Ton Up Stockholm Salt Ghost Screening & Triumph Land Speed on Ice!

Magnus of Ton Up Stockholm had contacted us about doing a Salt Ghost screening there in Sweden, which we were all for. It took place earlier this month, and they also sold some Salt Ghost DVDs there, the money from which is helping sponsor their fellow Ton Up Club member and friend Charlie in his racing efforts.


Charlie raced his 1946 Triumph Speedtwin 500 c.c. motorcycle on the frozen lake Orsa Speedway in 2011 and is preparing to do so again in 2012! Thanks to Magnus and the crew for setting up the screening and to everyone that attended, and good luck to Charlie in his race efforts in 2012!

Customer Bike Spotlight: Bill's Salt Flat & Road Racing Triumphs

That there isn't Santa, that is Lowbrow customer Bill up in Canada with one of his top-notch pre unit Triumph race bikes! He is planning on making it out to Speed Week 2012 at the Bonneville Salt Flats and racing, probably bringing his road race bike along for the ride as well. I sure hope he does, we are going to have quite the gaggle of amazing vintage Triumphs there if everyone who is planning on making it shows up!

Thou Shalt Drag... Drag Triumph In The Works

I picked up a 1960 Triumph drag bike that was pretty beat and seemed to have been modified (badly) through the years. You could clearly see the awesome fab work, like the one off front frame, and the horrible fab work, like the booger welded tank mounts and OIF Triumph tank that was on it. Also, the amount of carbon in the pipes and head, and the poor condition of the cables, carburetors etc showed that it hadn't done much in many years besides get the clutch dumped a million times and burn the back tire up.

This evening I threw a stand-in motor in the frame (I tore the drag motor down and am in the process of getting ready to rebuild it) and the front end on it (NOS 70's Metal Profiles Ltd 32mm forks, weigh only 14lb!) to check clearance for the gas tanks and mounts I am going to start making tomorrow. Stay tuned for updates..

Tyler

Pre Unit Triumph Drag Bike

This lonely drag bike showed up at my door and I didn't have the heart to turn it away. I picked it up in California though it came out of Pennsylvania a while back, apparently sold by either a friend or some family of the guy who built it. It was run at some tracks here and there and displayed, I don't have any photos of the original set up but I am pretty sure the OIF Triumph tank wasn't part of the original go-fast build plan.



Really cool aftermarket drag frame with a factory rigid rear bolted on. This style frame is different than the Hagon frames I have seen as this one has a full cradle and the motor is not a stressed member of the frame. Backbone is the oil tank.


Needless to say, this bike isn't going to sit around like a slacker, it is going to be put to work. There are a couple bikes ahead of it in line but I am starting the process already gathering some parts I will need to make this bike feel like it has a fulfilled life with purpose and passion. Stay tuned.

Joe Aimes's Pre Unit Triumph Drag Bike from the UK

Steve sent us these pics and a bit of info via email, and this bike is just so cool that we had to share:

Morgo 750 big bore kit opened out to 801cc, Morgo p/u rotary pump, cams from norish racing 2 n 514tr, norton gearbox, Hagon drag/sprint frame. I've never heard of Joe Aimes.....and I can't find any stuff on him either.. But the shop that's selling the bike says ....."Here we have the famous Joe Aimes Sprint Drag bike from the early days it is in race ready trim and was purchased by ourselvess as an ornament to hang on our wall in the shop 10 years ago, Joe told us that the machine had just undergone a complete overhaul ready to race for the next season but times had changed for him and it was time to pack up his racing.."







All I know is that Joe Aimes knows how to build a bad ass motorcycle.

'55 Triumph Tank & Fairing Paint In Progress

I got these photos from Joe at Jerry's House of Kolors last night, he is working on the fairing and tank for my Bonneville bike. I can't wait to see it done

Pre Unit Triumph Race Bike For Sale

FOR SALE: Triumph pre unit race bike, 70% ready for racing at Bonneville or El Mirage. Located in Pacoima, CA at Four Aces Cycle. Contact Wes White at fouracescycle@aol.com if interested. $4000

1955 Triumph Land Speed Racing Motor

A package arrived early this morning that I have been waiting for with baited breath. Wes, my good friend and Triumph motor go-to-guy over at Four Aces Cycle put together this motor for me for my Lakes bike. What is inside it? What trick parts does it have? Come race me on the Salt and you can guess for yourself! Thanks Wes!

Tyler

Narrow Bike

Rearsets mounted, still have to do the linkages. Clip-ons in place as well, though the gold anodizing is going to be polished off.. basically it is coming along but this is still all rough.





I will likely take an inch off the end of the clip on bars still, keep tucked in nice and tight.

