Part of me has always been fascinated with Triumph motorcycles. In my younger, and more formidable years I was intensely obsessed with youth culture. Beginning in the mid1990s I walked a fine line in many circles as someone who was at once both a “mod” and a “rocker”. We colloquially called such people “mockers” in the pacific northwest.

The 1963 Triumph in its full dad build glory. A great starting place for a Triumph project.

Although I have owned Hondas, Yamahas, Harley Davidsons, I had never owned anything that was squarely “rocker” in the 1960s British youth culture sense. Though I have had many “mod” scene vehicles on two wheels. I have owned Vespa scooters, in fact, I have a large depiction of the grim reaper riding a vespa tattooed on my chest. But I had never owned a Triumph.

MANY years later, when I was looking for something to have as a project, I remembered that fascination with café racers and the beloved 1950s/1960s era Triumphs. I was not firmly in any camp when it came to unit vs pre-unit – so I set on keeping my eyes open for the right opportunity. To my surprise, a lifelong friend’s dad was getting rid of his Triumphs and one, a 1963 Triumph was at a price that didn’t break any bank.

The bike had already been “chopped” by welding on a common bolt on kit, and making some perplexing modifications. The bike was decidedly “dad” bike from a late 90s sense – complete with a flaming skull leather seat. But the engine worked (for the most part), the bike ran (for the most part), and the blocks for something good could be seen at a pretty good starting price.

I had let the project sit while working on some other things, though from time to time I would take the little Triumph on short rips. Eventually I knew it needed some significant fabrication work well beyond my skill level. So, I enlisted the help of my friend Jimmi Davies over at Revival Motors and Coffee Co. A convenient location just below THE TON’s downtown Olympia offices.

The first job was really letting him know some of the “quirks” I had found after buying it, and for him to once over the bike to find other “quirks”… Of which there were many. Among them was a large oil leak that would drain into the battery tray. The Battery tray was at an angle that let it pool, and no holes had been drilled for it to drain. So, thinking about how often it rains here, and that situation. There was bound to be an electrical issue. Which of course there were many – often causing the bike to lose total power when hitting a good bump.

There was also no key ignition, only an annoyingly obvious blue LED switch – almost pointing to it with a “steal me” sign. If it were easier to kick over, that would probably been a bigger worry. But I would come to find that while the carbs were in good working order, one of the intake valves wasn’t sealing giving me no compression in that valve.

The bike was like riding an undersized dirt bike, so first thing that really needed to happen was to find the right length. That’s really when the bike started to take off in Jimmi’s capable hands.

Next time we will talk to Jimmi about the build, and talk about some of the other “quirks” we would discover.

The 1963 Triumph - Part 1