grandpaul
Old Bike Lover
Great to see this new forum section, hope it takes off...
This is basically a cut-n-paste from my build thread.
For those who are unfamiliar with the Triton concept, it takes a classic Norton "featherbed" frame and mates it with a Triumph big twin engine. From that basic concept, the variations are endless; pre-unit and unit engines, old forks, new forks, drum brakes, discs, every type of header system you could imagine (mostly the swept-back style, for some reason), etc., etc., etc. I was never in a position to start a Triton project because it's more or less understood that you need close to $10K to build a decent one, and I never seem to have that much play money on hand at any one time. Well, a friend bought a featherbed frame on e-bay and it was several months overdue in arriving, so he assumed the worst and bought another; by now you've figured it out - the first one arrived a few days after the second one. He offered it to me and that was the start. I already had a spare Bonnie engine and a bunch of parts on hand, so I mocked it up.
Mind you, this was just a test mockup with parts on hand.
Then, a bittersweet thing happened: my long-time friend, a true English gentleman and my vintage roadracing mentor, Malcolm "BritBodger" Dixon, passed away after a very brief bout with cancer. His nephew flew in from England and requested my assistance in liquidating his estate. We held a fantastic "don't ask, don't tell" liquidation sale at our annual club rallye where everyone that wanted to, got to take home whatever they wanted ant whatever price they wanted. Half of the proceeds went to the club, the other half to the AHRMA benevolent fund that assists racers and their families in emergencies. Malcolm's nephew insisted that I keep the remainder which included many very nice racing parts, mostly from M.A.P., whom he was very familiar with.
So, these are the final specs:
-1966 Triumph T120R 650 Bonneville engine
-1966 Norton 650SS Dominator Slimline Featherbed frame
-1972 Suzuki GT550 Indy front suspension & 4 leading shoe front brakes
-Born Again Bikes Featherbed ¾” swingarm spindle & sintered bronze bushing upgrade kit
-M.A.P. 750cc big bore kit with 10.5:1 pistons
-M.A.P. belt drive primary, lightweight clutch pack, alloy collets & keepers
-Triumph 5-speed transmission conversion
-Kibblewhite valves & guides
-Amal Mk II carbs with K&N filters
-Tri-Spark electronic ignition
-Sparx three-phase alternator & solid state regulator/rectifier
-Hand wired electrical harness with individually fused circuits, AGM battery
-Webco finned alloy rocker oil feed manifold
-Dresda engine mounting plates
-Hagon adjustable rear shocks
-Excel shouldered aluminum rims laced with stainless spokes by Buchanan’s
-Avon AM20 series Roadrunner tires
-Manx style bum stop/cutout seat
-Lyta sprint style tank
-Early Commando central mount oil tank
-Lockhart oil cooler & cartridge type oil filter
-Clubman clip-on handlebars, Thomaselli throttle, Tarozzi adjustable rearset footpegs
-Big bore Triumph headers with Norton peashooter mufflers
Custom fabricated bits include:
-Sidestand lug to accommodate Commando kickstand
-Swingarm spindle & bushing upgrades
-Steering stem mods & bearing race spacers
-Hand-made pair of split keepers to replace single missing pair
-Crancase & transmission inner cover mods to accommodate 5-speed upgrade
-Modified intake manifolds
-Carb steadies/mounting tabs
-Seat mounting tabs
-Oil tank mods & mounting tabs
-Rearset control linkages
-Alloy meter mount plate
-Entire wiring harness & electrical component mounting panel
-Keyswitch mounting bracket
...and this is the final product:
Complete build thread is HERE
This is basically a cut-n-paste from my build thread.
For those who are unfamiliar with the Triton concept, it takes a classic Norton "featherbed" frame and mates it with a Triumph big twin engine. From that basic concept, the variations are endless; pre-unit and unit engines, old forks, new forks, drum brakes, discs, every type of header system you could imagine (mostly the swept-back style, for some reason), etc., etc., etc. I was never in a position to start a Triton project because it's more or less understood that you need close to $10K to build a decent one, and I never seem to have that much play money on hand at any one time. Well, a friend bought a featherbed frame on e-bay and it was several months overdue in arriving, so he assumed the worst and bought another; by now you've figured it out - the first one arrived a few days after the second one. He offered it to me and that was the start. I already had a spare Bonnie engine and a bunch of parts on hand, so I mocked it up.
Mind you, this was just a test mockup with parts on hand.
Then, a bittersweet thing happened: my long-time friend, a true English gentleman and my vintage roadracing mentor, Malcolm "BritBodger" Dixon, passed away after a very brief bout with cancer. His nephew flew in from England and requested my assistance in liquidating his estate. We held a fantastic "don't ask, don't tell" liquidation sale at our annual club rallye where everyone that wanted to, got to take home whatever they wanted ant whatever price they wanted. Half of the proceeds went to the club, the other half to the AHRMA benevolent fund that assists racers and their families in emergencies. Malcolm's nephew insisted that I keep the remainder which included many very nice racing parts, mostly from M.A.P., whom he was very familiar with.
So, these are the final specs:
-1966 Triumph T120R 650 Bonneville engine
-1966 Norton 650SS Dominator Slimline Featherbed frame
-1972 Suzuki GT550 Indy front suspension & 4 leading shoe front brakes
-Born Again Bikes Featherbed ¾” swingarm spindle & sintered bronze bushing upgrade kit
-M.A.P. 750cc big bore kit with 10.5:1 pistons
-M.A.P. belt drive primary, lightweight clutch pack, alloy collets & keepers
-Triumph 5-speed transmission conversion
-Kibblewhite valves & guides
-Amal Mk II carbs with K&N filters
-Tri-Spark electronic ignition
-Sparx three-phase alternator & solid state regulator/rectifier
-Hand wired electrical harness with individually fused circuits, AGM battery
-Webco finned alloy rocker oil feed manifold
-Dresda engine mounting plates
-Hagon adjustable rear shocks
-Excel shouldered aluminum rims laced with stainless spokes by Buchanan’s
-Avon AM20 series Roadrunner tires
-Manx style bum stop/cutout seat
-Lyta sprint style tank
-Early Commando central mount oil tank
-Lockhart oil cooler & cartridge type oil filter
-Clubman clip-on handlebars, Thomaselli throttle, Tarozzi adjustable rearset footpegs
-Big bore Triumph headers with Norton peashooter mufflers
Custom fabricated bits include:
-Sidestand lug to accommodate Commando kickstand
-Swingarm spindle & bushing upgrades
-Steering stem mods & bearing race spacers
-Hand-made pair of split keepers to replace single missing pair
-Crancase & transmission inner cover mods to accommodate 5-speed upgrade
-Modified intake manifolds
-Carb steadies/mounting tabs
-Seat mounting tabs
-Oil tank mods & mounting tabs
-Rearset control linkages
-Alloy meter mount plate
-Entire wiring harness & electrical component mounting panel
-Keyswitch mounting bracket
...and this is the final product:
Complete build thread is HERE
