In 1968 I paid $700 for a one-year old Triumph 650 Trophy from a friend. He had ridden it from Washington, DC to Laguna Beach, CA for the summer and, 3 months later, made the return trip. Eventually, over the next several months, I added stainless steel fenders, stripped & painted gas tank black, bolted-on apehangers and extended the forks 10" over. A few clutch & brake cables broke, too. Georgetown was a well known hangout back then. Brit-Iron was very popular, more so than the Harleys while the opposite was true in California. A double-parked taxi with bus coming in other direction while doing 80mph forced me to dump the bike near DuPont Circle, but resulted in just a bent footpeg and handlebar with slight scratch on slider. Me, a huge, gaping hole in the seat of my pants from sliding down the road on my arse!
1967 Triumph 650 Chopper (1971 Photo)
Around 1970 went with Jack down to AEE Choppers in Buena Park, CA and bought bolt-on hardtail, tall sissybar and custom seat before returning to Santa Cruz. 21" and 18" alloy rims, TT pipes, early Triumph oil tank, 32mm Amal Concentric Bowl carb, coffin tank and assorted items were purchased elswhere. Rebuilt the top-end and this pix shows the results. Later, chrome 16" rear rim, chrome octangle oil bag, Sportster gas tank, no sissybar (just fender brace) and relocated coils behind the tranny. It was an extremely fast sled. Used to ride it over the High Street pedestrian bridge in Santa Cruz. =8^)
1973 Triumph 750 T140RV Bonneville (1973 Photo)
When Triumph introduced the more potent and larger 1973 Bonneville 750 with the 5-spd box and front disc brake I had no choice but to buy one which meant selling the '67 chop. The new Triumph was quicker, faster, better handling and had superb brakes. It also had more vibration. I still recall that night when Jack, also riding an identical Bonny, raced me from Big Sur to Carmel Highlands. We were maniacs as it took a good 15min for the 3rd member of our group to rejoin us on his 650 Triumph. A few months later, 2nd gear blew & Triumph was on strike meaning no parts available. Dealer forced to take bike back.
1972 Triumph 650 T120R Bonneville (Stock Photo)
Several months later, snapped up a used '72 Triumph 650 Bonneville from the local dealer. It had a black gas tank but was otherwise pretty much stock. One of the more obscure features on that model was heavier flywheel vs earlier years. The extra low-end grunt was noticable as it was unaffected by the strong headwinds along the coastal roads. Unfortunately, it sucked the RH exhaust valve while enroute to Laguna Seca motorcycle races which, in turn, destroyed the head. Due to being between jobs, had to either fix it or keep up the payments so decided to let dealer take it off my hands.
1968 Triumph 650 TR6R Trophy (1977 Photo)
Was the 4th owner of this 1968 Triumph 650 Trophy in 1976. The other two were friends and had met the original owner when he first sold it to a buddy. In fact, winded it up the day I got it near my home which resulted in a rod poking through the cases. Turned out that the flywheel was shaved and installed with the wrong tensile strength bolts. Replaced the case and swapped crank for oem version plus restored the gas tank back to original factory look. Entire front end came off a CB750K and had pair of super loud airhorns installed. Sold it to Jack who put the '73 5-spd tranny and 750 Morgo kit in. My last Trump.
