triumph riders news - Triumph Riders Motorcycle Club

TRIUMPH RIDERS NEWS
www.triumphriders.co.nz
Issue 2 / Autumn 2013
Thunder & Iron 2 - Wanganui
All Triumph Riders club members and friends are invited to attend the
Wanganui Chapter 2nd major public event on March 16th at the
Aramoho Hotel, and its going to be ripper with live music from 11am
till late at night, around 30 interesting classic bikes in the bar during
the day that many of you have never seen before plus up to 20
muscle cars and loads of modern Triumphs and Harleys in the
carpark outside. Hats off to the Rat & Karen & Chris for driving the
event and the local members who have stepped up to help. See that
Triumph chopper that featured on the cover of ‘Twin Eagle’ many
years ago, a rare 1976 Triumph Saint 750, plus great food, music, all
day long and a chance to catch up members from different parts of
the country. This is one event to not miss - see
you there!
Classic Bikes, Music & Mustang Muscle for Thunder & Iron 2
This Saturday March 16th ‘Thunder & Iron 2’ display at the Aramoho Hotel will feature a rare collection of classic motorcycles inside the
hotel lounge bar plus muscle cars and hundreds of modern Triumphs and Harley Davidson machines in the carpark. Live music outside
during the day will be provided by Spex & Gary, The Blue Veins and the Mighty Oaks. The display runs from 10am to 5pm with Sin City
playing at the social that evening.
Grand Prix Race bikes of yesteryear will feature including a rare 1948 600cc Manx Norton, a machine originally built for the World Sidecar Championships but when the FIM changed the class capacity limit to 500cc no more were produced by the factory. Rod Coleman
found this semi-complete motor in Australia with a local restorer sourcing the many rare parts over the years and built his own replica
‘Featherbed’ frame. The Manx will be joined by an AJS 7R ‘Boy Racer’ 350cc of the same vintage, a machine made world famous when
Rod Coleman of Wanganui won the 1954 Isle of Man TT Junior title. Other race bikes will include Norton and NSU machines ridden by
top local classic racers, a rare JAP powered OEC plus a 1973 Triumph TR5T 500cc. A Harley Davidson XR1000 from 1984, a hot rod
version of the XR750 made for the street or track, will sit beside a vintage twin from the Milwaukee factory.
Other bikes in the display include a brand new 1965 Cheney Triumph 5TA scrambler plus CZ, Montesa, a BSA side valve drag bike,
classic sidecars plus a sprinkling of 1960 -1970s Meridan Triumph 650 & 750cc motorcycles. A trio of Triumph Trident 750s will be
joined by one of the rarest Police Saint Triumphs in the world, a 1976 TR7V single carburettor model 750cc, one of only six made that
year by the Triumph workers co-op as demonstrators for British Police to evaluate will feature. By the mid 1970s many of the traditional government markets for police and military motorcycles in the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth were being courted by
the BMW and Japanese brands so Triumph faced stiff competition. It was a huge boost to the company when they received an order
for 1300 Tiger Police TR7 750cc machines for 1979 from Nigeria plus 200 to Egypt & Libya,150 to Sudan, 100 to Uganda, 97 for the
British Ministry of Defence for motorcycle escort duties plus smaller orders for the forces of Ghana and Trinidad. These orders were an
important lifeblood to the company and it’s interesting to note from John Rosamond’s book ‘Save the Triumph Bonneville’ regarding the
Nigerian order he writes, ‘it was believed that the Triumph motorcycles were preferred because of their rugged qualities, simplicity of
engineering design and ability to continue to operate in the most hostile environments, even when subjected to severe abuse.’
Another aspect of Thunder & Iron 2 will be the muscle car display featuring Chevrolet, Pontiac, Ford and Holden Monaro cars. One
model that featured strongly last year was the Ford Mustang, or ‘Pony’ car. The original Mustang was released in 1964 but it’s origins
started in 1962 with Lee Iacocca and his ‘Fairlane Group’ brains trust. Lee was by then the vice – president and general manager of
Ford and his group were tasked with looking at the future direction of various Ford product lines. They came up with a space frame
Mustang l prototype car first shown in Oct 1962 at the US Grand Prix at Watkins Glen. The first production Mustang was released in
mid 1964 and attracted wide media attention after 29 million television viewers saw adverts for the car the night before release.
