2002
A local chap who I rented a garage to asked if I would do some maintenance on his Triumph Hurricane. I felt that I was qualified to do so with my long association with my Trident and the knowledge I had gained from all the people who were responsible for bringing these bikes into being, and were then involved in further revisions for racing or otherwise. He obviously thought I was too, as that was why he asked me. This led to an association that lasted some years, and allowed me to take some pride in his motorcycle.
The X75 was basically a modified BSA Rocket 3, but thanks to the styling afforded by it's American designer it became an amazing success despite it's very limited production. The man in question was one Craig Vetter, and as a testament to his accurate gauge of what was desirable in the day, the X75 has been the least modified production triple ever. His styling was spot-on, and today these bikes command the highest resale value of all the legendary British Triples.
To say that this fact may have played a part in my willingness to help maintain it would be something of an understatement.
I loved it.
I did some regular maintenance stuff, plus stripped and rebuilt the carbs after they gummed up from a long period of sitting.
On another occasion I was asked to fit an electronic ignition, so I put my old Boyer in it. Would not start. I checked everything but no go. I noticed that one compression felt a bit weak, so I checked the valve clearances. They were all over the place to the extent that some valves were hardly closing at all. I asked who had messed with it and was told that he had been talked into having some work done by a rather well known local dude who used to race a Trident. Not sure what state of mind he must have been in when he did this. Put them right and it purred like a cougar. Guess the ignition was not the problem, but it stayed anyway. Nobody else touched it again.
At some stage in my care of this machine it developed an oil leak from the oil tank. I had to remove the rear mudguard and other bits to remove it. As the first repair failed this process was repeated. It did offer the chance to record some anatomical images.
The Hurricane seems to have very little excess flab. Craig got rid of any unneccessary bits and accentuated the rest. Nice job mate. It is indeed a work of art.
With the oil tank refitted the bike looks far more solid. There are wear marks where the bodywork interacts with the tank, but once together they look very well integrated.
As an important note, this bodywork style set a trend which nearly all of the Japanese manufacturers copied. The fuel tank area sweeping down to the sidepanels, then flowing rearwards under the seat became the standard form of motorcycle styling for most road bikes that entered the marketplace for many years thereafter. This bike started that trend.
And here it is..
It later transpired that another friend of mine spotted the bike in my workshop and voiced interest in owning it. I put the two together and it duly changed hands. Not long after that it left town to reside with the new owner.
I still visit it occasionally...
It matters less whether it is really a BSA or a Triumph - more that it is a "Triple".