Understandably, motorcycles have played a bit of an outsider’s role here at CC. My own bike ownership and experience was rather limited, and that probably explains why, at least in part. But I love to look at them anyway, especially the sexy ones, and this “Triton” is about as irresistible as it gets. I saw it the other day in Eugene’s Sports Car Shop. More on that after the jump.
But I do want to let those interested in bikes know that we’ve had some fine historical articles here at CC, including one specifically on the topic of how these Triton (and Vincent-powered Norvin) bikes came to be. Working with author Lee Wilcox on them was a re-immersion in motorcycle history, and a thoroughly enjoyable one; almost as good as getting back on a bike. I’ve just finished creating a section for them all in the Automotive History Portal. If you’d like to take any of them out for a spin, I’ve also got them all lined up for you below.
Sunday Salon Motorcycle History Series: By Lee Wilcox and Edited by Paul Niedermeyer
1969 Honda CB750: The First Modern Superbike
1965 Honda CB450: The Black Bomber
Honda 350 Family: The Most Popular Bikes Ever
The Kawasaki Two-Stroke Triples
Suzuki T500: The Best Bike Almost Nobody Remembers
Yamaha SX650: Originality Is Overrated
Harley Davidson Sprint: Spaghetti Hoglet
Norton Manx And The Isle of Wight
Harley 750: King of the Track Part 1 Part 2 The KR750 Riders
Home Made Bikes; Some On Steroids
Cooper and Norton: How the Triton and Norvin Bikes Came To Be
Cal Rayborn: The Life And Death Of An Icon
Other Motorcycle Articles:
BSA 441 Victor Paul Niedermeyer
Harley Davidson Hummer Paul Niedermeyer
Vintage bikes from America’s Miracle Museum Paul Niedermeyer
Back to the Triton, for a moment, anyway. Yes, it says Norton on the tank, and the frame is the legendary Norton “Featherbed”. But many of them were converted to Triumph power, because the original Norton Manx 500cc engines were being plucked out of their beds to be used in Cooper Formula 3 racing cars. Triumph engines were plentiful, so the found a comfortable new bed in which to cavort.
Thanks a lot, Paul. By re-publicizing these great articles that I had not seen before, you have compelled me to bring out photos and stories from almost 20 years of motorcycling. I was looking forward to doing less automotive writing and more productive work during the new year, but that plan just went out the window. 🙂
Thanks Paul. I had forgotten some of them. Robert, be very very wary. It’s addicting. Especially the bikes.
Thank you! They’re a fine addition to our archives. And be assured that folks keep finding them all the time via google searches.
The true definition of Sex on Wheels.
Always wanted to own one, probably never will, having sold the ’69 Bonneville cafe racer I’ve owned for twenty years this past summer.
Oh, and the rest of the reason for the Triton (the comments are dead on as far as they go) . . . the 650 Triumph vertical twin, both unit (’62-on) and pre-unit, were the small block Chevies of the British motorcycle world. Easily hop-able, with excellent aftermarket support, the Triumph was a much better engine than the main competitors: BSA (weak bottom end in the unit versions), Norton (Norton’s forte’ was frames, not engines), Matchless and AJS (too strong a bottom end, made for too much vibration – and development had effective stopped by the early ’60’s), Royal Enfield (strong and powerful, lots of torque, but one hell of a leaker).
Add the Triumph mill to what is probably the best handling frame ever made (modern re-pops can still handle with the best of Italian or Japanese design), and you had the ultimate motorcycle of its day. And the frame could take anything from a Vincent V-twin on down. I rode in Southern England back in the mid-90’s with an old school Rocker who’d mounted a Kawasaki H-2 in his. Imagine that kind of power, with handling.
That looks like a 4 1/2 gallon interstate tank DO NOT fill on race day too much gas plays havoc with peg dragging cornering angles and the brakes on Norton frames are crap they have to handle coz you cannot stop. A mate of mine ran 13:1 compression on a Triumph 650 Bonneville motor for street use it was bloody fast to put it mildly it made 4banger Japanese bikes look pathetic 750 Hondas and water bottles couldnt hold a candle to it.
Paul, how often do you get up here to Portland, and are you at all into the ‘dive bar’ scene here? The pic of that classic Norton (gorgeous bike!) reminded me of a bar downtown called Kellys’ Olympian. They have quite a few classic bikes throughout the bar, which is the overall theme. Really cool stuff, and some tasty Oregon brews on tap.
From time to time…sounds like one worth checking out.
I spent some time waving spanners at a Norstar, Norton featherbed frame BSA Goldstar engine it went really well and handled great but stopped not at all, everything had to be pre 62 for classic racing and road tyres and for that sorta shit a Norton frame cant be beaten another guy in the club had a Norvin using a genuine Manx frame, and Shadow grade engine the speedo was original Vincent with top gear marked to be selected at 108mph, fast? it could out accelerate a Yoshimura GSX1100 with 140hp at Baypark raceway when the CSX was the fastest thing you could buy.
Nice,what’s the front brake?Big drum brakes and spoked wheels look great on classic bikes.
