FRIDAY PHOTOS

I went to check out one of the coolest sites for vintage Flat Track photos this morning and it has been removed due to the closing of GeoCities web hosting. Hopefully someone will take notice and get the Flat Track Thunder site back up and running. In the meantime here were some photos I downloaded from the site before it disappeared:

TRIUMPH AUTO RACE BIKE

Here is a cool Triumph powered Japanese Auto Race bike. Auto Race is an event similar to speedway racing although the races are wagered on and the tracks are asphalt.

From the Dan Rouit Flat Track Museum:

"This rare Triumph powered racer was found in the early nineties under a wood pile, behind an antique store in Tokyo. Wayne Bialls, an American car collector from Phoenix, returned to the U.S. with his prize and proceeded with the restoration. When Bialls decided to sell the machine, he chose the VFT For Sale page and a quick call to Dan resulted in it being added to the growing museum collection. Dan’s good friend Aver Hensley, from Clovis, performed the bending of a proper set of handlebars, additional chroming and installation of the knee hook and number plates. The motorcycle was most likely raced until the early eighties."

Click here for more info on the Japanese Auto Race

JOHN HATELEY AT POMONA

Received some great photos from VFT's Dennis Suter of the Pomona WCFTS Vintage Race Saturday night. #98 is Triumph legend John Hateley on board Rod Lake's C&J 750 Triumph. John diced for the lead all night before settling for 2nd place behind Ricky Henson. Another former GNC star, Rick Hocking, was 3rd.





Thanks to Dennis for getting us these photos. Anyone who hasn't checked out his VFT site should definitely pay it a visit as it is one of the best flat track resources on the web. Tons of great stuff to look at...be warned in advance you may lose a few hours roaming around on it.

SITE UPDATES

This weekend proved to be too busy for the redesign. Look for an overhaul this week at some point. New layout...new design. Should be interesting.

WEEKEND CHANGES

This Sunday the site will be down as we revamp and prepare to launch a new and improved format. We don't typically post new stuff on weekends but in the event you come to the site on Sunday and it looks to be in pieces you know why.

TRIUMPH FLAT TRACK - PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE

Good luck to the guys from Bonneville Performance as they try to put some icing on the cake of a historical season this Saturday night at the AMA GNC Pomona half-mile.


Here's a photo from the recent British Rally in Virginia that BP's Bill Gately sent us. Next to the #25 Brian Phillips piloted bike is a 1970's Rickman framed 750 Triumph that Bill's brother Jim raced in AMA District 6 and 7 from 1970-76. Thanks to guys like the Gately bros. for keeping the past alive with beautiful machines like the #75 and giving us hope for an awesome future for Triumphs on the dirt tracks.

POMONA TIME!

It's time! After more than a month of waiting the AMA GNC finale at the Pomona, California half-mile has finally arrived. We will have a race report from the Bonneville Performance team up early next week.

SIDEBURN #4 OUT NOW!

The coolest Flat Track magazine on the planet has published another issue. BUY IT!

(click to see full size)

For more info check out the Sideburn website and blog.

SOLD***TRACKMASTER ROLLER FOR SALE***SOLD

GOT AN EMAIL FROM BIG D CYCLE TO LET US KNOW THE ROLLER AND PARTS LISTED HAVE ALL BEEN SOLD.

From Big D Cycle in Dallas:

Just wanted to inform your fan base that may be looking for a Dirt track project, that we have a nice Trackmaster chassis for sale.

This is a really nice rolling Trackmaster chassis for a Triumph twin. It has Ceriani fork tubes and triple clamps. This chassis has been prepped and is ready for a motor. The stand pictured is not included. It has a quick change rear wheel.

We are asking $2900 for the rolling chassis. We also have a brand new set of works performance shocks for this bike for $475, and a freshly rebuilt and tested complete ARD magneto for $900.

Thanks for your time,

Big D Cycle

We can be contacted at 214-339-2285 or bigdcycle@att.net. Our web site is http://www.bigdcycle.com

JOHNSON MOTORS AD

SUBMISSION MISSION

Received quite a few responses to our call for submissions the other day. Here are some great photos and a note from Mike "Stu" Stuhler of Stu's Shots R Us fame. Mike has sent in cool pics to us before and we appreciate his efforts. Anyone out there know who owns these bikes in the photos? Get in touch with the details.

Hi Brett!
I saw on your site the other day you were wanting more shots, so I got the hint and found these that I shot at Springfield on Labor Day W/E of '07.
I shot these during the pit walk through the night of the short track.
I don't know who owns this sweet little piece--or did--because I didn't see the owner around as we were walking through so I never had a chance to compliment them on what a fine and sano piece they had.
I'm not the connoisseur of the Brit flat trackers as they were just fazing out on the flat track scene as I started getting into it in early-mid '74. Mike Kidd was out hurt through the better part of '75 if I remember correctly and Aldana was running a Triumph for a while there. I also remember seeing the last of the Norton's about that time, as well. In August of '75 I did see Sonny Buress Natl #69 at the time win Peoria on a Triumph. He was a TT vet from the Pacific NW area and was awesome. The last I heard a couple of years ago he was running AHDRA drag bikes. You also had Morehead and Billy Eves running them through about the end of '75 or real early '76. And of course Gary Scott's TT bikes. Unfortunately by that time the XR dominance had pretty much taken hold give a few races here or there until the Honda's came along in the early '80s.
Anyway, this bike attached was just worth the time and effort to get these shots since it was so sano and took me back to the beginning of all this to me. With your level of doing this and followers I'm sure someone will come up with the owner and maybe even a little history on this sweet piece to fill us all in. They might even recognize the other one they had in the trailer that looked darn near as clean and sweet from what I could tell at that angle. And if someone does I want to tip my hat to them when they do!
Thanks man and enjoy--keep up the great work. You have a great site and it's really nice to see the passion you put into it!

