When we hear the term ‘sand cast,’ we think of very early Honda CB750s and their famous sandpaper-rough engine cases. But it’s not a technique restricted to big factories or large-scale production. This elegant, stripped down Triumph 6T Thunderbird is a showcase for small-scale casting, and earned its builder an invitation to the Biltwell People’s…
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There’s something strangely compelling about motorcycles built solely to race down the Bonneville salt flats. Stripped of all fripperies, they’re designed to operate in a hostile environment that tests both man and machine. This Triumph 6T was built by Dick Smith of The Baron’s Speed Shop in the UK, and it has that odd beauty…
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As a kid, Bobby Sirkegian had better “What I Did On My Summer Vacation” stories than the rest of his school chums. Already making a name for himself in early Southern California drag racing, running and winning against full grown men, 13-year-old Bobby traveled with his bike-dealer father to Wendover, Utah in 1953 to take…
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Clay Rathburn of Atom Bomb specializes in low-key customs, the kind that have a charm that grows on you. This is his latest bike, a 1957 Triumph Thunderbird built for Corey Theuerkauf. ‘Corey’s dad Tim started gathering parts to build himself a Triumph twenty years ago,’ says Clay. ‘But he recently passed away unexpectedly. His…
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The other day, a hefty and quite remarkable book arrived in the mail. It’s called Modern Motorcycle Mechanics, and it’s the seventh…
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What were you riding when you were 13 years old? In 1953, Californian kid Bobby Sirkegian was racing in the equivalent of…
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Uli Brée, the organizer of the huge Triumph Tridays event in Austria, dropped us a line with details of his personal bike.…
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Triumph has used the Thunderbird moniker for four completely different motorcycles since WWII. The first appeared in 1949—predating Ford’s use of the…
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The latest build to come out of Clay Rathburn’s workshop in the Blue Ridge mountains of Virginia is this lovely 1962 Triumph…
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