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1320' MemoriesJeff Thompson's original drag bikeBy Greg Williams Photos by Action Sports Photography by Moe, Moe Putney  Jeff Thompson saw this Triumph drag bike on eBay, bought it and shipped it to Calgary. The machine is titled as a 1957 Triumph TR6A, but the frame is from 1947, and the 650cc engine is a 6T bottom end with a later eight-stud top end. Backyard engineering at its best; several components were handmade by a go-fast owner at some point in the early 1960s. Does the bike look familiar to you? Thompson would love to know more about its history. Thompson is a serious Triumph man. He owns a Triumph flat tracker and a road race machine – and wanted to round out the collection with a drag bike. "I thought it would be great to have a period-piece Triumph drag bike," Thompson says. He let his friends know about his wishes, and he also posted a few online ads. But in the end, it was word of mouth that did the trick. What I'd found on eBay was a posting that listed a 1957 Triumph drag bike – complete and in original, last-used condition. I forwarded the ad to Jeff, but without a response from him I wasn't sure if he saw the machine on eBay. I later asked Geoff Abbot, a friend of Thompson's, if he'd heard Thompson talk about a bike on eBay. He hadn't. But then Abbot mentioned the bike to Thompson, and that put the wheels in motion. "I heard from Geoff that somebody had said there was a '57 Triumph drag bike on eBay," Thompson says. "So I did the search and there was nothing there. But I found the listing in the archives." The eBay seller had included his telephone number in the listing, and Thompson rang up.  Special 30mm Del'Lorto green label carbs and a Lucas racing magneto are evident here on what appears to be a fairly fresh motor. The engine turns and has compression, and clean valves lurk beneath the rocker inspection caps. What arrived in Calgary a few weeks later was an exceptionally interesting Triumph drag bike. "It wasn't owned by Elvis," Thompson quips, "But it was owned by someone who put some time into building it, and the bike's a great period vignette." After uncrating the bike, Thompson simply knocked some of the dust and cobwebs off. As of yet he hasn't touched the bike, but would love to know more about its history. The eBay seller couldn't offer any insights, saying he'd bought it from somebody who'd used it as "garage art."  Handmade aluminum tanks, a unique gearshift, and all-welded high-temperature white painted pipes set off the bright orange Triumph drag bike. The motor is a 1957 Triumph 6T 650cc bottom end, with a circa 1959 eight-stud top end. In a file that came with the bike there is a receipt from Crane Engineering that indicates they balanced the crank assembly in the summer of 1968 at their Florida shop, for a grand sum total of $23.40. Also in the file there is a cam-timing card from Harmon Collins of Los Angeles, Calif., which could prove that there is a much hotter cam in the bottom end than was originally specified. The engine features a pair of 30mm Del'lorto green label carbs, "Essentially the Italian version of the Amal GP racing carb," Thompson says. A Lucas racing magneto supplies the sparks. The motor does turn over, and appears to be quite fresh. Removing a rocker inspection cap reveals what looks like new valves and lightened rocker arms. "But really, it's just a complete mystery," Thompson says. "It's a bike out of a box and there will have to be some more serious forensics done.  "But I'd say the bike was built in the early 1960s; there's not a lot of accessory stuff on the bike and a lot of the pieces were probably made by a drag racing enthusiast/owner." Thompson plans on taking the bike apart and checking out the motor. But he's torn about whether he should put the bike back together the way he found it, with its orange paint and white high-temperature painted pipes, or if he should update the bike. Either way, he says the drag bike will fly down the quarter mile strip at some point in its future.
© 2007 AMCA
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