This one should upset the purists.. but I like it.
Some well executed Milwaukee Iron
Triumph
Things have been really busy on my end this spring. Lots of great material coming in and I’ve been hitting a few shows and such. As a result this one slipped back in the queue a little. I really need to be more on the ball with my e-mail.
James from Ottawa, Canada writes in with another great bike.
Hi Steve
You may remember me from a couple of years ago after I bought my used ’96 Triumph Thunderbird 900 triple. Did some mods to it then sent you some photos – along with some of my former ’74 Norton Commando 850 – which you kindly posted. They’re still up on your archives I see – http://motorcyclephotooftheday.com/category/triumph/page/3/ – scroll down towards bottom of page Thank you.
Well of course I kept diddling with the Triumph. Bought a salvage ’98 Thunderbird Sport and ended up swapping the engine into her after the cam chain inexplicably broke on the Bird engine (these engines are virtually bulletproof and there was no advance warning). Lucky I had the TBS engine and it actually worked out better – more horsepower in the TBS (82 vs 69) and 6 speed tranny vs. 5. And I like the black engine body better than the Bird chrome/silver one too – although I left some of the Bird chrome pieces on for accent.
Here’s what else was done to the bike for the final makeover
HID headlight
Dunstall style megaphones – what a lovely throaty trumpet sound they have!
New 1/4 fairing (fairing and TBS front fender and partially bobbed rear fender all done and painted to match)
New 17″ Excel front rim from Buchanan’s Spoke & Rim in California (did a good job) matched with TBS front end with the dual discs and dampening adjustments) vs. the 18″ front wheel, single disc on the Bird. This combo is MUCH better. I now have proper stopping power!
New fork tubes by Frank’s Maintenance & Engineering in Evanston, Ill (did a good job) and gaiters
17″ TBS rear wheel replaces stock 16″ Bird rear – again, major improvement in handling
New Conti Motion tires front and rear
Partially bobbed TBS rear fender
New Lucas style rear tailight with new, smaller turn indicators front and back
TBS rear gas mono shock replaces Bird mechanical one
M-bars (with the folding bar end mirrors) although may have to change those – custom bars? – to find the right riding position for me especially for the longer hauls. I’m getting too old to be bent over for long periods of time!
Custom made solo seat that is REALLY comfortable for long hours in the saddle even if she is a bit on the large side – but hey, so’s the ass in the saddle! 
Really pleased with the final product – a Thunderbird/Thunderbird Sport hybrid. She looks, sounds and runs GREAT and is definitely MY Tbird now.
Keep up the great work with your site. Like many others I check it out regularly to satisfy my motorcycle porn habit and really appreciate it! Thanks
Maybe the most underrated of the modern Triumphs. Great power and classic looks. you’ve really done a great job with her!
Thanks for the pics!
Another from the show. Words don’t do it justice. I was lucky to have some pretty good lighting all day.
Richard Pollock writes in:
Here’s a couple shots taken by David Edwards of our recent Café build. It’s called the Streetmaster “Brighton” Café Racer. Built by Mule Motorcycles for Streetmaster.
Regards
Thanks Richard. I’m a longtime fan of the Mule builds and this one really hits a nice chord for me. Just stunning. A deliciously perfect blend of old world style and updated modern parallel twin. That tank could have it’s own post…
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I know that folks can be very particular about their preferences and such but whatever your tastes you can’t deny the monster skills that went into building these wicked machines. That Triumph in particular is pretty freaking sweet.
Michael Yamen writes in: Here are a couple of my hand built Bikes. First one has a 540CI big block Merlin Engine. 2nd one is my home made Triumph Rocket sidecar rig
From the comments. A link to more pics at Rocket Garage: http://rocket-garage.blogspot.com/2011/03/slippery-sam-by-pierre.html
A modern interpretation of a classic Triumph Racer. Based on a Speed Triple. Sweet ride..
Wow I like this bike. I’ve always preferred the higher stance of the scrambler and thought it would work well on a standard Bonnie. And I think this bike proves the point.
Ian from Suffolk, England writes in:
Hi Steve,
Glad the site is still going strong!
I sent you a pic of my Scrambler last year, in it’s second guise…..
Today, I attach pics of the latest incarnation, and for interest include a photo of the bike when I bought it new in 2006, plus one of the bike in 08.
I hope you approve of the changes!
Best regards,
Ian
Indeed I do Ian! I really need to just buy one of these. I sure stare at them enough..
the before pic…
Sorry…I forgot who it was exactly that sent this to me. It was included with some shots of another bike. Very tasty though
From Leon in Germany:
Went for a ride this afternoon and took this picture, maybe you like it
greetings from Germany,
Leon
From Rob Comstock:
Here are a couple of photos of my RT3 during a trip I took from the San Francisco Bay Area
south to the LA basin to visit a couple of friends — and their Yamaha 360 Enduros as well!
From Justin Johnson:
I am sending you some pics of my 1953 FLF. I have owned this bike since 2002 and it has slowly evolved into the early style custom that you see in the pictures. plans for this year include a new seat and some coker tire wide whitewalls. also included are pics of my two owner 4500 original mile 1963 Topper.
From Tony Silva:
Here’s some photos of my 2000 Triumph Speed Triple that I had to put back together after T-boning a truck. The after picture was taken at Tempe Town Lake in Tempe Arizona.
Enjoy.
Hi, I customized my Triumph Scrambler with lot’s of help of my neighbor and a lot of inspiration of your site. On my tour today I passed my new Garage and took some footage with my GoPro. The pic are stills from that footage and a little pimped in Photoshop. Hope you like it anyway.
More pics here: http://rofu.macbay.de/mystuff/scrambler/
Mit sonnigem Gruß, best regards,
Excellent! Thanks!
