Spiffing Up The Collection For A Bike Show!

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On November 2nd, the "Hill Country Motorheads M/C museum" will hold it's annual Revival Bike Show, and I'll be taking 8 of my finest classic bikes (and 1 more modern one) to show. For anyone interested in attending, it is to be held in Burnet, Texas, and you'd be welcome to sleep over at my ranch 15 minutes away, PM to reserve a spot.

For purposes of this being a Triumph forum, I'll share what's up with the Triumphs that I'm taking.

Bike 1 is my 65/66/67/68/69/70 Triumph Bitsa Bonneville 650 race bike that I scratch built in 2007 as my 50th birthday present to myself, to go vintage roadracing. I've told the story here, so I'll just say that it served me well for 33 races over 3 seasons, plus a record-setting run at the Bonneville Salt Flats.

Since 2010 when it last raced, it has only been ridden a few miles, without a title or plate! I've sorted the title recently, but not ready to plate it till after the show "in race trim".

Meanwhile, I gave it a "minimum effort" attempt at start-up (gas and a battery) and it rewarded me with a very sore right leg (the one with the plate and screws on the Fibula). It did "fire" and sputter. So, I did what I've been putting off for a long time - mated my racing starter rollers to a dolly, and a deep-cycle battery.

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It's so nice how easy it is to start a sleepy old bike with this rig!

I did have to separate all the clutch plates and change the oil...

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It fired up straight away, and I had it out for a quick romp up to 70MPH without breathing hard. When I returned to the hangar, it was flooding fuel on the left side!

Oops! i forgot to tighten the tap fitting...

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A nice bath was SORELY needed...

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NOW it looks presentable!

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Next was the '66 Triton, also scratch-built personally, but for regular riding. So far, it has only been SITTING! IO converted the 4-speed to a complete 5-speed cluster, but it has some issue that randomly locks the rear tire. Since we moved in 2019, I have not had time to sort it; I will do, AFTER the show. Meanwhile I just fabricated a quick pair of muffler brackets and gave it a much-needed bath.

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Much better! ready to show, but non-running (for the moment)

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'66 Triumph Bonneville engine
'66 Norton 650SS Slimline Featherbed frame
'72 Suzuki GT550 front end with quad leading shoe (4LS) brakes
Lyta Sprint alloy fuel tank, Manx seat with cutout
M.A.P. 750 cc kit with profiled cylinders to match head profile
M.A.P. belt drive & clutch pack
TriSpark Ignition, Sparx alternator, stator, and regulator/rectifier, all hand-wired & individually fused
6061 alloy hand-made engine mount plates
Hand fitted custom Sintered bronze swingarm bearings & bushings with upgraded high tensile steel swingarm spindle, oil lubed
5-speed transmission conversion
Centrally mounted early Commando "Jerry can" oil tank
Amal MkII carbs with K&N high flow air filters
Lockhard oil filter & cooler
Excel shouldered alloy wheels with stainless spokes
Clip-on handlebars, rearset footpegs
 
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Being British, I'll go ahead and show the BSA as well. It needed some carb cleaning, besides an oil change and battery, and also got the necessary bath! I killed every bug within 100 feet of the bike on startup, HUGE clouds of smoke!! But, it's a runner, and quite presentable...

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