Customer Bike Spotlight: Dean's 1956 Triumph 'Gold Digger'

"The name of the bike is Gold Digger which held true during the building of the bike. I think we all know how fast these projects can get out of hand and how broke you truly can become at times. Also I know how much time/money and effort this bike will require in the future like a true Gold Digging Bitch.

1956 T-110 650cc 4 speed
It has a 12v conversion and a Joe Hunt Magneto.
I went with a Biltwell Chumps handlebar and a narrow Freddy Hernandez springer front end, no front brake.
It has a horseshoe oil tank, 16-130 rear tire, and a stock rear drum break all on a David Bird hardtail with a 2" stretch and 2" drop.

The pretty stuff:
Paint is Pagan Gold Metalflake over Birch White (by SteveO at Liquid Illusions) with red pin striping (by Vince Balistreri)
Leather seat by Duane Ballard

Fabrication was by Jimmy Dell and engine work was by Deep South Cycles in Mississippi.

- Dean"

The Gold Digger's humble beginnings.

Customer Bike Spotlight: Rory's Canadian Triumph Chopper

Rory emailed to get some input on the electrical system on his Triumph, and sent these snapshots along as well. He built this 1969 Triumph Bonneville over the last year. It looks killer, if that work van and other cars weren't in the background you wouldn't know what decade this photo was from.

Customer Bike Spotlight: Dave's Lean & Mean Triumph Chopper

Dave Wilt sent us some pics of his recently completed Triumph. We were stoked on it and wanted to share!

"Hey there Tyler just wanted to send you a couple pictures of my bike. I owe alot of thanks to you guys at Lowbrow. You guys were the best company I dealt with on this project and look forward to dealing with you on my next project. These pictures were taken down at Beatersville in Louisville, KY by John Jackson. Thanks again for yalls support. By the way my last order I got your new race support shirt and love the color. First ride i get off bike and the back left side of the shirt is covered with circles of oil from chain. Kinda adds character."

Customer Bike Spotlight: Denny's 650 c.c. Triumph Chopper

From Denny:

"Heres a few pics of the '66 Triumph I built down here in Somerset, Kentucky.

- 66 650 TR6 motor from the crank up

- 4" over hard tail welded on

- Custom vertical oil tank I robbed off an on chopper find

- Sportster front end dropped, legs shaved

- Old frisco tank...some old chopper risers I had layin around with drags flipped over.

- 16 rear, Triumph hub all new

- custom flake paint I traded an old springer for to Josh at IMAGE ONE.

- Runs like a beast..."

Meet Lowbrow Customs: Todd

This is the first in an installment of posts I will do over the next couple weeks introducing you to the people who work here at Lowbrow Customs. First up, Todd. He is a friend I met when I was selling a pre unit Triumph project a few years back. If you call Lowbrow, he is the guy you will be talking to! With his 25+ years experience with British motorcycles and 10+ years as a professional HD mechanic he is well versed in two-wheeled machines. In his own words:


"I was born in upstate New York just across the Hudson River from Woodstock. I have been interested in motorcycles from an early age, all my friends rode in motocross races, but I could not afford a bike. I moved to California when I was 18 and that is where I fell in love with British motorcycles. I rode my 1963 BSA A-10 all over the San Diego beach areas and I still own that bike today! I moved to Oregon in 1989 and lived in the mountains, no electricity or phones. I was also a grateful Dead fan and did many cross country trips, during one of my tours I saw an
ad in a mag for MMI so I thought why not and moved to Phoenix, Arizona. I ended up in Ohio working at a H-D dealership for over 10 years.

Todd's personal garage with a line of Triumph builds in-progress

I met up with Tyler about 4 years ago when I purchased a pre-unit Triumph from him. When he offered me the chance to join the Lowbrow crew just after the start of this year I jumped at the hance. I have been riding, wrenching and racing Triumph and BSA for 25+ years. I have been rebuilding stock Brit customs and bobbers for the last 10 years. I am currently working on a 1956 Triumph T-bird bobber conversion and several other unit Triumph bobbers.

- Todd

P.S. If I didn’t have the most beautiful and understanding wife in the world, I wouldn’t be doing the things I love."

Todd's garage.. You can see he has bikes on the brain even when he isn't working here!

Customer Bike Spotlight: Steve's Swingarm Triumph Chopper

"Hey Lowbrow Crew,

Great blog and site- some amazing work you're doing! Just wanted to take a quick second of your time to let you know how things on the miserable and cold East Coast are...

I'm sending some pics of my 1966 TR6 swingarm chopper - my good friend Harley did all the design, paint and body work; our friend Kenji did the lettering and striping, and the motor, electrical and plumbing was done by an old timer named Travis here in CT.

Naturally, the bike is chock-a-block full of frantically ordered Lowbrow parts. I will say that out of all the 10 million things that held up the completion of this beauty, working with and ordering from Lowbrow was NOT one of those hold-ups. Shipping was fast and safe, as always.

More details and pics of this ripper on my buddy Harley's blog, 'damned to be free':

http://www.damnedtobefree.com/blog/

keep up the great work,

Steve Karp

CT, East Coast, USA"

Customer Bike Spotlight: Larry's '69 Triumph Bonneville

Got a nice e-mail of thanks from a customer and some pics of his 1969 Triumph Bonneville. Thanks for the kudos and the photos, Larry!

