Have you seen the repro Norton Manxes? There's a company in England
who's name escapes me that makes perfect Manxes that are completely
accepted for vintage road racing--about $20K. Sounds expensive, but it's
really a great price considering what an original over the counter Manx
would cost.
Of course you could take your Trident and make a Slippery Sam replica
out of it.
I also did most of my racing on bikes until a few years ago--motocross,
TT and Flat Track (half mile and mile)--had a national AMA number for
awhile--that's why my shoulders have all those scars on them and don't
work so well, and why there are major parts of my body that never tan.
I've been vacillating between restoring my '76 Yamaha 360 for vintage
motocross or building a flat-tracker out of it. I don't know that my
shoulders will tolerate motocross. But I'm building a little track at my
new house, so I'll soon find out. I don't really collect bikes--I just
accumulate 'em because I hate to sell them. The two bikes I regret
selling most are my first--A BSA A10, and my looney 1/2 mile bike, a
Suzuki X6 hustler (250) motor in a homebuilt backbone frame. The engine
was built to produce bodacious horsepower in a dinky powerband. I made
it into a twingle--pressed the crankshaft apart and turned it so the
pistons rose together. Outrageous vibration. Total weight 188 pounds
dry. Fastest thing for fifty feet on the planet, and then you had to
shift. I won a zillion races on that thing, but I looked like a flamenco
dancer keeping it in the powerband.
I need to find some dirt races here with an old fart class so the kids
won't run me over. I can hardly handle my XR600. Everytime I stop I fall
over--they sure build them tall these days--and I'm 6'2".
Nice to hear from another sprocket head. I bet there's more in Amici.
After all, you're all crazy as coots.
-----Original Message-----
From: Richard Taylor [mailto:n196x@mindspring.com]
Sent: Thursday, August 27, 1998 6:08 PM
To: Bill Babcock; BillDentin@AOL.COM
Cc: fot@autox.team.net
Subject: RE: Triumph Bikes
At 04:03 PM 8/26/98 -0700, Bill Babcock wrote:
>I love Triumph motors, but I don't like the flexy frame, the
indifferent
>and the general way Triumphs handle--and I've got a lot of company,
thus
>all the classic Tritons--a Norton featherbed frame and a Triumph engine
>with all the 60's classic cafe racer stuff.
Bill,
I share your interest in bikes, albiet at about 3/8 scale. My street
ride
is a '73 Triumph Trident I've had for 15 years. Actually I had no idea
it
was related to my TR-4. Although from Lucas to luckless, there is a
contankerous family gene which is undeniable.
My greater interest in motorcycles is in racing. Although I've raced a
number of road races, my more comfortable zone is in the dirt. As a
much
younger man, I raced everything from enduros, hare scrambles, lots of
motocroos to flat track and TT races. Currently I race a '73 Maico 400
in
vintage motocross and a '73 Honda Motosport in short track. Occasionally
I'll campaign the Maico in TT races. At the tender age of 62, motocross
is
starting to take its toll so sometime in the future I'll probably have
to
take another look at road racing. Years ago I owned a Norton 850
Commando
concurrently with my Trident. I'd swap rides back and forth and the
Norton
was a vastly superior handling ride. A Norton vintage road racer might
look pretty good in my autumnal years of motorcycling.
Thanks for sharing your interest in bikes. I've felt like a closet
sprocket
head out here all by myself.
Richard Taylor
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