22,000 cars were ordered on the first day and in it’s first year sold 417,000 units. The standard engine was a 170 cubic inch inline six
plus 260 & 289 V8 options, in convertible & hard top coupe with each in standard, luxury or with bench seat options. A total of eighteen paint colors were available plus a huge range of catalogue options. By 1966 over 600,000 Mustangs were produced and as the
decade rolled on larger V8 engines were added to the growing list of options. By 1969 the Mach l Fastback was offered with the 429
.cubic inch V8. With the oil crisis the Mach ll was released in 1974 with an inline four or V6 and so ended what many consider the end
of the great ‘muscle car era’ as the cars took on a more economy based approach to this classic American ‘peoples’ sports car. Performance options of the car were produced by the likes of Carol Shelby in partnership with Ford and many thousands were sold over
the years. Ford also released it’s own performance version of the Mustangs, the Boss and the SVO from 1984. Saleen Autosport
started building performance Mustangs in 1984 with just 3 vehicles and by 2000 over 900 cars were sold. Mustangs continue in production today.
Thunder & Iron 2 is hosted by the Triumph Riders MC Club Wanganui Chapter, supported by the NZBSA Owners Club, local classic
race enthusiasts and Muscle Car Club members. There will be food stalls, coffee and refreshments, trade stalls, with bikes, parts and
cars for sale, raffles and a tattooist. Admission is by gold coin donation during the day and the Saturday evening social with Sin City
from 8pm, is $10 per head. Enquiries phone Mike Marshall 027-223-6824.
This article was submitted to the local Midweek newspaper for publication just before the event along with a
selection of bike and car photos. A good turnout of members from other areas & Chapters would be good to
help fly the TRMCC banner in this town. The club has come a long way since formation, lets keep the
momentum moving along - Robert (Ed).
The Triumph Classic Festival Hampton Downs 2013
(Pics by Karen Frost)
Rob North Replica framed
T140 750 Bonneville (185)
plus (176) is a 1969 965cc
Rickman Weslake - (I’m
sure there are some
Triumph parts in there)
plus a classic sidecar
freight train over the back
of the track and the man
behind the Red Devil Race
Team and designer/builder
of the fleet of red 3TA &
Tiger 90 350cc Triumph
racers (9) Graeme Cole.
TRIUMPH RIDERS COFFEE
The details of the Triumph Riders coffee is as follows:
200gm Bags of either whole bean or ground ready for drinking (see photo) (TRMCC
price $7.00 RRP $10.)
Orders need to be placed with the local Secretary or Treasurer of each chapter on the
Tuesday before the Sunday meeting and they will forward orders to the Kapiti Coffee
Company.
