Triumph board track racer?

[Gas Man]

If Triumph Would Have Board Track Raced…

All custom builders are looking to create something different. Dennis and Steve at TT Cycles are no exception. They wanted to build a board track style racing bike since this sport was extremely popular in their home state of New-Jersey. Problem is that they specialize on work done on vintage Triumph motorcycles and there was no such a thing as a Triumph Board Tracker between the first and second decades of the last century. Why? Simply because back then Triumphs were not being imported in the US. So nobody has ever seen a Triumph racing on oval wooden planks… Doesn’t matter, decided the duo. Let’s build a Triumph board track racer the way it could have been and looked.

After looking at a lot of pictures of Harley and Indian board trackers, they opted for a stock 1970 Triumph T120R Bonneville as the best platform to start their makeover. Steve tore the motor down and rebuilt it from the crankshaft up. A 2” over hardtail was bolted on and matching 21” front and rear wheels were laced up, trued, and mounted. A minus 4” springer was bolted on and a disc brake up front was their concession to modern stopping power. They took a Triumph front fender, flipped it around and fitted it over the rear wheel. The gas/oil tanks were all hand fabricated at the shop as well as the “tank” under the seat. It actually houses the battery and the electrics. The exhaust is a cut-down set of “TT” pipes with machined brass tips attached. Finally, the paint is DuPont Alabaster “Antique” White with pearl mixed in. G.W.Ross did the all of the pinstriping and gold leaf. Now, we can only imagine how Triumphs would have performed on the motordrome against Indians and Harleys… TT Cycles.

Now that is some sexy...

[askmrjesus]

Tasty, but it doesn't look much like a board track racer to me.

Too many cylinders, too many brakes...

A period Triumph would have looked more like this:

JC

[askmrjesus]

See that little plunger thingy on the side of the tank?

That's the oil pump. You gave it a squirt every so often, to feed the valves.

Those bikes, (and the Harleys and Indians of the day) ran a "constant loss" oil system. It basically just poured out onto the track, which explains why so many boardtrack racers died, (many of them died from injuries caused by giant splinters).

Ouch.

JC

[dReWpY]

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