"Good afternoon, this isn't for an order but, I do want to say thanks for your web site and helping me get some of the parts I needed to put my '69 Bonneville (a.k.a The Bopper) together. You'll find a few pics attached. Thanks again - Larry "

Customer Bike Spotlight: Chuck's Green Swingarm Triumph

Got a photo of Chuck's Triumph that is almost finished up. Some hard work, money and lots of time and effort can turn a basket case into a real head-turner, and it keeps you out of trouble for a while too. I look forward to some updates after you get it running, maybe a nice video we can post as well!

"I bought this bike in 1990 as a seized up roller for $300. It had been beat up some but most of the important parts were OK. I disassembled it, cannibalized it for another 650 I have and parked it in the corner of my shop for 20+ years. Last fall I decided to make something out of it and it’s now close to being a runner. Quite a few parts I’ve needed came from Lowbrow and the aluminum café racer seat was built for me by ‘Rock’ at Rock’s Chops. Countryside Cycles rebuilt the engine. It has stock rake, a Ceriani 35mm fork, a 4” extended swing arm and Boyer ignition. I’ll put it on the floor in a week or so and give it a kick.

Chuck"

Aussie Triumph Chopper Video Interview

Sheridan sent us a link to a TV interview he did on his Triumph chopper.. In his words:

"I thought you might get a laugh out of this, it's a super cheesy TV interview I did on my Triumph a while back for a local public access TV show. When was the last time your heard someone with an Aussie accent talking about Choppers..."

Customer Bike Spotlight: Eric's Super Clean Triumph

Here are some shots sent in by Eric Henderson of his home-built 1967 Triumph TR6R complete with David Bird hardtail. Nice work, Eric!

Husted Vintage Cycles Triumph Chopper

Here is a killer Triumph built by a friend of Lowbrow's, Zac of Husted Vintage Cycles up in the great white North:

1969 Triumph 750CC 5 Speed > Owned by Larry Lakhan, President of the Bottom Feeders C.C., built by Zachary Husted, Owner of Husted Vintage Cycles.

Zac started with the motor and half a frame. From there he added a sporty tank, chrome springer, 21" front wheel, 16" rear wheel to start getting the style defined. The Joe Hunt magneto, David Bird hardtail, brass ribbed fender and 7/8" Z-bars from Lowbrow gives this bike the complete look. This thing is going to be terrorizing Toronto very soon.

Triumph Chopper By TroyFab

You may know of Steve Sheldon from Troy Fabrication. This is his Triumph, which is just oozing detail and one-off parts.

"1970 frame, 1971 engine completely rebuilt, 1968 front end, 1969 wheels, stock tank narrowed 2", TroyFab oil tank, motor mounts, and anything else I could make. 2 year build on and off."

Customer Spotlight: BigHead's 1966 Triumph Chopper

1966 Triumph T120

- '68 frame with a 4" stretch hardtail
- '66 Triumph T120 650 c.c. 20 over
- Stock Rake
- 19" front / 16" rear
- Redtail leather seat
- Hunt unit Triumph Magneto
- Magneto Cover by Front St. Cycle
- Drags and Drums
- Special Triumph Decal by Marco
- Rear Fender by Front St. Cycle
- Forks by Frank

Found this as a roller out in front of a neighbors house and I didn't even know what it was, but I did know I wanted to build my own shit. At the time, it was the height of the "Chopper craze" and I wanted nothing to do with all that billet crap, so began my Triumph project. I built this bike, on and off, over 4 years. Aside from having a shop bolt the hard-tail on, no other shop touched this bike. I was adamant that I would build it entirely on my own and if it fell apart turning the corner then so be it...but, that gave me all the incentive to do it right. A piece here and piece there, reading up on the JJ, picking brains of those "in the know" about these machines and supporting the online indy shops to get other parts. This all led to one summer afternoon June 14th 2009 at 1:20pm...8 kicks and she was alive! Must say, nothing like riding something around the block you built yourself ... and doesn't fall apart. Have done the Ton several times without a hiccup... love them Trumps.

Ride Safe

BigHead

A Little Sissy Ingenuity

Grant Donaldson sent us some photos a while ago of his bike-in-progress. He used a Builder Sissy Bar Kit, some Bungs, an Afterhours Titmouse Tail Light, and some time and skill to fab up this cool sissy bar / tail light combo on his Triumph.

Dave's Modern Triumph Chopper

Dave Rhinehart sent in some photos of his recently completed modern Triumph that he chopped with the help of an LCFabrications Hinckley Triumph hardtail frame that he picked up from us. He did a killer job! You can check out more custom chopper and cafe racer parts for modern Triumphs here.

Now Available: Biltwell Handlebars in 7/8"

Now available exclusively from Lowbrow Customs, Biltwell, Inc. bars in 7/8"! We now have Keystones, Trackers and Window bars in stock, each available in either black electroplating or chrome. Perfect for that Triumph, BSA, Yamaha, Honda or other chopper or bobber project that needs 7/8" bars. Find them, along with other new parts, here.

Tyler