Probably original we laced in a 71 Commando drum with slotted linings rebuilt expanders the whole 9 yards failed scrutineering at Pukekohe track due to much too newer parts shoulda filed off the part numbers and the bloody bike still would nor pull up,
As Syke pointed out, during the 60s the Triumph twin was the universal donor engine, and the Norton Featherbed was the universal recipient. Offhand besides the Triton common confections were Tribsa (Triumph engine, BSA Frame), the aforementioned Norstar (Gold Star in Featherbed) and Norvin (Vincent in Featherbed), the Trifield, (Triumph in a Royal Enfield frame), and some exotica like Rudge or JAP speedway engines and at least one Ariel Square Four in Norton frames. Finally there are a few specials that have Norton Commando engines in Featherbed frames because the builders either preferred the look of the slanted Commando engine over the vertical Dominator or didn’t trust the handling of the Isolastic frame.
Back to the article list, I’m surprised there are no BMW articles since the BMW Airheads of the 70s and 80s are definitely CC motorcycles since many of them are still in regular use and clock some very high mileages. My 1978 R100S sees regular commuter duty and is often the oldest bike in the parking lot at work.
Lee Wilcox wrote about the bikes that he had experience with or interested him in his younger days. The BMW Airheads are what I most wanted all my life in a bike, but I just haven’t gotten to writing much about them. Maybe because it brings up too many pangs of unrequited love? 🙁
Care to write something on your bike?
I had an early 80s R65 for several years in the mid-90s, which I sold before going to graduate school in Chicago. I have heard it called the worst of the BMW Airheads, but still one of the best bikes of all time, and I support that point of view. I would be happy to do a write-up but do not have a single good photo of mine; I would have to rely on photos off the web. If that is OK, I will get started.
Sure; bring it on.
You can still buy new Royal Enfields made in India I recently liked their page on FB
Just got my motorcycle endorsement and I’ve been scanning CL for a nice vintage bike. Favorite bike themed bar in Seattle is Smartypants. They always have Euro racing on the tv. Vintage bikes on display. Thanks for reviving the motorcycle CCs!
Thanks for putting these all in one place, there’s even a few I hadn’t seen before. This was perhaps my all-time favorite CC series and I’m not a bike guy at all. Anybody who hasn’t read every last word of them, including the comments, should check it out. The writing, stories, characters and history are all beyond fascinating. All of the hardware covered is really exciting stuff, too (I can’t get over how awesome that red and white aero Aeromacchi is in the H-D Sprint article that I’d never read until now!!) Is there ever gonna be another installment?
Speaking of bikes, can anyone ID what’s in the picture below? I see this oddball contraption at work often and I’ve never been able to figure out just what it is exactly. I have a feeling it’s something interesting, but maybe not. There aren’t any easily visible brand markings, although it’s got a license plate frame from a Honda dealership in Alaksa on it and the gauges are metric. I’ve searched around the webz and it seems like there were some early Honda boxer twins, but I’m not sure that’s what it is. None of the ones I’ve seen online look quite the same. It also has Illinois plates and the pictures were taken in NY, so at some point it covered a whole lot of kilometers (wish I would bump into the owner). Is this just a BMW that someone tried to “turning Japanese”? Somebody here has to know:
That bike is a Chinese-made Chiang Jiang 750, a close copy of the WWII-era BMW R71. Like Ural in the Soviet Union, Chiang Jiang started its factory using BMW machinery and tooling taken from Germany as war reparations by the Soviet Union. The USSR gave them to the People’s Republic of China as a gift between Communist allies. The Chiang Jiang still closely follows the sidevalve engine and plunger rear suspension design of the BMW R71, while Ural has changed its design considerably over the decades and now only follows the general layout of its BMW antecedent.
I remember that the Chiang Jiang was briefly trendy during the 1990s as a new classic bike, but that their popularity collapsed when riders learned that they ran badly and fell apart quickly. It was the old BMW design produced with none of the high quality materials, workmanship, and quality control of a real BMW, which nullified the main reason for buying an Airhead BMW.
Apparently the rider of that Chiang Jiang got a good one or made it work with lots of effort fixing the details, so kudos to him/her.
Wow, thanks – I never would have guessed it was Chinese. I had no idea that it was even possible to get bikes from China into the US, although searching Google reveals that there are quite a few of these around. Too bad they’re not better quality machines, because they do look cool.
Ural has quite an extensive range of BMW-based sidecar machines, so you may want to take a look at them if you like the looks of the Chiang Jiang. The Ural Gear-Up, with two wheel drive (driven sidecar wheel) and military styling, is especially appealing. I have taken a close look at Urals at shows and talked with owners, and recent ones have become quite good. The big lumps of metal are Russian, but the carburetors, electrics, and other small parts that have to be precisely made are all made in Japan now. Just like on Harley-Davidsons! 🙂
(Only half-joking. My 2004 HD has many Japanese parts, include a Mikuni carburetor and Showa suspension parts.)
Last year I spotted an orange Ural with sidecar parked in front of a bar in downtown East Moline. I wanted to get a picture for CC but I was a passenger in my folks’ car (we were going to dinner) and I didn’t get a chance. I think it was a brand new one; the logo on the tank looked like the current one.
Spot on – a buddy of mine brought one of these back from Beijing not long ago. It was a very heavy machine with very questionable drum brakes; he sold it not long after bringing it to the U.S. While he was riding it in China he had Chinese mechanics bring it to a high state of mechanical readiness, but the bike’s poor reliability ensured he always had his mechanic on speed-dial. He described it as a German design, built by Soviet central planning, and enhanced with Chinese quality control.
There are a few COAL articles on motorcycles as well, sure, none of them is a Vincent Black Shadow, but still…
Thanks for the reminder; I really need to round them up and include them in this section. I’m going to have to eventually create a separate Portal for bikes, and one for other non-car vehicles.