The Craftmans Shop > PowerSports
Refurbishing the Duke (again).
Artie:
Ok ... pics.. I dont have a lot of pics of the early years with resto's.... it just wasnt done that much back then... I love digital cameras, a whole new world has opened.... here is what I have....
Last machine before the Duke was a 1954 Triumph speed twin (5T), this is the very first of the rear swing arm models. This was built from a mess of bits I acquired over the years, no numbers matched and I owned it for many years, firstly as a static display and then as a road machine.
Did I say that static display meant inside the living room? You CANNOT do this with a Triumph if there is any oil AT ALL in her.... here she is absolutely dry.... then one day I decided to commission her, and this stopped.... damn she leaked a lot... mainly from the primary case...
After several years on the road she went into storage ....... she deserved better than this.... see the oil under here?
and then, out of the blue a guy made a a STUPID offer for her, and now she is gone..... to a home that will use her hopefully....
Here she is in the background....
And let me tell you, she doesnt "do" background well...... so off she went....
Seriously, the Trump was not a good open road bike, she VIBRATED, badly and they just 'did' this... its why she went into storage, out here the roads are looooong and you spend hours in the saddle...a vibrating bike just cant be used for long.
And.... I never 'felt' a connection with her.... the Duke is different. She will always be in my family, I dont know why but she is interconnected, somehow.
Cheers, more later...
Artie:
Eric, you wanted pics..... Ive found some......
DUKES NEED NOISE....... I found some of that too..... I gutted the original Conti mufflers and removed the crossover pipe, this was sooo restrictive as each cyclinder was forced to cross to the opposing pipe.... this was hard to do as I had to make long nozzle extensions for the oxy set to get way down in there.....
Cant miss her now.... (p.s. yes I had to re-jet her)
Another issue was hte wiring. When I got her togather it was all wrong. Nothing matched so I employed an Italian bike mechanic and paid him with beer... I mean this IS Australia right? He wasnt much chop, always seemed confused (or drunk) but did ride a nice SS900 (pics coming of that too).. oh, his name is Steve (Stephano??) and he is a WIZARD on electrical.. er..stuff... (actually working on the clutch in this pic)
Artie:
Im on a roll... I didnt think I had so many pics of the beasty... perhaps a tab obsessive... whatever.....
This is a pic a fellow sent me, he had just bought this bike and didnt like the fuel tank shape...anyone recognise it? He wanted a Std tank for it.... well, did I have a deal for him.... he got my (std )repaired) tank and I go this with the shorter (required) seat.
Here it is when it arrived...
Enough... Im off to bed....
Cheers all
Rob
Brass_Machine:
--- Quote from: Artie on February 01, 2011, 05:51:00 AM ---
Hi Eric, yes Ill certainly post more pics in a moment, think seriosuly about air cooled Dukes...for some reason (here in Aus at lest) they dont cost much... pics to follow,,,
Rob
--- End quote ---
Thanks for the pictures.
I am a fan of L-twins (or v-twins if you like). So Ducati is on my list of motorcycles... As much as I like the newer liquid cooled bikes (like the 916, 996 848 etc..) there is something about the air cooled engines. I have seen some really cool stuff done with them :headbang:
Eric
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