Back to the Future Triumph Trophy Motorcycle
This old style Triumph Trophy was a steal.
![Triumph motorcycle](http://i0.wp.com/www.ozbike.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Back-to-the-Future-Triumph-Trophy-Ozbike_03.jpg?fit=1300%2C845&ssl=1)
MY DAD has a small collection of British bikes: a BSA and two ’66 Triumph Trophys, one original and the one I painted up, a rigid bobber. When a group of friends said they were going to the Mooneyes Custom Show in Japan last year, I said, “What the Hell, I’m going too.” For a long time I’ve been wanting to build a bike and Mooneyes was the fuel to get me really going, so when I got home, I was like, “Dad, I need a project; I’m taking a bike, sorry.”
I grabbed the rigid Triumph, stripped it down, painted the tank and guards, put different handlebars on it, made a sissy-bar using the top off a fence post. It was already a rigid so I pretty much just cleaned up the frame.
![Triumph motorcycle](http://i0.wp.com/www.ozbike.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Back-to-the-Future-Triumph-Trophy-Ozbike_04.jpg?resize=708%2C505&ssl=1)
![Triumph motorcycle](http://i0.wp.com/www.ozbike.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Back-to-the-Future-Triumph-Trophy-Ozbike_01.jpg?resize=708%2C518&ssl=1)
![Triumph motorcycle](http://i0.wp.com/www.ozbike.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Back-to-the-Future-Triumph-Trophy-Ozbike_05.jpg?resize=708%2C519&ssl=1)
Originally, it had no front brake so it was a bit scary coming down the road so I laced a 21-inch rim to an original front hub.
I need a new exhaust for it. It’s got the twin exhausts on one side and it just scrapes as soon as you start to lean.
I wanted to get it finished for the Throttle Roll bike show in Sydney. Putting the bike back together last minute, it was me, dad and my brother Rick, jammin away; we finished 10.30 pm the night before; the paint was still a little fresh. I was riding it to Throttle Roll when it started leaking fuel. I had to stop and put a kit through the carby. Still, riding to and from Throttle Roll, about 50 km, was not bad for its first ride.
![Triumph motorcycle](http://i0.wp.com/www.ozbike.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Back-to-the-Future-Triumph-Trophy-Ozbike_08.jpg?resize=708%2C741&ssl=1)
![Triumph motorcycle](http://i0.wp.com/www.ozbike.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Back-to-the-Future-Triumph-Trophy-Ozbike_09.jpg?resize=708%2C442&ssl=1)
![Amal carby](http://i0.wp.com/www.ozbike.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Back-to-the-Future-Triumph-Trophy-Ozbike_10.jpg?resize=708%2C617&ssl=1)
I’ve got some more painting to do on it: trace some gold-leaf onto it, pinstriping, things like that. I plan on riding it for a while, and once she’s not looking too happy, I’ll give it a full rebuild.
Kyle Smith from Smith Concepts in Brookvale gave me a few pointers on the painting and said if I needed help to give him a call. Thanks Kyle. Thanks also to Anthony Corona at Custom Body Works for the last minute paint supplies, the girlfriend Cassie for putting up with my late-night shed time, and an extra thanks to my dad for letting me steal his bike.
![Triumph motorcycle](http://i0.wp.com/www.ozbike.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Back-to-the-Future-Triumph-Trophy-Ozbike_06.jpg?resize=708%2C442&ssl=1)
![Triumph motorcycle](http://i0.wp.com/www.ozbike.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Back-to-the-Future-Triumph-Trophy-Ozbike_07.jpg?resize=708%2C499&ssl=1)
![Triumph motorcycle](http://i0.wp.com/www.ozbike.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Back-to-the-Future-Triumph-Trophy-Ozbike_02.jpg?resize=708%2C553&ssl=1)
words by Marco; photos by George