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With all this rain we have had in the past month, the rare warm and sunny days have triggered memories of days long gone, days when I rode a British bike everywhere. Now in my riding days (70-76), Triumphs were still in production, and parts were almost available – there were 4 or 5 dealers in the Baltimore Washington area, and Triumph distribution was just north of Baltimore! Since those days, a lot has changed. BSA went out of business in 72, Triumph finally failed in the 80s (tho they’ve “come back” with new designs), and old British iron has become even rarer. So to humour my dreams, I’ve done a lot of web searches and – I’ve developed an interest in old thumpers – one of the big British singles. Something about those old BSA Victor Specials is appealing.
I’ve got a decent shed now to keep it out of the rain and snow, got the tools to manage it, I even have alternate transportation (the car) for the majority of my time, the bike would be for fun only … Now, all I need to do is find one somewhat locally. Or perhaps an older Triumph 500 or 750 twin of the early 70s – one with the shifter where it belongs! The picture above is my old Tiger 750 (single carb). After an unfortunate tussle with the side of a pickup truck, the original frame was tweaked and I located a ’67 650 frame to put it all in. I put on a lightweight rear fender, removed or trimmed the sidecovers, and even found an old aluminium BSA gas tank to save more weight. I kept the front chrome fender for looks … I sold it off to get into sports cars – as I couldn’t afford both … and was trying to “settle down”! Ah, who knew …