Tamarit Thunderbird: Thruxton 900 Café Racer
Thunderbird 1: Built for an RAF veteran…
Introduced in 2003, the Triumph Thruxton 900 was a modern café racer, a “neo classic” with a big-twin engine, clip-on bars, sporty suspension, and a racy riding position. It bore many of the same design cues as the machines you might’ve parked up at the Ace Café in the heyday of the British scene, which inspired so many of the bikes we see today.
The 865cc parallel-twin was good for 69 hp and 53 lb-ft of torque, and from model years 2004 to 2008, it remained carbureted. Many owners prefer the old-school aesthetics and mechanics of these original Thruxton engines. While the newer Thruxtons are fuel-injected and liquid-cooled, they aren’t necessarily made to look like they are. As one of the veteran members of the Triumph Talk forum points out:
Triumph Thruxton 900: Carb model
The crew at Tamarit Motorcycles of Spain have an affinity for the original air-cooled, carbureted Thruxton 900 engines, and they’ve made one the center of the build you see here. In their words:
The bike here is known as “Thunderbird 1,” and it’s the 131st custom build to come out of the Spanish workshop. No other builder in the world has customized so many modern classic Triumphs, especially at this high level of execution.
Though they might be the most veteran builders of this platform in the world, they certainly had their work cut out for them in this case. The owner, Chris, an RAF veteran, wanted a unique creation that drew inspiration from three of the workshop’s highest profile builds.
The frame and engine mounts have been nickel-plated, and Tamarit says the bike has been equipped with an oil-in-frame cooling system whose fins you can see on the front frame rails.
They welded up a new custom subframe and converted the bike to a mono-shock design with a slightly lengthened swingarm for better stability. Unlike some such conversions, this mono design was far from a fly-by-night affair:
For Thunderbird 1’s seat, the idea was to create a shorter version of the seat used in their aforementioned Gullwing project, but without the upholstery extending onto the tank. The solo seat was upholstered in a “black nautical material” hand-stitched with red thread, and a strip of this same material was run over the tank and mounted with a chrome-plated, perforated metal piece to connect the design together.
The rear lighting was integrated into the tail section itself, along with a “Thunderbird 1” nameplate at the very tip of the cowl.
The high-mount dual exhaust is reminiscent of the system they created for their Helios project, here with brass heat shields and slash-cut silencers mounted under the tail.
The fairing and belly pan are hand-crafted pieces that make for a gorgeous silhouette — both classic and distinct — and the Thunderbird looks ready to punch through the wind.
The colorway was another area of supreme consideration.
A Motogadget odometer was fit into the cockpit, and other Motogadget components include the mirrors, indicators, and control unit, which allows the owner to monitor the bike from his smartphone.
Other highlights include Beringer brakes, Kustom Tech levers, and brassed or chromed hardware everywhere. A gold chain echoes the gold lines of the paint and brass finishes.
Not only is this bike #131 for the Tamarit workshop, but that number holds a very special meaning the owner of Thunderbird 1.
RAF Apprentice Badge
All in all, this is one true gem of a cafe racer, a signature build that turned the ideas and stories of the owner into a stunning work of two-wheeled art.
