Triumph Restoration

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We’ve shifted gears . . .
. . . at our little office, from the lull mentioned in the last blog, to pre-production mode on a number of book projects. No matter how long I stay in this business (more years that I want to admit) I’m always amazed at how long it takes to actually produce a book. In addition to the Composites Materials book mentioned in the last blog, we are also starting work on the How to Fix Your American V-Twin book from the Shadley Brothers, and another Triumph Restoration book from Garry Chitwood (pre-unit bikes this time).

Master Triumph builders Garry Chitwood assembles the motor on a TR6.

On The Road Again
Though I didn't accrue many frequent flyer miles over the summer, I'm racking them up now. As I write in fact. The bird I'm on today is headed to Birmingham, Alabama, home to Sullivans Birmingham and a certain Triumph expert by the name of Garry Chitwood. Garry has agreed to assemble two pre-unit 650cc Triumphs for my cameras over the next week, which should keep me running pretty hard.

Two weeks ago . .
. . .I spent another week on the road, with Mark and Paul Shadley from Whitman, Massachusetts, shooting images for the already mentioned Fix Your American V-Twin MC book. Mark and Paul epitomize the work-hard, play hard philosophy, and a week with the boys always takes me a week of recovery when I get home. I did come back with enough images to start on the layout for their book. The book is actually turning into a partnership – we do the rough layouts in our office and then send those down to Mark and Paul for copy and captions. The process is a little tedious, but it all gets done in the end. The book covers all the basic repairs you're likely to tackle at home, from checking the voltage on the charging circuit to changing tires and overhauling that Keihin carburetor.

Our new maintenance and repair book will cover service on both Keihin and Mikuni carburetors.

J Bird
It's nice to have talented friends, in this case I'm referring to Rob Roehl, fabricator for Donnie Smith. Rob has agreed to bend up the tin I need to finish the floor of the old J Bird. Because it's hard to get the car to Rob, or Rob to the car, we've come up with a plan: Tim makes templates in light board and Rob bends the actual tin. I started on the tunnel first, with a framework or buck (shown nearby) that I used to wrap the board over. Sometime after Turkey Day, Rob can cut the sheet metal to match the templates and bend it to the shape of my buck. In sheet metal terms, this is a pretty straightforward deal, but it's also makes nice simple how to project that you will find on the web site later this year. And it does illustrate how you can get the fabricator of your choice to bend up a piece or two without taking the whole project to his or her shop.

I'm hoping that this will be only the first in a series of simple sheet metal projects, done with Rob on a continuing basis. The goal is a series of start-to-finish sheet metal sequences, some simple and some complex, some based on two-wheel projects and some on four. Each with something to show our many readers.

By the time you read this blog I'll be back in the saddle, sorting the pictures from Birmingham, beginning the layout of the Garry Chitwood book and trying to finish the layout for the Shadley Bros book.

It's all work, but it's all fun, so stay tuned.

Building a mock up of the tunnel required first building a simple buck, then covering the buck with light board, cut to fit.