Re: 1940 Super 8 160 Model 1803 Project

Posted by Jim On 2010/10/5 9:56:05

Hi Peter and Terry, the old cycle in the background is a '57 Triumph TR-6B Trophybird Scrambler. It has a great bit of history. Bought new from Johnson Motors - Pasadena, California by a fellow named Joe Presley. Joe raced it in many of the famous Southern California races such as the Catalina Grand-pre, Big Bear, and Green Horn races. Joe was AMA number 69 so he did pretty fair. The bike was bought from Joe's widow by Al Baker Sr. and all the street equipment such as generator, instruments, toolbox, head and tail lamp, horn, wiring, and other normally damaged or lost bits were reinstalled in brand new condition. My very dear friend, the late Clyde Earl, former national warranty manager with the Western US Triumph distributor bought the bike from Al Baker. Clyde rode the bike on many of the Southern California vintage Brit bike rides. Clyde sold the bike to the late Chuck Clayton, owner of the very recently defunct weekly motorcycle magazine Cycle News. I bought it from Chuck about 20 years ago. My wife and I have logged about 10,000 miles of riding it over the years. While we don't use it as often as we used to, and it is not as coveted as some of the antique cars, it is my most prized possession because I still love old motorcycles and miss many of the friends from those days that have passed on.

Thanks for asking, I don't have a lot of Brit bike fans to chat with here in the desert Southwest. I will post a picture next time I roll it out.