I think ol’ Gresh is on to something with his Dream Bike concept, or as I call these features, the Ones That Got Away. We all have at least one…a bike we lusted after but didn’t buy.
Well, as it turns out, my good buddy and riding compadre Tom had a dream bike, too, but he did something (a big something) about his dream. He made it come true, and then some. Tom wrote and asked if he could contribute to the ExNotes blog, and the answer, of course, was a resounding yes. Read on, my friends…this is a great story.
Over to you, Tom!
Hello, Tom here. By way of a quick bio, I have been riding for 56 years. My first motorcycle in high school was a “motorcycle,” not a scooter, from Sears Roebuck. My current bikes are a well-used Triumph 1050 Tiger and a well-equipped Honda XR650L dual sport.
In 1975 I was riding a 1969 Honda CB 750 four. I rode it everywhere including numerous runs at the local Irwindale drag strip on Wednesday night. Straight line performance was the only thing I was interested in.
My riding partner bought a new Kawasaki Z900 and all of a sudden I was seeing more of his taillight than I was used to. It was time for more horsepower.
I had previously owned two Triumph twins, a T100 500cc and a T120 650. I always loved the Triumphs so I went looking for a new Triumph T150 750cc pushrod triple. My riding partner and I went to the two Triumph dealers in the area. We ended up at Ed Kretz Triumph in Monterey Park, California. It was well into 1975 and they only had 1974 models.
The boys at Kretz had no idea when the ‘75s would arrive. The magazines said the new 750 triples had 5 speed transmissions and disc brakes front and rear, plus electric starters. The ‘74 only had 4 speeds and the ugliest single iron disc front brake I ever saw. The electric starter was of no interest at the time but the 5 speed could have been the deal breaker. But deep in my gut, this bike had “something” that no stinking Honda had.
The next day, two of my buddies and I went back to the dealer to look again. They both were totally against the Triumph. They pointed out the huge, cast, oversized hand controls (they were about twice the size of those on the Honda or Kawi). The front brake reservoir (crudely marked with “Girling”) looked like the boys in metal shop sandcast it for a high school project. I listened to my friends and walked away from a bike I would always admire, Lucas electrics and all. For me, this was the one that got away.
I bought a new Honda CB 750 from Dick & Walt’s Honda-BMW on Whittier Blvd in Montebello, California for $1648, which was about $900 cheaper than the Triumph. Remember my trips to Irwindale drag strip with the old ’69 750 Honda? It ran about 14 seconds flat in the quarter. I had to put more than $500 into the 1975 CB 750 to equal those times. The red line on the tach was 8500 rpm. It took me about three or four trips to the strip to figure out it ran out of steam at 7000 rpm. It was a pig compared to my 1969. I kept it about a year.
Epilogue
On September 14, 2011 my good friend and riding buddy Joe and I drove up the 99 to Lodi, California. We dug out a 1974 Triumph Trident 750cc pushrod triple from behind a 1936 rear-engined Allis Chalmers tractor. They were in a white wood barn.
Yes, that Triumph was a real barn find. It was in terrible shape but it did run. I happily paid $2500 for a rusted relic, and I smiled all the way home. I converted that bike into a Land Speed Racer and raced at the El Mirage dry lake for three seasons.
And, as I mentioned earlier, I still ride a Triumph today.
That’s an awesome story, Tom. Thanks very much for sharing it with us!
So, how about the rest of you guys and gals? Do you have a dream bike, one that you let get away? Hey, tell us about it. Send your story to info@ExhaustNotes.us, and we’ll publish it!
Wanna see the rest of our Dream Bikes?
Joe, I read your story on New Hope, PA. Been there , done that a lot of times . But I have a story concerning a Triumph 750, that will knock your socks off. Did you ride from LA to all these destinations on your bike , or did you rent bikes on trips ?
Some of each. Love to hear the story about the Triumph. Regarding my means of transport, all of the above. I flew to Colombia and China; in those locations the manufacturers (Zongshen and AKT Motos) had bikes waiting for me.
I always liked the looks of the Triumphs back in the day, and they made nice looking choppers too. But what i did not like was that long flat seat. Long rides very fast became uncomfortable . And i have heard that Triumphs were not designed for long distance running. England had a lot of nice country side to ride through, but here in the states, our highways could raise hell with the British motors. Now that may or may not be so, but I have heard that from a few people. One of them is one of my mechanic friend that is above and beyond as far as working on all sorts of bikes. The New Hope story told the way I want to tell it could be more then I am ready to tell at this time, but I will get around to it. One of my favorite bikes I ever had was a Honda CT 70. It was an automatic and i did some crazy stunts with that little mighty mite. Rob O Connell tried going up one of the banks of the sand pit next to my Grandmothers house, and he got it lodged in a tree. He went flying the bike stayed in the tree. That bike started on the first kick every time.
You know, I think what you and your buddy found up in the white wood barn in Lodi, was more like a 1948 or newer Allis Chalmers G cultivating tractor. Too bad it was so long ago, and that I did not know about it at the time. If it was indeed a model G, they are certainly not a rare tractor, but out of all the over 100 antique tractors I have had in my collection over the years, it is one that I had a few chance’s to buy cheap, and they were in abundance right in this area. My long time friend Kaz Tamora, had about 6 of them at his other farm along the Clackamas river out Oregon City way. and a lot of the Italian truck farmers along the fertile farmland along the Columbia river South of marine drive had many a model G as well. To the best of my knowledge, AC never made any other rear engine tractor. As a matter of fact one of my best ever stories to still be told is a Cinderella story about a barn find rare and costly John Deere tractor I got once. I have been saving it. It has so many 1 in a million twists to it.