The Vincent from earlier today might have been a little rich for most of us, so we dug up this 1966 Triumph Trophy. It is not original, but that is because it was raced by the seller’s father in the late sixties! There is some interesting history here and we would want copies of any period photos and race results that the seller may have. Find it here on eBay out of Gardnerville, Nevada where bidding is at $3,150 with no reserve and only 3 days left!
The most famous of all Tourist Trophy races is the Isle of Man TT. They close off the public highways and let everyone go full blast. We are not sure what races were around in the United States during the sixties, but we are sure there were a few. Can anyone list some events that this bike could have participated in on the west coast?
There is something fishy about this one. All of the pics in the ebay add have been photoshoped. The stand was added later. If it were real the bike would be resting on the exhaust. You can tell by the lack of shadows. As well as the texture of the rear tire is wrong. Who know why this was done but without current unaltered pics I would never bid on it.
Now that you mention it, the photos do look strange. I will contact the seller to see why they did that.
~ why is it so POORLY photoshop’d, embarrassing .
They raced those at Ascot on the oval and the TT track… ASA had a very active TT circuit back in the 60’s. They also raced those big four strokes in the desert, mostly on Rickman frames… That was before the two stroke Husky’s, Bultaco’s, Ossa’s and CZ’s.
The jack stand looks like it is fake. very strange. i love the bike though.
~ great video, Jesse!
the TT is planet Earth’s most dangerous sporting event.
It’s as if something else was underneath the bike and was replaced by that too-small object. Who would rest the weight of the bike on its exhaust pipes? Very fishy… the rear wheel is too small in scale compared to the front wheel and the concrete texture and bottom of the rear tire suffer from a poor Clone Tool technique.
is he trying to hide the large oil puddle that seems to be under any vintage Triumph?
Ok, I got an answer from the seller about the bad photoshop job. Here is what he had to say,
“Yes I did what I could because in order to take the bike out for more pictures, we’d be trying to take pictures in snow and the wooden stand that it was on in the pictures was awful. Just some more info. The motor was originally built by Les Edwards. The parts on the motor are now new, done by Charles Grant in Minden, NV. The bike has only been riden 50 miles at the most since it’s been redone. My dad raced from 1966-1974. He raced at Ascott, Lodi, Selenas, Anderson and several more that he can’t recount in the Bay Area. The winning bidder can talk to him directly if they want. Also, if my father wants to part with or make copies of any memorabillia to send with the bike that will have to be between him and the winning buyer. Please don’t hesitate to contact me with any more questions. Good luck.”
It was quite common to see a puddle of oil underneath British bikes back then. Unless it was a lake on the floor I wouldn’t be all that concerned about a couple of spots. That is a poor job of Photoshopping that stand in. In my neck of the woods, we used a simple triangular prop that the rear axle could rest against. It wasn’t very stable but it kept the machine upright for a spell. Question: Is that a Ceriani (I don’t know if I got the spelling right) front end on it? I recall them to be the rage back in the 60s.
I had one just like it, well almost, kind of, ya know. Mine was a 1967 650 Bonnie, white fiberglass tank w/candy blue paint on a similar style seat w/black upholstery. Just wanted a Triumph, bought it on a whim the day my son was born in 1969. My wife was a little pissed when I showed up at the hospital with a dozen roses and told her about “our” other new arrival. I didn’t keep it but about a year and sold it off for more than I paid for it ~$850, (1970 $), if I remember right. Just didn’t ride it much. I often think that maybe I could’ve, should’ve held onto it, it would’ve made a nice addition to my display when I show some of my cars. I’m looking for pictures of it and if I find one and someone can tell me how to upload it, I’ll post it. But my gosh, mine looked just like it. Yes it leaked, I kept mine in the carpeted family room with a tray underneath it. Didn’t want it to get dirty in the carport.
You bet those are Ceriani forks. I put a pair of those on a Honda 750 Cafe racer (a custom machined setup) I built in the 70’s. Wish i had them now for the stripped down retroed 1978 Bonneville I have now to complete the real racer look.