bike. I also chose more attractive (and black) brake and clutch levers, not exactly bar-end mirrors, and both rider and pillion footpegs. Apart from the styling,,g I liked the light look and the glossy quality from TEC Bike Parts. Stuart tried a set of Chinese brake and clutch levers some time ago, and they were awful.
Crash bars are another item I like to fit to my bikes. In this case, they came from SW-Motech and were quite easy to put in place. They hold mounting clamps from the same company for the Rizoma spotlights. Meanwhile, the tiny blinkers from MotoG, gadgets, which meet EC standards for brightness despite their size, make for a far more stylish appearance than those. Once I had the centre stand, I did not need a chain oiler, but the Cobera unit looked so tidy and convenient that I couldn’t help myself. I will be fitting
it soon. Triumph also supplied the tyre pressure sensors. It’s easy-at least when you are as scatterbrained as I am, to forget about tyre pressures. These sensors send their signals from the tube to the instruments, where there is already a symbol that just needs to be activated. Just like the heated grips, see below. Stuart can up differences in tyre pressures.

Second: comfort and convenience
Triumph supplied the heated grips, which are the most stylish-looking on the market and have an unobtrusive control that is probably the best switch design I have ever seen. No bulky switch block here.
It is unusual for me to leave the seat alone; normally, that’s one of the first items I replace. In this case,, it is well placed and comfortable, and I’m happy to leave it alone. I have done one 800 km day, and my backside was still serviceable. The knee pads for the tank are possibly more for looks, but I am happy to have them there to help with the Triumph style. A pair of Aero Barkbusters will protect the clutch and brake levers. Just about all my bikes, and the ones we have built up as projects for the magazine, have been equipped with Barkbusters. Apart from being a high-quality Australian product, they do their job with outstanding thoroughness and protect both hands and levers. I went for the relatively new Aero style because its spareness suited the style of the bike, but I also added the translucent front guards to give the bike a bit of a racy look am still discovering uses for my phone on bikes in general, and the phone cradle from Rocky Creek Designs charges it while it’s mounted on the bike. That’s about as convenient as anything can get.

Third: recognisable and integrated theme. How do you achieve an integrated and yet unobtrusive look? To my mind, it’s a bit like the way a stage magician creates illusions. Draw attention to something, and the audience’s sight is distracted from others. Not that I wanted to distract completely from all of the items of the build, but I did want the bike to present that unified look, and it is difficult to do that when you have lots of different parts all clamouring for attention. One thing you wanted the bike to be, or perhaps to remain, was a Triumph. I love the Triumph twin style with its open silhouette that lets you look right through the motorcycle, and I am pleased that the Bloor Triumphs have retained that idea. No pod air filters then, and no other additions to bulk the bike out. While I wanted to retain that classic Triumph look, I did not want the bike to be some kind of replica, so the colour does not match a standard Triumph colour from any time in the past or the present. It is a brighter and more assertive Candy Red, applied in his inimitable style by Lawrence of Collideascope.

The styling with the creamy white eyebrows on the tank and the stripe on the front guard, outlined with goldise very much true to Triumph’s heritage and done beautifully. The tank badges are correct in their chrome finish, but the logo design is the modern Hinckley one. The bike might have rolled out of the factory (in England or Thailand) looking exactly like that. One thing I did not like was the kidney-shaped Triumph taillight. It just seemed rather random, in a way. I replaced it with a cylindrical Bolt taillight from Yamaha, and I think it suits the style of the bike much better. Likewise, the bulky footpegs and brake and clutch levers were not only the wrong colour but also really “standard” in appearance. I replaced them with better-looking and still functional black items from TEC Bike Parts in England. They also supplied the mirrors, which look far more in style with the bike than the original stalky ones. Painting or ceramic coating most of the alloy parts in black, glos s, or matt as appropriatehas the effect of playing down any accessories and blending them in with the overall look. I originally planned to have some of them done in the Candy Red as well, but Lawrence suggested otherwise – and he was right. The quality of the work is outstanding,as usual from Collideascope. Painted black items include the gear and brake levers, injector housings, and handlebar brackets. Headers and mufflers, rs, as well as the exhaust heat shields, were ceramic coated in matt black.

Fourth: carrying capacity.. It is difficult to consider luggage on a motorcycle without thinking of Ventura. The kiwi gnomes at Dold Industries have been crafting outstanding luggage for as long as I can remember, and they keep improving the products. Encouraged by Australian distributor Kenma, they have even eliminated the vertical loop at the rear of the bike, which used to hold the bags and have come up with a very slick. Flat rack and the EVO system of bags. Various sizes of bags are available, and I have acquired three over the years to choose from . The luggage rack for the tank came from Motone and is held on by suction cups. Fortunately these artransparenta r,ent, so they don’t look too naff. I certainly wasn’t going to drill into the tank and braze closed nuts into place. I originally considered a black rack, but decided that it would have looked plastic.

The chrome matches both the petrol cap and the badges. The rack is useful for large things that are oddly shaped, and it’s easy to strap them into place. The rail, which will hold the left-hand pannier away from the moving bits is also from Motone, and is simple, strong , and black. That’s all I wanted. Additional luggage space is supplied by a single pannier from SW-Motech’s Legend range, matched on the opposite side by a tool bag. These look like the classic part with their Molle attachments and can be easily attached and removed. In reality, they are not so much for shopping but instead for short trips,like weekends awayy. Okay, time for a shot of Jameson’s or two and then to bed. Full details next month!