1973 Trump

[LongHornCycles]

OK SO I DECIDED TO START A NEW THREAD WITH MY PROJECT, but first a little background
my name is connor, i got my first motorcycle (1974 CL 200 honda) a year and a half ago and i have been hooked ever since.
in the past year i have had the following bikes:
1970 CL175
1976 CB750
1969 CB750 K0
1974 CB500
1996 sportster
1965 Ironhead
1965 S90
im 20 years old and i am completely in love with motorcycles...but ANYWAYS here is (WAS) my newest bike

it started out as a 1973 OIF triumph that looked like this...

basically there was this guy who was super old and he was a gnarly biker. i mean he was all about his panhead and triumph 70s style choppers but he unfortunately died from bone cancer 2 years ago. the bike had been sitting in an open garage for about 4 years and the wife who was selling it was the nicest woman in the world! she said that i reminded her of her husband and she gave me all of his old leathers, a legit Mink vest and his old riding boots. it was pretty surreal but with a new battery, some gas, and a fresh seat, this bike started first kick.

so i had been riding it for about a month and decided i wanted to build this bike exactly how i wanted it. so i am going for it. its my first ever ground up build and im stoked. so i ditched the OIF and found a 1973 t140V frame. pretty coincidental being that the OIF was a 73 and the motor is a 750cc 5 speed..and here is what the frame looked like

the picture is kind of crappy but it is electric blue with pink and green flames painted on...uber 70s chopper

so today i picked up the frame from the sandblaster and i mocked everything up that im going to use. i havent decided if im using the girder style front end or not, i kind of like the stock looking one especially with the drum brake. but here is how it sits after tonight

so i will keep updating this thread on the bikes progress. i hope to have it done by the end of february and any input/suggestions/tips are more than welcome which brings me to my first question...

on the stock looking front end i am trying to locate what nut would fit in the top triple tree clamp and i am wondering if this even is a stock front end? also, in the frame there does not seem to be any steering bearings like what i have seen on some other bikes,,,do i have to just put my own balls ;D in there and grease them or is there a stock setup? thanks for looking and helping out!!

 

[Speedfiend]

Hey cool. Good to see another Triumph project in here.

A couple of things, first and most importantly before you buy anything or turn another bolt, YOU REALLY NEED A SERVICE MANUAL. It will answer alot of your questions quicker. Next, your frame- the non OIF frame you have is not a '73 T140. It's a '65-'69 T120. In '70 they changed the front engine mount and in '71 they switched to the oily frames. All T120's and T140's (and BSA A65's) used the OIF frame from '71 till the end of Meridian Triumph production in '86. Cept the T100's, the 500cc bikes kept thier old style frames. SO, if it has numbers that say its a '73, they've been fudged. Thats a moral issue for you to sort out. There are ligit reasons for changing frame numbers, and shady ones too. Plus side, the front, lower and rear engine mounts are exactly the same T140/T120. The only diff is the T140 is actually about 5/8" shorter than the 120. So the stock top engine mounts won't work, doesn't look like they are on the frame anyway. That bracket hanging down under the tanks looks like a coil mount. YOU WILL NEED TO MAKE A TOP ENGINE MOUNT. seriously. On the front end, yes that is a Triumph front end. I believe '68-70 used that TLS hub. The forks apear to be 12" longer than stock and the chrome on the sliders is not original. The steering neck prolly has cups for loose bearings. Knock those out and replace with tappered bearings from Lowbrow or any Brit supplier you like. They will have the spindle nut as well. It'll all bolt right up. And about that ol fiberglass body, wotcha gonna do with it? I kinda like the ugly 70's crap.

I really hope you get this thing going and looking just the way you want. Best of luck.
And hey, I'll throw ya a bone. If you'll PM me your email addy, I'll send you some PDF files with parts and service manuals for a'73 Triumph.

Cheers!

 

[supercafe]

hey,
any updates.
do u still have the girder frt end, is it for sale?
thanks.