Triumphrat

oldroadie

Soldier113,
No vintage or new retro bike is going to cruise at 85, that's a completely unrealistic goal. They'll all run that fast and faster in bursts but it won't be cruising; and you'll always be on the backside of torque curve and into the last bit of horsepower range removing any chance for a burst of power for passing. I have both a 1964 TR6 and a 2004 America and I know what they can do; they both make you grin ear to ear every time you ride them but they won't compete with a modern Daytona or Street Triple for speed. Just sayin'

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2004 Bonneville America
2005 Ducati ST3

toxic

+1 to the above but if you change your goal to lets say all day cruising at 70mph then you would be looking at a new Triumph getting the job done for you.

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JohnA

Or an old one! 70 should be no problem at all for a decent T120 engine, given the right gearing. 80mph cruising is fine on a T140 with 21/45 gearing, unless the weather is really hot.

DAVE M

I'd agree but for he's talking about a 650 from 68 with a conversion and I'm not sure that he intends to rebuild the engine? Plus it will be a bobber

soldier113

I know that its unrealistic what I want, I think it's just because I like the older style bikes but I'm also 25 so I am still into the whole go really fast thing lol

What I think I am going to do though is buy a used daytona 675(go fast bike) and then also get an old triumph and bob it. That way I will have the best of both worlds.

Speaking of old bobbers, I posted a thread yesterday called "anybody have info on "lil saras" bobber?" I was looking for info on the bike so if you guys find the thread and could help me out it would be great.

bushybester

You will find most of the responses here are mostly negative to chop or bob a Triumph even thought it was very popular back in the day and that Triumphs were possibly the best to do it with. Even as a show and polish bike today they are not very popular and don't have much value but cost you an arm and a leg to build.

If you want to cruse the highway at 85 - 100mph your best bet IMHO is to get yourself a BMW Airhead they can be picked up dirt cheap, they run forever and they are all metric sized, very simple to change and modify. They BMW nut will go nuts for doing that, but turning them into cafe' racers and bobber’s and rat bikes attract large crowds and followers and believe it or not higher value than the original bikes.

Today the value of some triumph's just keep on going up and some part are like chickens teeth and you will pay top dollar for original parts especially pre units. A front fender can cost as much as $800 and a gas tank as much as $1000. See what this tank almost went for http://www.ebay.com/itm/261128193081...84.m1438.l2648 ebay listing 261128193081

Now what would the value be in a few years when most people today are trying to restore back to original?

soldier113

I'm fine with getting negative responses and I understand how some people feel about bobbers but I just want a bike that I am happy and I have no concern what the money value of the bike is, if it draws a crowd, or what other people would have to say about it.
If I can get a remanufactured motor, frame, fenders etc I would rather use that over using old original parts anyway because it would be cheaper to buy and I would rather give original parts to somebody who can use them instead of chopping them.

I will look into this BMW airhead bike that you are talking about though