{"id":39417,"date":"2016-08-16T16:03:58","date_gmt":"2016-08-16T20:03:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/motorcyclemojo.com\/?p=39417"},"modified":"2020-03-23T15:06:48","modified_gmt":"2020-03-23T19:06:48","slug":"custom-triumph","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/motorcyclemojo.com\/2016\/08\/custom-triumph\/","title":{"rendered":"Rusty Bobber"},"content":{"rendered":"

A chance meeting with the owner of a neighbouring shop led to a search for parts and a new build<\/p>\n

Welder and fabricator Corrie Brewster was living life in the fast lane. His busy shop, Brewster West Industries in Turner Valley, Alta., was seeing a fair amount of traffic through its doors. But, because his house was on the property, Brewster would end up working long hours and would never really leave the shop behind, even when he did go home.<\/p>\n

\"RustySo he decided to separate work from home, and bought a property in nearby Okotoks.
\n\u201cIt was time to slow down a bit, and simply change gears,\u201d Brewster says, adding, \u201cThat meant moving away from the shop.\u201d Although a passionate off-road motorcyclist with a racing background, Brewster has also owned a small number of street bikes. \u201cWith my move to Okotoks, though, it crossed my mind that I now have a bit of a commute, and I thought a little Triumph bobber would be fun to ride back and forth.\u201d
\nBut what made Brewster think a classic Triumph would be a good basis for a custom build? It turns out, Brewster West Industries is just across the street from Motorrad Performance, a specialty motorcycle shop owned by Paul Shore. Motorrad had relocated from Calgary to Turner Valley, and because Brewster\u2019s is a metal fabrication shop, Shore began popping in.<\/p>\n

\u201cPaul was coming around to get some help with a few pieces for a Triumph bobber he was building, and then he brought the project over,\u201d Brewster says. \u201cWhen I saw it, I thought the Triumph was really cool, and mentioned to Paul that I thought I needed to build one of my own.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bits and Pieces<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"CustomWith that simple comment, Brewster began accumulating parts for his inaugural full-out custom build. The first item he got was a 1967 Triumph frame found on eBay, and when it arrived in Turner Valley, he also bought a David Bird hardtail section from Lowbrow Customs. The project waited for a couple of months, and then Brewster got serious about finding running gear for the bobber.<\/p>\n

\u201cI found a guy in Calgary who had abandoned his 1969 Triumph Bonneville build, but the bike had a rebuilt motor with a 750 big-bore kit,\u201d Brewster explains. \u201cHe\u2019d given up on the bike, and he wouldn\u2019t sell the motor separately from the rest of the parts he had.\u201d No problem. Brewster simply bought the bike, kept the engine and many other pieces, including the distinctive Triumph \u201ceyebrow\u201d tank badges and Lucas electrical components, and sold the rest.<\/p>\n

Work Begins<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"TriumphWith the frame and engine in the shop, Brewster got down to business. He sourced an oil-in-frame Triumph front fork, and because he was after a low and chubby look, he managed to squeeze a 4.50-18-inch Dunlop K70 between the legs. Both front and rear wheels are 18 inches in diameter, and Triumph aficionado Bob Klassen of Calgary built them up around vintage Triumph spool hubs. Components for the wheels were sourced from Buchanan\u2019s Spoke & Rim of Azusa, California.<\/p>\n

The lower fork legs were modified by removing the stock fender mounting bosses, and the area around the upper oil seal was machined down to accept rubber gaiters. Because of his penchant for off-road motorcycles, Brewster mounted a set of Pro Taper motocross handlebars in a set of Yamaha YZ450 rubber-mounted clamps. To measure both speed and kilometres travelled, an aftermarket Emgo speedometer tops off the front end, together with a reproduction Lucas headlight bucket that incorporates an amp gauge and lighting switch \u2013 all on custom-made brackets.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t like to see exposed springs, and I didn\u2019t want a sissy bar or any rear fender struts,\u201d Brewster says of his Triumph design. To make this happen, he suspended the solo seat on a shock absorber system originally intended to fit a mountain bike. The components sit under the top frame rail, and between the twin-Mikuni carburetors. The ribbed rear fender is thick 14-gauge sheet metal, and Brewster mounted it to the frame on the custom brackets.<\/p>\n

