Father-Son build - 1953 Triumph Speed Twin bobber

[Keith602]

Looking forward to the next round of updates!

[C.Johnston]

Did some more work today...

Started off by killing 4 of these mother fuckers AT NIGHT? they were bigger but rigor mortis set in and they got all bent


then shot some paint on the frame.. oil tank dried nicely

Prep pays off






now dry!


Then after that I built a spice rack for my old lady's birthday. It's made out of old barn board, left edges all rustic and what not.

[skiierman]

I would have liked to seen the frame raw and cleared, but I cant wait to see where this is heading. Spice shelfs looking good too.

[axelillo_PR]

Spice rack could be lower

[C.Johnston]

Spice rack could be lower

I prefer a bigger rack

[C.Johnston]

Got the oil tank cured. Rattle can, no clear, no sanding, no polishing


Speaking of polishing.... Rocker box done


Then put crank case on the table and got stuck on the cam gears. Normal gear pullers are too deep so special tool was ordered as well as gasket kit, head gasket, some tires and some other shit..


Also pulled off the tank badges to do some custom work.. Will polish off the raised area and perimeter once the paint hardens.

[C.Johnston]

Well I am back at home in Toronto for 3 weeks so probably not much is going to get done on the bike. But I did finish the badges before I left...


And then I went to one of the biggest vintage motorcycle swap meets in Ontario last weekend after we had a house party so that was interesting lol... we were a little slow that morning.

But I managed to pick up a newer and older style stator/rotor, $5 for the pair with working electrics. Also found a spare pair of rocker boxes (one of mine the pushrod skipped and broke a chunk off so now I can replace that one and have a back up pair) plus the engine mount cap for preunit for a whopping $10...

Then came what I originally had wanted to do.. 16" Harley rear, re-laced to a unit triumph hub - meaning better rear brake! I will also keep the 18" sprung hub preunit rear because it's bad ass.


this is sort of what a 16" rear will look like




pic from instagram @cbj187

[dirty_thirty]

Subbed! So hyped I found this. I'm starting on a 67 Triumph I picked up last month.

[C.Johnston]

was back in Toronto for 3 weeks.. back in Kingston now so I can wrench.. Garage is a mess again - everything got piled into it when we went back to Toronto no nothing can happen until it gets cleaned up again! however....

Got sent a spare gear that had broken tooth but it won't quite...work....


woops...

anyways got the 16" rear on with a 650 bonneville rear brake as well as a 650 bonne forks, brake, and wheel with the pre unit triples. now it's got better brakes all the way around which is nice.... or should i run the 18" rear sprung hub??? idk.... open to suggestions.

also put a later model tank on which i think i may run instead


and this is why i like taking photos for people... doing things for people makes you feel good!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/31387329@N07/

[C.Johnston]

Since the last post was such a resounding hit I thought I'd update it some more..

Finally got the crankcase split. Needed 2 speciality tools for it - a cam gear puller and a crank gear puller.

All the gears off....


Now to split, easy right? wrong.. you can't pry on to pull them apart because you'll ruin the gasket mounting face and get an oil leak. anyways, the crank bearings was holding it together we figured, so out came the torch....

Here you can see one of the bearings.. I think I will probably replace it with a sealed type.


and here's a look at the bottom


That night there was a buttload of rain and it was unseasonably warm.. which means there was, no joke, hundreds of frogs.. some met their demise.

[Bronzit]

I wanna see a side shot with that tank on!

[C.Johnston]

I'm starting the boring process of body work so you will have to wait and see! hope to have tank and tin in primer by the end of the day.. spent hours filling holes and stripping/straightening it.. currently waiting for filler to dry on the tin.. haven't started on the tank yet.

The red tank is the correct tank with smaller badges and chrome strip but the gold one is off a later pre unit bonne. I sort of like the badges better on the gold tank. They use the big gate style badges.

They are both the same size, use the same mounting points, and are the same shape.

red tank.


gold tank

[Nick475]

Great work bud! Looks like a real quality restoration

[C.Johnston]

my bars came in so i did a mock up..


primed the bottom half of the rear fender...


and what do you think Rob Ford?


Mayor approved.

[C.Johnston]

Got some work done today with the help of my girlfriend.

"Hey remember the time you said you wanted to help me with my bike?"

Polishing the luggage rack after stripping down the tank of hardware, knee pads, etc...


Then we busted out the DA and body filler to do work ...


Then shot it with some primer