Tamarit Thunderbird: Thruxton 900 Café Racer - Thunderbird 1: Built for an RAF veteran… Introduced in 2003, the Triumph Thruxton 900 was a modern café racer, a “neo classic” with a big-twin engine, clip-on bars, sporty suspension, and a racy riding position. […]
Urban Fox: Triumph T120 Roadster - 130 Fox: T120 Bonneville from Tamarit Motorcycles… In late 2015, Triumph introduced their new liquid-cooled lineup, including the 1200cc T120 Bonneville. While some purists may scoff at the radiator, the big Bonnie has been continually […]
Steeplechaser: Triumph 1200 XE Street Tracker - Tamarit Motorcycles transforms a Scrambler 1200 XE… It’s always interesting when the custom world influences the major manufacturers. A few years ago, the factories reacted to the resurgence of the scrambler style in custom culture […]
Classic Meets Off-Road: Triumph T100 Bonneville “Sigma” - A Hybrid-Style Triumph from Tamarit Motorcycles… The Triumph Bonneville T100 combines the retro style and character of the 1200cc T120 with the lighter weight and quicker-revving engine of the 900cc Street Twin. As the old […]
Lean, Mean, Green: “Dr. Banner” Triumph Thruxton 900 - A Hulk-inspired Thruxton from Tamarit Motorcycles… Produced from 2003 to 2018, the Triumph Thruxton 900 was a café racer version of the air-cooled Bonneville, featuring a hotter engine, firmer suspension, drop bars, rear sets, solo […]
Supercharged Triumph Thruxton 1200 R - Tamarit Motorcycles builds a 160-bhp Triumph Thruxton R… In 2016, Triumph introduced the Thruxton 1200 R, the highest performance machine in the Bonneville lineup. Though it has the looks of a ’60s café racer, the […]
Warhorse: Triumph Scrambler 900 “Bucéfalo” - Tamarit Motorcycles builds a gentleman’s warhorse… Bucéfalo — aka Bucephalus (“ox-headed”) — was the legendary warhorse of Alexander the Great, and one of the most famous horses of antiquity. Said to be bred from the […]
EXO-llent: Tamarit’s Triumph Scrambler - Tamarit Motorcycles of Spain continues to be one of the most prolific builders on the planet. Though they specialize in Triumph builds, they don’t churn out cookie-cutter customs — they’re always trying to push the […]
Silenzio, Bruna! Triumph Bonneville Street Tracker - Tamarit Motorcycles creates their “craziest bike” yet… In the 2021 Pixar film Luca, loosely based on Italian myths and folklore, the main character, Luca, tells his friend Alberto that he’s afraid to launch their rickety […]
Freedom Machine: Triumph “Libertas” Scrambler - Tamarit Motorcycles builds a 60s-style scrambler for American shores… Tamarit Motorcycles has quickly become one of our favorite builders, especially when it comes to modern Triumph machines. The Spanish workshop was born from humble origins […]
Tamarit Gullwing: 300 SL-Inspired Triumph Thruxton! - A custom Triumph Thruxton inspired by the Mercedes Gullwing… The Mercedes-Benz 300 SL is one of the most iconic automobiles of all time, offered as a gull-winged coupe from 1954-1957 and roadster from 1957-1963. It […]
Burly Bonnie: Triumph Bonneville “Laia” by Tamarit Motorcycles - The Triumph “New Bonneville” has proven to be one of the most versatile contemporary platforms for customization. The straight-twin roadster competes directly with the 883 Sportster: “The Triumph Bonneville is unquestionably the better motorcycle. The […]
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Thunderbird 1: Built for an RAF veteran…
Introduced in 2003, the Triumph Thruxton 900 was a modern café racer, a “neo classic” with a big-twin engine, clip-on bars, sporty suspension, and a racy riding position. It bore many of the same design cues as the machines you might’ve parked up at the Ace Café in the heyday of the British scene, which inspired so many of the bikes we see today.
The 865cc parallel-twin was good for 69 hp and 53 lb-ft of torque, and from model years 2004 to 2008, it remained carbureted. Many owners prefer the old-school aesthetics and mechanics of these original Thruxton engines. While the newer Thruxtons are fuel-injected and liquid-cooled, they aren’t necessarily made to look like they are. As one of the veteran members of the Triumph Talk forum points out:
Triumph Thruxton 900: Carb model
The crew at Tamarit Motorcycles of Spain have an affinity for the original air-cooled, carbureted Thruxton 900 engines, and they’ve made one the center of the build you see here. In their words:
The bike here is known as “Thunderbird 1,” and it’s the 131st custom build to come out of the Spanish workshop. No other builder in the world has customized so many modern classic Triumphs, especially at this high level of execution.
Though they might be the most veteran builders of this platform in the world, they certainly had their work cut out for them in this case. The owner, Chris, an RAF veteran, wanted a unique creation that drew inspiration from three of the workshop’s highest profile builds.
The frame and engine mounts have been nickel-plated, and Tamarit says the bike has been equipped with an oil-in-frame cooling system whose fins you can see on the front frame rails.
They welded up a new custom subframe and converted the bike to a mono-shock design with a slightly lengthened swingarm for better stability. Unlike some such conversions, this mono design was far from a fly-by-night affair:
For Thunderbird 1’s seat, the idea was to create a shorter version of the seat used in their aforementioned Gullwing project, but without the upholstery extending onto the tank. The solo seat was upholstered in a “black nautical material” hand-stitched with red thread, and a strip of this same material was run over the tank and mounted with a chrome-plated, perforated metal piece to connect the design together.
The rear lighting was integrated into the tail section itself, along with a “Thunderbird 1” nameplate at the very tip of the cowl.
The high-mount dual exhaust is reminiscent of the system they created for their Helios project, here with brass heat shields and slash-cut silencers mounted under the tail.
