Thruxton new speedo and tacho

Here they go finally, the new speedo and tacho I got from Dime City a while ago – on the bike AND working. Again a massive thanks to Bad Evil and Jimi without whom I woulda been fucked. Bad did a beautiful job of the wiring and Jimi made the brackets (see 'em at work here). Bought the bike down to Dunedin with me this week, have been on a couple of rides and everything seems to be working sweet. My only complaint is that the colour of the back-lights in each dial is different... the tacho is a kind of yellowy light and the speedo is a bright white/blue light. Hoping I can change the bulbs or something. Apart from that I'm pretty happy, I mounted them as low as possible (tops flush with the top of the the triple tree and the really change the look of the bike, lowering the front end and, I reckon, looking much better with the old breadbox petrol tank.

Shorty megaphone mufflers (with no baffles) to go on next! Wanted to mount them on a fucked up angle but need to figure that out...

Thruxton clocks and brake reservoir

Had a great day working on the Thruxton today with Jimi and Bad Evil. I pulled the original clocks/dials off last weekend, I've actually had these new ones sitting around for a good few months now but hadn't gotten around to doing anything about it cause I've been so stoked on the Norton being on the road again. I'd also bought a British Customs mini brake reservoir which had been sitting around for a while. Anyway finally got around to getting into all this properly today. Jimi had made up some mounts for me during the week – I wanna mount the dials real low, flush with the top of the triple tree. The mounts are great but the rubber washers Jimi had made need to be rethought slightly (harder rubber). Bad Evil is our inhouse electrical genius so he was there doing some seriously mind-boggling fucking wiring work! I bled the brakes and got into mounting the new mini reservoir... which was a bit of a head-job until I realised that the thing actually comes apart!? Felt really stupid once I realised that, but hey British Customs (if you're there) maybe you could send these out with instructions? I'm not complaining though cause it looks bloody great and is a MASSIVE improvement on the stock one which sticks up all over the place. Very happy with the way this is all sitting much lower now... and I think this stuff is all making the old T150 breadbox tank looks really good. I just really love how the whole front end looks so much lower now.

A couple of issues to sort out though – 1. the indicator light in the speedo will only go with one of the indicators, either left or right, you choose, but not both. Hoping Bad can solve this? Then 2. Jimi's mounts need new, harder rubber bits.

So stoked to finally be getting this bike a little closer to what I've always been imagining it looking like. Slowly but surely...

More Thruxton mods coming up...

I finally have a bunch of new shit to put on the Thruxton. Got some shorty Emgo mufflers off Pete (that I think are off Sarah's bike originally?). They're straight through and Pete said they're fucking loud – sounds like what I'm after! They're the same as on Tim's bonnie and it sounds pretty sweet, so yeah keen to see what they sound like on a new Triumph? I'm also pleased that they're quite a bit shorter than the ones I have on there now, and I really wanna see if I can get them on quite an angle too.

Apart from the mufflers the other shit is all front end stuff. New speedo and tacho that I'm going to mount flat and low. And then, importantly cause the old one sticks up like an unwanted erection, a new direct mount front brake reservoir from British Customs... so that'll get that lower as well. I also have this old Lucas headlight with grill that I wanna mount somehow. Might just modify the grill to fit the existing headlight? I'll see. Gonna have to make some new brackets for the dials, and so also thinking about making some for the headlight too and maybe lowering it a bit. Also thinking about changing the bars too – clip ons, lower! Maybe? Really wanna ditch the switchgear and replace that too...

Hoping to get started on this asap now that the Norton seems to be a runner (touch fucking wood).

Kick ass Hinkley Triumph

Hanging out with the Quake City Rumblers this weekend made me really wanna chop something up a lot more! I don't think I can bear to chop my matching numbers Norton (as much as I'd like to!?), so been thinking about pushing my Triumph into another world? I'm real happy with my breadbox tank, but it kinda makes the rest of the bike look too 'new' and outta place or something. Also I'm not real happy with the new seat I made. Nadine, my girlfriend who rides pillion a lot, stopped me chopping it down as much as I would have liked to... but then seeing Joska's little seat in the weekend (the Honda in the post below this one) made me think mine looked like a bloody couch or something! I'm also realising I'm really gonna have to get a bigger front wheel – one off a Bonnie. The Thruxton one is just too small... maybe a new rear as well? Fuck I'm going down some vortex... and I only just got the Triumph on the road again. Maybe when the Norton's going I'll pull down the Triumph and fuck about with it good and proper... [sigh]