Tyler

Sometimes the small things are the most fun

Had a couple hours today and made a spacer today for my rear wheel, for between the hub and the brake drum. I have something to get off my chest... I am in love with both step bits (unibits) as well as my lathe. Step bits are just awesome time savers and also are great for center drilling on the lathe. The lathe is great because a hand shaped and filed spacer would never look so good. There is so much you can do with a lathe that there is no good way to do otherwise. Like make aluminum bangle bracelets for your wife. I can't wait for tomorrow.

Tyler

It's a Roller

Got the hardtail section all done and rebuild the front end with the cut-down fork tubes. Next up: mounting fender, steering damper, oil tank, and getting the motor and trans done!

Tyler

Some shop time, and Christmas gifts! Errrr... I mean Easter!

It's been a great week, we had record highs the last two days here, mid 80's today, it's feeling like summer! When UPS showed today Tyler and I tore into the box marked Bob Newby Racing like kids on Christmas morning. This is what we found, a Triumph pre-unit and a Triumph Unit belt drive with racing clutch discs and drilled alloy pressure plates. Tell me it's not a beautiful thing!
Tyler spent some time modifying the frame rails on his pre-unit hardtail what is this the 3rd or 4th variation so far?! It's gotta be just right.
And speaking of just right the other tank wasn't just what I wanted so I sourced this wassel re-pop out, drilled the frame welded in some bungs (check out our tech article if you haven't seen it), and there it is. That is the look I had in mind for "WFO".
Everyone have a great holiday weekend! Cheers, Kyle and Tyler

Working on my '55 Triumph LSR frame

Got out in the shop a couple hours yesterday evening and finished cutting and welding up all the stock lugs and such I wasn't using. I actually like the cast lugs and on my street bike leave much of it, but on this bike if it isn't being used I cut it off to keep it nice and smooth and drop the little bit of weight.

Some of the welding was a bitch around the neck, I guess there is brazing all up inside of there as I was welding it up it liked to sputter and pop up onto my tungsten. I still have to finish sand some of this stuff, do a little filing, but I think I am going to prime the frame first to keep it from rusting and to see it a bit better

Tyler

Triumph LSR Bike Gets A Beefy New Fork Stop

Cut off the fork stop tab I had welded up before that was only about 1/8" steel, and made a new one out of 1/4". To see the set up I came up with to mate different forks / frame, check out the Custom Motorcycle Fork Stops article I did on it in the Lowbrow Customs DIY Tech Tips section.

This will limit fork travel quite a bit, and in tandem with the hydraulic steering damper I am going to use should stop me from getting any tank slappers and balling up.

My TIG welding is getting better, and that makes me happy.

Tyler

A thing of beauty... Lucas K2FC Magneto

My Lucas K2FC competition magneto, freshly rebuilt and working perfectly. This magneto was a step up from the standard Lucas K2F magneto fitted to Triumphs, BSAs and Nortons. The competition magneto was an upgrade for racing, and apparently is more precise and delivers a hotter spark. These magnetos are great, way to go Lucas, you did something really well!

Vintage Triumphs and Sunshine

I was out in SoCal last month staying with Wes from Four Aces and working on a new project. Got to meet some amazing people and see some really cool stuff as well. Here we are hanging with Fritz and his son at their place in Fallbrook. Fritz has been racing on the Salt for 40 years, he and his wife rule.

Some serious shop time today

After a morning of work and shipping orders out Tyler and I spent some time working on our projects. The rain today gave us a good reason to spend a little time in the shop, after the last week of very spring-ish weather we are pumped up for summer! Tyler set up his engine reassembly "clean area"....I am not allowed to touch this space evidently. I guess I have a habit of making a mess wherever I work and stealing tools. Slightly anal retentive but a good clean well lit place to rebuild an engine is a very good thing.
Tyler took the old springer off his BSA and starting to revamp and get this ready to ride.
I put some new shocks on my bike, welded the holes up from removing the passenger peg supports and did some frame painting. Re-jetted my carbs and did a bunch of general maintenance. Come on sunny day!
Starting to look like what is in my head finally. Those MAS Engineering number plates look bad ass too. Thanks again to BellaCorse.

Triumph gearbox cases back from the tumbler..

Sent my cases out to Wes at Four Aces Cycle to get tumbled, here are my gearbox cases back and ready for reassembly. He also did my crank cases and rocker boxes, makes for a really nice motor. Wes also does machining for your vintage Triumph or British motorcycle, head work, cylinder boring, crank grinding and balancing and more.

New Lowbrow Customs DIY tech tip - How to Remove a Triumph Sludge Trap Tube

Tyler spent some time in the shop working on his pre-unit project and we snapped a few pics showing how to remove the Triumph sludge trap tube. It is a pretty important but often overlooked part of an engine rebuild. Check it out Here.

Some more time at the drill press, and a beat up brake plate out of my junk box turned out pretty nice. Removed the thinner stamped steel edge that normally is tack welded on. Still have to finish sand it and decide on finish, paint, powdercoat, chrome etc.