The fairing and belly pan are hand-crafted pieces that make for a gorgeous silhouette — both classic and distinct — and the Thunderbird looks ready to punch through the wind.
The colorway was another area of supreme consideration.
A Motogadget odometer was fit into the cockpit, and other Motogadget components include the mirrors, indicators, and control unit, which allows the owner to monitor the bike from his smartphone.
Other highlights include Beringer brakes, Kustom Tech levers, and brassed or chromed hardware everywhere. A gold chain echoes the gold lines of the paint and brass finishes.
Not only is this bike #131 for the Tamarit workshop, but that number holds a very special meaning the owner of Thunderbird 1.
RAF Apprentice Badge
All in all, this is one true gem of a cafe racer, a signature build that turned the ideas and stories of the owner into a stunning work of two-wheeled art.
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More Tamarit Motorcycles
Tamarit Thunderbird: Thruxton 900 Café Racer - Thunderbird 1: Built for an RAF veteran… Introduced in 2003, the Triumph Thruxton 900 was a modern café racer, a “neo classic” with a big-twin engine, clip-on bars, sporty suspension, and a racy riding position. […]
Urban Fox: Triumph T120 Roadster - 130 Fox: T120 Bonneville from Tamarit Motorcycles… In late 2015, Triumph introduced their new liquid-cooled lineup, including the 1200cc T120 Bonneville. While some purists may scoff at the radiator, the big Bonnie has been continually […]
Steeplechaser: Triumph 1200 XE Street Tracker - Tamarit Motorcycles transforms a Scrambler 1200 XE… It’s always interesting when the custom world influences the major manufacturers. A few years ago, the factories reacted to the resurgence of the scrambler style in custom culture […]
Classic Meets Off-Road: Triumph T100 Bonneville “Sigma” - A Hybrid-Style Triumph from Tamarit Motorcycles… The Triumph Bonneville T100 combines the retro style and character of the 1200cc T120 with the lighter weight and quicker-revving engine of the 900cc Street Twin. As the old […]
Lean, Mean, Green: “Dr. Banner” Triumph Thruxton 900 - A Hulk-inspired Thruxton from Tamarit Motorcycles… Produced from 2003 to 2018, the Triumph Thruxton 900 was a café racer version of the air-cooled Bonneville, featuring a hotter engine, firmer suspension, drop bars, rear sets, solo […]
Supercharged Triumph Thruxton 1200 R - Tamarit Motorcycles builds a 160-bhp Triumph Thruxton R… In 2016, Triumph introduced the Thruxton 1200 R, the highest performance machine in the Bonneville lineup. Though it has the looks of a ’60s café racer, the […]
Warhorse: Triumph Scrambler 900 “Bucéfalo” - Tamarit Motorcycles builds a gentleman’s warhorse… Bucéfalo — aka Bucephalus (“ox-headed”) — was the legendary warhorse of Alexander the Great, and one of the most famous horses of antiquity. Said to be bred from the […]
EXO-llent: Tamarit’s Triumph Scrambler - Tamarit Motorcycles of Spain continues to be one of the most prolific builders on the planet. Though they specialize in Triumph builds, they don’t churn out cookie-cutter customs — they’re always trying to push the […]
Silenzio, Bruna! Triumph Bonneville Street Tracker - Tamarit Motorcycles creates their “craziest bike” yet… In the 2021 Pixar film Luca, loosely based on Italian myths and folklore, the main character, Luca, tells his friend Alberto that he’s afraid to launch their rickety […]
Freedom Machine: Triumph “Libertas” Scrambler - Tamarit Motorcycles builds a 60s-style scrambler for American shores… Tamarit Motorcycles has quickly become one of our favorite builders, especially when it comes to modern Triumph machines. The Spanish workshop was born from humble origins […]
Tamarit Gullwing: 300 SL-Inspired Triumph Thruxton! - A custom Triumph Thruxton inspired by the Mercedes Gullwing… The Mercedes-Benz 300 SL is one of the most iconic automobiles of all time, offered as a gull-winged coupe from 1954-1957 and roadster from 1957-1963. It […]
Burly Bonnie: Triumph Bonneville “Laia” by Tamarit Motorcycles - The Triumph “New Bonneville” has proven to be one of the most versatile contemporary platforms for customization. The straight-twin roadster competes directly with the 883 Sportster: “The Triumph Bonneville is unquestionably the better motorcycle. The […]Continue reading...
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