Triton

Cookson

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In may 2006 I decided I needed a project bike to play with, well I've alway's been a fan of british iron & already have a BSA that I restored 3 years ago, I also fancied building a proper Cafe Racer.

So after a bit of homework & searching a suitable wreck was purchased.

Frame is a 1956 Norton wideline featherbed
Engine is a 1963 Unit T120 650 Bonneville with 750 Morgo big bore kit

The day the Triton arrived in my workshop
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The strip down begins
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Engine Out
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After cleaning the frame down
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The frame has gone to a local engineers to be de-lugged, also new front Cerriani GP forks have been fitted, wheel spacers have been made, engine mounts have been modified to get rid of the standard alloy adaptor plates, a conical rear hub has been modified & fitted & also brake plate torque arms have been made.

The hub's have been polished & have now gone to have new valanced alloy rim's & stainless spokes, should have them back in a couple of weeks.

A new hand built polished alloy fuel tank & oil tank should be arriving in a couple of weeks, these were ordered about 10 weeks ago.

The speedo & rev counter are ready for collecting, they have been rebuilt/refurbished & calibrated.

The crank has been re-ground, balanced & a keyway repaired.
The con rods have been checked & re-sized & new shells
The barrels have been re-bored & new high comp pistons
The head has new valve seat's, guides & valves also ported & polished

My intention is to build a 60's based/styled cafe racer but with modern CNC machining & materials

I will update this thread as & when new stuff happen's or arrives, I have been working on it for about 8 months now but things are starting come together, at last, slowly, slowly, catchy monkey.

:D
 
There's some nice bits on that bike. The front brakes different - It looks like a Norton hub but SLS both sides, what is it?

John Tickle top yolk by the look of it. Like Rocking horse shit to track down.

The sidestand is one of those dodgy cheapo universal jobs that either crush the frame of slide round the tube.

Thats a late T140 primary chaincase isn't it? The 63 had an inspection cover for setting the timing.

Is that a 9 stud head? I had a 63 T120 that wen't like billyo but kept taking the head gasket out.

Whats with the cross over rocker oil feed?

I was never a fan of the Unit motor in the featherbed, I put a pre unit in my Triton.

I do like Brit bikes. Keep posting :thumb
 
Front hub is a Grimeca 4LS.

Not sure about the top yoke but you may be right, it's not going back on tho as I have Cerianni forks & yokes.

You may have solved the primary case mystery as I was'nt sure, all the T120 casings I've seen do, as you say, have an inspection cover.

Yes the head is a 9 stud, so hopefully no gasket problems.

As for the oil feed pipe :nenau I think the last person who owned this bike, did'nt have a clue about bikes or anything mechanical for that matter, everything & I mean everything internally & externally was wrecked.

:)
 
I wouldn't have recognised the Grimeca it looks different from how I remembered them.

This was the one I put to together 26 years ago. what every teenager should have at the bottom of their beds? :) It's still going to this day in the classic racing. I've got some better pictures somewhere I'll post them if I can find them. Mine had the Tickle top yolk - it took months to find one in the early 80's.
 

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Rob, nice to see it in the bedroom, was it upstairs, a mate of mine built his bike in his bedroom, his mum used to go spare & we had a right job getting it down when it was finished, good to see it's near the radiator :D

Look forward to seeing more pics if you find them.

:thumb

This could turn into, "show us your Triton"

;)
 
Great project. The unit triumph motor is a bit small for the featherbed frame and those aluminium adapter plates do look dreadful but I suppose it's a good opportunity to machine up some nice rearset plates.

Look forward to seeing more photos as it progresses:thumb
 
Good to hear that you are making progress with it Tony.
Workshop is as tidy as ever :thumb
 
Rob, nice to see it in the bedroom, was it upstairs, a mate of mine built his bike in his bedroom, his mum used to go spare & we had a right job getting it down when it was finished, good to see it's near the radiator :D

;)

Yep. Upstairs bedroom. I had a BSA A7 in there at the same time :) That eventually got moved to the living room to be finished off.

The dodgy DIY spray job was only temporary. Understanding parents?
 

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Tidy looking A7, do you still have it ?

Re the JT top yolk, how can I tell if it is JT, I've had a look at it & it does'nt have any name stamped on it.

Last night I stripped the Grimeca brake plates down so I can get the arm's & links chromed & just been in the back yard for 2 hours, polishing the rim of the brake plates, they've come up well.

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:cool:
 
They look great :cool:

The JT top yolk didn't have any markings on it from what can remember.

I got mine from a mate of Owen Greenwood. Owen was one of the local racing legends and would spend ages with you explaining how to rebuild Triumph engines. Top bloke sadly no longer with us

He used to charge £30 to polish and balance a crank and clean out the sludge trap :)

This is a better picture of my yolk
 

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Not really relevant but I've just come across this. This was a 63 T120R I bought in the early 80's. You cannot believe the shite that people use to ride and how the Brit bikes got there dodgy reputation. This had an MOT when I got it. I paid £100 for it.
 

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. . not a twin though, Philip . .

Surely you don't mean the Manx motor with its slim crankcase could fit between the rails of the wideline frame. Lowering the center of gravity which enhanced the now legendary handling....:nenau
 


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