The slim gas tank is meant to fit a 1963 Triumph, and it\u2019s been rubber-mounted and modified to sit about three-quarters of an inch lower than stock. Brewster also had to relocate the petcocks, because in the stock location, which had them sitting vertically, the taps wouldn\u2019t clear the carburetors.<\/p>\n

Powerplant<\/strong><\/p>\n

And that brings us to the engine. As mentioned, the motor had been sold as \u201crebuilt,\u201d but Brewster and Klassen pulled the head and side covers to inspect the quality of the work. For the most part, they were happy with what they saw, but there were a couple of issues that needed to be addressed. Most importantly, as the engine went back together, Brewster attempted to kick it over, and the kick-starter jammed. That led them to find a broken kick-starter gear, and upon further inspection, the wrong gear detent pawl \u2013 both were fairly straightforward fixes, but heart rates had momentarily been raised.<\/p>\n

Lucas points were replaced with an electronic ignition, and Brewster chose to fit a Boyer Bransden system. To keep the Triumph on target with its minimalist theme, all wires are routed inside the frame tubes, and the wiring junctions are inside the headlight bucket.<\/p>\n

The Triumph\u2019s parallel-twin engine configuration, with its dual exhaust ports facing more or less forward, gave Brewster the opportunity to do something a little more radical with his header pipes.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted the exhaust to cross over in front of the motor, and still fit inside the front frame downtube,\u201d Brewster explains. \u201cAnd I was going to build them myself.\u201d But that\u2019s when he heard about Factory Metal Works in Salisbury, North Carolina. A fabrication shop specializing in parts for custom motorcycles, Factory Metal Works was willing to build Brewster\u2019s one-off crossover exhaust pipes. \u201cIt turned out that I could commission them to build what I wanted for less than what I could buy my own material.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rusty Appearance<\/strong><\/p>\n

Throughout the build process, Brewster knew he didn\u2019t want a fancy paint job. Instead, he wanted the motorcycle to look rusty, as though it had been left abandoned for more than 40 years behind a barn on a rural property. He researched rust paint, and found an oxidation product from Modern Masters of Valencia, California.<\/p>\n

Essentially, reactive metal paint is first applied to the parts, and then a water-based acidic activator is sprayed on to promote almost instantaneous rust. Once the desired level of patina has been reached, the surface is neutralized and finally finished with a layer of clear coat. All of this work was done by BodeWorks (pronounced \u201cbody works\u201d) Customs and Collision in the nearby town of Black Diamond.<\/p>\n

For all the bike\u2019s rust, Brewster also wanted some clean and shiny pieces for contrast.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you were across the street, you\u2019d think, \u2018Look at that piece of crap.\u2019 But, as you got closer, you\u2019d realize it\u2019s really not that old, and some care and attention went into its creation,\u201d Brewster says. Although the Triumph has been ridden, for now, Brewster plans to show it a bit before really starting to abuse it.
\nBrewster concludes, \u201cThe goal was always to use it up and wear it out so I could eventually build it all over again.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A chance meeting with the owner of a neighbouring shop led to a search for parts and a new build Welder and fabricator Corrie Brewster was living life in the fast lane. His busy shop, Brewster West Industries in Turner Valley, Alta., was seeing a fair amount of traffic through its doors. But, because his […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":51036,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[373,1168],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nCustom Motorcycle Build Triumph Bobber - Featured Bike<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/motorcyclemojo.com\/2016\/08\/custom-triumph\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Custom Motorcycle Build Triumph Bobber - Featured Bike\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A chance meeting with the owner of a neighbouring shop led to a search for parts and a new build Welder and fabricator Corrie Brewster was living life in the fast lane. 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