Mike

OLD SCHOOL FRIDAY

From the Flat Track Thunder page:

(Harold Ball)

(Bob Chaves)

(Joe Godsoe)

(2 Unknowns)

BONNEVILLE PERFORMANCE FEATURE IN BSH MAGAZINE

Check out this article from the August edition of British custom bike magazine Back Street Heroes.

HEY YOU!!!

Here's the deal...The race tracks around here have gone silent for the winter. Shooting photos of the bikes at the track will have to wait until spring. The GNC races finish up in a couple weeks in Pomona. It's also getting to be that time of year where work picks up and I don't have nearly as much time to scour the internet in search of content.

So we need your help. We need photos. We need stories. We need anything you got...trust me people want to see it. Whether its pics you took at the races this year or back in 1969 we want them. Doesn't matter if it's a bike you just found in a barn or one you've completely restored...we want to see it. Old ads, magazine articles, posters or programs are all better if you share them. Street tracker, flat tracker, Hinckley, Meriden, for sale, or just bought...get us the info and photos and help us get through these cold times with some cool stuff to look at. If you don't have something...help us find someone who does...no excuses...we want to see Triumph flat track stuff.

Get in touch at: triumphflattrack@yahoo.com

CHUCK PALMGREN AND GENE ROMERO

Chuck Palmgren leading Gene Romero off the turn. How about Palmgren's leathers! Photo by Bill Barrett.

DRAGS AND RACING STREET TRACKER

This bike has made the rounds on the internet and in print but I figured it's so cool we had to add it to the site. Here is a modern Hinckley Triumph street tracker built by Dino Romano of Drags & Racing Motorcycles in Italy.



For more of Dino's creations check out the Drags and Racing website.

DON CASTRO PHOTOS BY BILL BARRETT

Got these old Don Castro photos from Bill Barrett. He was nice enough to share these along with a bunch more of the old Triumph riders in action. We will post more of Bill's work in the upcoming weeks.

(Castro checking out the track with BSA's Jim Rice)

BATTLE OF THE TRIUMPHS

Check out this action from the Timonium short track. #30 Jason Isennock vs. #99s Chris Klinefelter both on Triumph 750s.

1974 TRACKMASTER TRIUMPH SHORT TRACK BIKE

From the Dan Rouit Flat Track Museum Collection:

One of three built for the 1974 racing season, this one was ridden by Rob Morrison. The other two were ridden by Mark Williams #70, and John Hateley #98. The frame and seat are Trackmaster, tank was made by Ken Maely, Barnes wheels and Ceriani forks complete the chassis. The engine is a BSA 441 sleeved down to 350cc’s to comply with the 360 cc displacement rule. The bike is badged Triumph as BSA was already out of business at this time. The tuner of this mount was Chuck “Feets” Minert.

BONNEVILLE PERFORMANCE STREET TRACKER

Here is Bill Gately's latest creation...built for a customer in Italy:





Specifications:

Engine: Bonneville Performance/WISECO 1200 cc 360 degree crank 101 mm bore 68 mm stroke 10.5:1 compression

96 rear wheel HP 82 ft. lbs. torque @ 4700 rpm

Carburetion – Bonneville performance 42 mm Mikuni HSR Carburetor Kit

Ignition – Triumph twin CDI based 9500 rpm rev limit

Oil Cooling System – Bonneville Performance Oil Cooler kit

Frame - Bonneville performance Frame and swing arm 4130 Chrome molly

Gearing - 520 chain 17 front 43 rear

Wheel base - 55.5 inches – adjustable to 57.5 inches

Steering head angle - 24.5 degrees

Front suspension - modified (lengthened) Yamaha R6 43 mm 3 way adjustable cartridge forks Billet triple clamps with 1 mm to 7 mm offsets

Rear suspension - Penske 3 way adjustable mono-shock

Ground clearance - 10.5 inches

Seat height - 31.5 inches

Front wheel - Performance Machine forged aluminum 19 x 3.00 Dunlap DTR120

Rear wheel: Performance Machine forged aluminum 19 x 3.50 Dunlap DTR 140

Front brakes - 2 - Beringer master cylinder and twin 6 piston Aerotec calipers with Suzuki K4 298 mm Beringer rotors

Rear brake - Beringer floating master cylinder and 4 piston floating Performance Machine Caliper with A&A Racing 10.5 inch rotor

Wet weight - (2.4 gallons gas, oil and battery) 351 lbs.

To find out more about this bike and how to get your own custom Triumph street tracker check out Bonneville Performance.

ALAN SPARKS' PROJECT

Received an email from Alan Sparks out in California. He just picked up an old 500cc Triumph and is looking for help in tracing the history as he restores it. Here's what he had to say:

Just purchased this project bike in Auburn, CA. I was told that the bike was purchased from the widow of the owner who raced the bike out of Placerville, CA. No numbers on the motor although it's a 500cc Unit Construction Triumph. I've been e-mailing back and forth with a guy in Sonora, CA who rebuilds these and he said that triumph motors built for race bikes sometimes did not have numbers on them. Also, the cylinder barrel fins have been drilled out (race application?). In comparison with other motors, it appears to match up with late 50's/early 60's units.

Frame number is AM 405 1556. Don't know the manufacturer (hoping somebody out there will know). Fiberglass gas tank is pretty cool with the dual aluminum flip top caps. Any info on the tank and frame would be nice.

If you have any info that could help Alan, please get in touch.

VINTAGE TRIUMPH RACING PHOTOS

We've had a lot of AHRMA photos on here lately and while its great to see the old bikes racing today, it's awesome to see the action shots of them back in the day. Here are a few from the Flat Track Thunder site: