Classic Bike June 2019

Welcome SPECIAL OCCASIONS There was a time back in the late 1970s when ‘specials’ were all the rage. Hoping perhaps to attract new buyers from Harley, who dominated the market, it seemed as if most rival manufacturers were building so-called ‘factory customs’ and calling them ‘specials’. Most of these bikes, with their formula of stepped seats, higher ’bars and different exhausts, looked contrived to say the least – but I remember that Triumph’s T140D grabbed my attention at the time. It wasn’t far off the look of their stock American twin but that black livery with gold pinstriping, the tastefully-stepped seat, seven-spoke black mag wheels with highlights and those lovely two-into one downpipes in American TT style that just looked perfect. So it was great to find a pristine example…

There was a time back in the late 1970s when ‘specials’ were all the rage. Hoping perhaps to attract new buyers from Harley, who dominated the market, it seemed as if most rival manufacturers were building so-called ‘factory customs’ and calling them ‘specials’. Most of these bikes, with their formula of stepped seats, higher ’bars and different exhausts, looked contrived to say the least – but I remember that Triumph’s T140D grabbed my attention at the time. It wasn’t far off the look of their stock American twin but that black livery with gold pinstriping, the tastefully-stepped seat, seven-spoke black mag wheels with highlights and those lovely two-into one downpipes in American TT style that just looked perfect. So it was great to find a pristine example to celebrate its 40th anniversary.…

Barn to be beautiful Ian Williets had the vision to see beyond a barn-find wreck – and the dedication to turn it into this pristine US-spec TR6 to add to his collection of cool classics WORDS: GARY PINCHIN PHOTOGRAPHY: GARY MARGERUM BELIEVE IT OR NOT, the stunning machine on the left was an entry in our Barn Find of the Year competition in 2018. The shot above shows owner and restorer Ian Williets with the ’58 Triumph TR6 as it looked in February last year. The bike was a wreck when Ian bought it at the April 2017 Stafford Show and carted it back to his Wiltshire home. He admits: “It looked pretty awful when I bought it, but I could see past the pile of junk on the floor.…

BELIEVE IT OR NOT, the stunning machine on the left was an entry in our Barn Find of the Year competition in 2018. The shot above shows owner and restorer Ian Williets with the ’58 Triumph TR6 as it looked in February last year. The bike was a wreck when Ian bought it at the April 2017 Stafford Show and carted it back to his Wiltshire home. He admits: “It looked pretty awful when I bought it, but I could see past the pile of junk on the floor. I always try to see the potential in something like that. The important original components were all there, like the wheel hubs, forks, top and bottom yokes. The engine and frame were matching numbers and the crankcases and gearbox were intact. “But it…

FOUNDRY MOTORCYCLE in Chichester have a reputation for creating some of the coolest bikes on the so called neo-custom bike scene. They create unique and super-clean streetrackers, scramblers, café racers or bobbers and are happy working on new-world retro bikes or customising old classics. This reworked 1977 Kawasaki Z650 B1 is typical of their work – a case of resurrecting an otherwise defunct classic that might have been destined for the breaker’s yard. Tom Simpson, the former blacksmith who owns Foundry Motorcycle, established his company with a simple ethos – not sticking rigidly to a formula to keep everything fresh. “I think my smithy background comes through,” he says. “It’s more organic rather than bolt-on. Most of the stuff on my bikes I make right here. I always make the exhausts flow…

SPECIAL CAST IN THE FOUNDRY Turning a ratty Z650 into this stripped-to-the-bones café racer meant doing a full restoration on the engine first before the custom work could begin FOUNDRY MOTORCYCLE in Chichester have a reputation for creating some of the coolest bikes on the so called neo-custom bike scene. They create unique and super-clean streetrackers, scramblers, café racers or bobbers and are happy working on new-world retro bikes or customising old classics. This reworked 1977 Kawasaki Z650 B1 is typical of their work – a case of resurrecting an otherwise defunct classic that might have been destined for the breaker’s yard. Tom Simpson, the former blacksmith who owns Foundry Motorcycle, established his company with a simple ethos – not sticking rigidly to a formula to keep everything fresh. “I…