Triumph Thruxton seat finished

My new seat is finally bloody done! It was slow going getting it to mount properly and also be strong enough after I'd cut so much away from the pan (although it's still not as small as I'd imagined I'd make it). I'll stick up some process/working shots of the whole thing at some point soon, I ended up putting aluminium 'rails' under the seat. It's a tight fit and I broke the weld on the little bracket Marty welded onto the tank for the seat to locate into. Will fix that soon, but hoping to take this bike to Dunedin this weekend. It hasn't got a warrant or rego though and I have to get a new tyre – of course there's no Bridgestone BT45s in NZ right now, so thinking about what I might put on instead.

There's still a bunch to do on this bike. I'll put an alloy front mudguard on soon, and then do something about lowering the dials. I'm also thinking about putting a slightly wider rear mudguard on it? I'm really happy with the Trident tank. Enjoying it plain at the moment, but will paint something on it at some point, and also run something (vinyl or leather) up the center of the tank. One thing that's buggin me now is the mufflers... they stick out too much and are too big. I'd like to put little short ones on it, keep the whole thing really 'thin'. Oh and I gotta paint the rear indicator brackets...

Triumph update (new tank)... 2

New petrol tank is now fitted, apart from a balance pipe I need to make up and a couple of sleeves for the front mounts. Also gotta extend some wiring on the loom. Had Marty paint the tank and side covers matte black after much procrastination about colours. I'd like to do the tank a kandy red in the future maybe, but doin it black for now. Will hand-paint logos on tank and side covers, but will wait til I get it running and know everythings ok. I'm a little worried about the flow rate from the tank. The old (original) one had a breather pipe and this one just breathes through the cap, old school style.

I really gotta get my head around the seat now. The mounts for the seat are doing my head in a bit. I've cut so much off the seat the base is really weak and I will end up crushing wires and the CDI unit if I don't get it sorted.

Every weekend since I've pulled this bike off the road has been amazing... hoping the weather holds for when she's back on the road!

Old Triumph logo

Funnily enough just after posting the Triumph logos here yesterday I looked over at Pipeburn here and saw this bike which actually uses the gold one with the lion. This is a pretty amazing build, using a Hinkely Bonneville engine. Built and designed by Pangea Speed here. This was the best picture of the tank with the logo on it... thing is this had made me think maybe a Triumph logo isn't the best idea. I mean Triumph didn't build this bike. Just the engine. I think the tank should ref the builder maybe? Not that I'm doing a rebuild!? Wishing I was the more I think about it. Strip the entire thing and start with the frame and stance of the thing. That would be great... you can see how things spiral out of control and people don't have bikes to ride anymore.

New petrol tank for the Thruxton

I finally bit the bullet and shelled out for a new tank last week, and it just got here today. Having paid for the thing I read in the weekend some guy on the TriumphRat forum saying to someone else that there was no way this would work, that the tunnel in the tank would be too small. I was freaking out thinking shit I shoulda checked this out more before buying the tank, so when it arrived today I got busy straight away seeing if and how it might work. Good news! It's going to work, and won't require any mods to the tank. I will have to grind a couple of lugs of the frame though (the ones that hold the front of the current tank). I had been trying to do everything without cutting the frame at all, but fuck it I think this tank is going to look totally fucking awesome, so get out the grinder! I will have to reroute the loom a bit, maybe pull it apart to do this, but I don't think that'll be too difficult. Also, obviously, will have to make up some pretty serious brackets. The one at the back will be easy enough I think, the front will require a little more thought. Anyway sitting the tank on the bike, even though it won't go down past those lugs, I'm pretty happy with the shape of it. Might even grind of those lugs this weekend so I can get started thinking about brackets etc. AND then I'll be able to fit it over the frame and actually eyeball it 'on' the bike.

This is a NOS tank! And I know there's a bunch of Triumph owners who aren't going to be very happy about this... esp more so because I'm planning to get rid of the mounts for the tank badges and paint the thing (probably black?). It is original paint too. Sorry guys, but I couldn't find another one in shitty condition to do this with... and hey, you coulda bought it if you loved it so much. Still I do feel a bit guilty, she's a beautiful object that's for sure...

Hinckley tracker

Have been looking a lot at other examples of Hinckley Triumphs that have been chopped up. This is from FrankenStrange here.