Red Triumph T100R Daytona Custom

THIS IS the only bike I’ve customised. I did a Honda Z50 restoration some years ago but this is the only bike I’ve built so far. It was a long process and I think it was a bit too much for me to do as my first bike customisation. It was only supposed to be something that was pretty simple and it kind of snowballed into something a lot bigger.

I bought the Triumph from America about three years ago, imported it here, it was standard, and it’s taken me about two years to build it.

Nothing worked, nothing went well. I went through four or five rear fenders that I didn’t like. I think the only thing that was easy was the paint. Kyle Smith at Smith Concepts did a really great job and it was pretty well priced too so I was happy with his work.

Engine parts are hard to get. It’s an old bike and it’s a rare model: a T100R Daytona. The motor is completely rebuilt but standard. I wasn’t looking for too much performance, just something that was reliable and runs well. The motor was running but it wasn’t running well. The head was cracked. Someone had made up a custom manifold and fitted a single Mikuni carb; the Daytona is supposed to have twin Amals so I sourced a pair of Mark 11 Amals and the correct manifold. I couldn’t get a new head so I had it repaired. Everything else is pretty much standard.

The brass parts all came from the Factory Metal Works in America, a good company that makes some quality parts.

This bike will go up for sale pretty soon then I’ll use the money to fund a another project, hopefully a Harley-Davidson or something similar.

Words by Daniel; photos by George