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I had a Meriden Triumph, a 1970 Daytona, and absolutely loved it. The only problem was finding a wrench willing to work on olde British Steel. My dad was my primary wrench and he moved down to Florida from New England in '98 when I was going through a divorce and the bike sat for about 6 years until I lit the fuse on the escape pod and headed to the Sunshine State. As much as I loved the Daytona I realized that if I shipped it down I'd still need to put a whole bunch of work into it and would have a 33 year old bike with the ubiquitous old leak and those dastardly Lucas electrics as my only means of transportation. I put an ad on craigslist and did an even swap with a guy who had a low mileage Suzuki Savage so I'd have a more dependable ride. As much as it hurt to see her go the guy who got her was an excellent wrench and the look in his eyes the moment he saw her made me realize she was going to a good home and would be loved.
When I started to rebuild my life in '05 I vowed that I would get a brand new Bonnie to replace the Daytona. That is until I saw the Scrambler sitting on the showroom floor with those swept back pipes and it was love at first sight. I hunted down an '06 in February '07 because I wanted the brushed aluminum engine and she has been an absolute joy with almost 16,000 miles in about 15 months.
The only thing I really miss about the Meriden bike was tickling the carbs and firing her up on the first kick. Dad's still got a 1970 BSA 650 that let's me scratch that itch when the mood hits. My next bike will be a Rocket III but if I've already got a Triumph and dad's got the BSA so if I was going to get more olde British Steel it would probably be a Norton so I'd have the holy trilogy of Great British bikes in the family.
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Gabba Gabba Hey!!
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