All proceeds go to relevant chapters,
Corban Halcrow (Secretary Wellington Chapter)
Manawatu Chapter Events Contact Ed Winiana 021-630-952 for further details
ed@tranzskills.co.nz
Wellington Chapter Events All ride details contact steve@triumphriders.co.nz or 021-801-787
Wanganui Chapter Events All ride details contact Mike Marshall 027- 223-6824 ratsnest@vodafone.co.nz
Auckland Chapter Events Contact Gerry 022-030-5048. Club meetings Shed 5 Cafe ghalcrow@orcon.co.nz
East Coast Chapter Events 3rd Sunday of month Steve Fairbrother stevedig4u@gmail.com 07-308-0672 027-305-6424
Bay of Plenty Chapter Events 2nd Sunday mth Dean van der Woude joanddean@clear.net.nz 07-347-4575 021-762-807
Christchurch Events Contact Contact Terry 025-212-3508 president@triumphriders.co.nz or Bernie 021-299-5612
CLUB CONTACTS
Terry Williams, Thunderbird 900, National TRMCC President,
Mbl 027-212-3508 president@triumphriders.co.nz
Ralp Tasker, Thunderbird Storm, National TRMCC Vice-President, Ph 06-345-6521, 022-079-0240 ralph.tasker@windowslive.com
Mal Skinner, Speed Triple, National TRMCC Treasurer, Ph 027-237-9174
malsroofing@clear.net.nz
Peter (Nutz) Andrews, 1970 TR6 Trophy 650, National TRMCC Regalia Officer Ph 06-343-2391 Mbl 021-122-1697 nutzz@xtra.co.nz
Mike Marshall (The Rat), Thunderbird 1600, Wanganui President & TRMCC National Events Co-Ordinator, Ph 027-223-6824
ratsnest@vodafone.co.nz
Les Oxnam, Thunderbird 1600, National TRMCC Membership Officer, Ph 027-271-2391 l-oxnam@xtra.co.nz
Ed Winiana, Rocket lll Roadster, TRMCC Manawatu Chapter President, Ph 021-630-952 ed@tranzskills.co.nz
Steve Marsh Legend 900, TRMCC Wellington Chapter President, Ph 021-801-787 steve@triumphriders.co.nz
Robin Boom, Trophy 1200, TRMCC Waikato Area Co-ordinator, Ph 07-444-8764 Mbl 027-444-8764
TRMCC Auckland Chapter President - Chris Booth has resigned due to work commitments - more news on New President next issue
Gerry Halcrow Thruxton, TRMCC Auckland Secretary, Ph 022-030-5048
ghalcrow@orcon.co.nz
Dean van der Woude, Thunderbird Storm, TRMCC BOP President, Ph 07-347-4575 , 021-762-807 joanddean@clear.net.nz
Steve Fairbrother, America, TRMCC East Coast President, Ph 07-308-0672, 027-305-6424 stevedig4u@gmail.com
The 1983 ex Scott Parker TT
bike, the T140 750cc
Bonneville that helped him
finish in the 10 for the AMA
Flattrack series. It was often
joked through the decades
that the Americans could
build a better Triumph than
the English and its no doubt
Triumph twins have a
remarkable flattrack race
history in the USA dating
back to as early as 1938.
Their results were meager
compared to Harley till 1966,
when Triumph had near
complete domination of TT
events till the late 1970s. (a
TT is a half mile flattrack with
some infield turns and jumps)
Triumph Meridan T140 & Famous USA Rider
Gary Scott at Peoria TT 1983 on Triumph T140
Trackmaster - the last time a Meridan Triumph
qualified for an AMA National Main Event Final
In the AMA Flat Track Championship record book, Gary Scott is remembered for accomplishments aboard
Harley-Davidson racebikes.
But Scott, one of the most successful racers of his era, began and ended his career aboard Triumphs,
including this machine, one of the last competitive British bikes in series history. Scott raced this Triumph
during the 1983 season. Starting life as a 1977 T140 parallel twin, the bike was modified with a Trackmaster
frame, Fox shocks and Ceriani forks. Fitted with other race bits, such as Barnes wheels and Airheart brakes,
it gave Scott his last top 10 in the AMA Flat Track series. Scott burst onto the professional dirt-track scene 11
years earlier with one of the most amazing rookie seasons in AMA history. Scott qualified his Triumph for 21
of the 24 Nationals, earned two wins, and finished the season as runner-up to Harley factory rider Mark
Brelsford. That earned Scott Rookie of the Year honors for the 1972 season, and a second-place finish
behind Kenny Roberts in ’73 got him a spot on the Harley factory team. In 1975, that combination paid off
with a title over Roberts and a hotshot rookie named Jay Springsteen. Returning to privateer status for the
1976 season—and his trusted Triumphs for TT events—Scott remained competitive, finishing second that
year and third a year later. By 1983, when he rode this machine, Scott was nearing the end of his successful
career, and a new crop of youngsters, like Randy Goss, Ricky Graham, Bubba Shobert and Scott Parker,
were taking over. Still, he rode well enough to finish in the top 10 for the 12th consecutive year. Scott was
inducted into the Motorcycle Hall of Fame Museum at AMA headquarters in Pickerington, Ohio, in 1998.