Motorcycles Page

My interest in motorcycles goes back a long way from riding in my fathers BSA sidecar until I was around 2 years old when he was forced to sell it when my sister (child No.4) was born & it was no longer feasible to carry all of us around. My father ended up buying a Morris 1000 & has to my knowledge has only ridden a bike once since. One of these days I will take him for a ride on my old B31.

My personal collection has been varied over the years from bikes as sad as a James cadet 150cc to a 650cc Triton of my own construction. Full Details of my collection are listed below :-

This particular model is very scarce as it was one if the first BSA models to be fitted with telescopic forks. Other features are the chromed & green/gold lined tank which is unusual so soon after the war, & the speedo recessed into the right hand of the tank. This was my first British bike so it is very sentimental. I am in the process of restoring the bike at SRM Engineering however this time I am giving the old 54 year engine a rest & replacing it with a rather "special" build that SRM specialise in. This special build extend the capacity of any B31/33 to over 600cc with quite a considerable increase in power from 17bhp to the mid 40's.

BSA B31 350cc         1946

This was my second British bike & is also very special to me as it is the first bike that I restored from an original but rather tatty condition. Unfortunately only two months after I completed the rebuild I was driven off the road by a mad car driver & the bike was very badly twisted & mangled. I suffered a similar fate but fortunately nothing broken but every part of me was bruised & aching. One day I will rebuild the bike to its former glory & those beautiful parallel twin notes with fill the country lanes again.

Triumph T110 650cc 1958

This was my third bike which I came across as pile of junk in a friends garage around 1988 & at the time I though was just a badly neglected pile of bits for another T110 which I could use for spares. However when I looked at the numbers I noticed that they were very early for a T120 so sent off to the person that holds all the Triumph records & they told me that it was No.45 build on the second day of production in September 1958. What was also strange was that the T110 I already had was built within a day of the T120 & I know that one was from Doncaster, England & the other was from Cowbridge, South Wales.

Triumph T120 650cc 1958 (Certified to be No.45 Bonneville built on 2nd day of production)

This was always my dream bike & after many years of saving, searching autojumbles & making specialist parts I finally got it on the road in 1990 & after a few teething problems turned out to be quite a head turner in both performance & looks. I styled it on the Manx Norton with all cycle parts being stainless or Duralumin, 5 speed gearbox, electronic ignition to twin plug head & a four leading Grimeca front brake among many other things. It has been a true money pit but fortunately I spent all the serious money before I got married so my wife doesn't mind. Not that she does mind however as I am bless with a wife that not only puts up with my pre-marriage interests but thoroughly enjoys getting involved.

Triton 650cc 1958/60 (Consists of 1960 Slimline frame & 1958 T120 engine)

Weslake DOHC 8 Valve 1,000cc V Twin New & never run. Engine is number 001 of only 6 ever made. Gearbox is the only box produced by Westlake for this engine. This is an extremely rare & collectable piece of British history & engineering excellence. Frame is also a one off made to measure, just for this engine. Power output is approximately 100Bhp at present, but can be 120 Bhp with minimal changes. Due to finances this project has never been finished, but as you can see all the main work has been done, all it needs is the finishing touches. This bike has now been sold & will be on its way to the Southern Hemisphere soon.

EN40B Nitrided billet crankshaft 60 Ton forged steel conrods Cosworth forged pistons 65mm belt drive primary 5 Speed gearbox Reynolds 531 Monoshock frame & swingarm Marzochi forks Magnesium 3 spoke Diemag wheels Racing Lockheed calipers front & rear

This Bike is actually the culmination of my brother Peters dream to have the most powerful British production bike ever built (before Triumph started up again that is). I remember him travelling up to Kent I believe to visit the designer Ron Valentine with a wad of hard saved  money to bring back a huge lump of an engine that looked truly awesome. With 4 valves per cylinder, double overhead cams, huge valves & 2" carburettors it was tested to produce in excess of 120bhp. Sadly Pete has never had the pleasure of riding the bike due to the sheer cost of acquiring the absolute best components to go with the Reynolds tubular section monoshock frame.