1969 Triumph 650 Bonneville

Twisted Bike for a Twisted Mind

Big Bike was one of my favourite magazines at the time, and I used to buy it every month. But one issue would become of particular interest to me. Choppers were still a big thing back then, but mainstream motorcycle enthusiasts did not think too much of them, and deemed them too dangerous in general. The editors of Big Bike decided to prove the capabilities of these modified motorcycles by building themselves a desert bike based on a Triumph chop. They then entered a major racing event and astounded all their critics by actually finishing.

That inspired me to do the same by building my version of a chopper dirt bike. As in many of my earlier projects, I first disassembled the bike into all its major components, inspecting and cleaning as I went. Then I went shopping. Horse-trading for parts when I could, buying used when I couldn't; it didn't take me long to accumulate most of what I needed. The bent fork tubes were replaced with a used pair that was six inches longer. A complete wheel of unknown vintage was purchased from a salvage yard. I still had a fiberglass coffin tank that I had picked up somewhere before and all it needed was a bit of paint. Handlebars, levers, headlamp, and other bits and pieces also found their way into my hands and on to the bike. One of the last things that I had to buy was a set of knobbie tires, and I got the biggest that I could find. Slowly the Triumph was being resurrected into a form its original makers never would have imagined, may they rest in peace.

It was about that time when Walter started to feel much better from his injuries, and began to miss his old bike. I think that he even liked some of the changes that I had made, and started talking about buying the Trumpet back. It was also about the same time that I realized that my original objectives had become kinda fuzzy. Centennial Park was still available as a playground for the off road scene, but my interests were not really there. Although the concept of such an unusual motorcycle was very cool, the practicality of it was very limited. Lucky for both Walter and me, I had never done the paperwork for transferring ownership, and so technically it was never legally mine.

Calculating the costs invested, I sold the Triumph back to Walter and broke even. The knobbies were quickly replaced with street rubber and the final detail work was completed by an independent shop called Augies.