Page 14 - Beep Beep December 2022

BEHIND THE WHEEL
This month our intrepid ‘driver’
Noel St John-Wood was dashing about on a motor cycle !!
To satisfy the many motorcycle enthusiasts in our club, I had decided to get behind the wheel of club member Jeffrey Rice’s 1965 Triumph Bonneville Custom motorcycle.
Jeff’s impressive Custom Triumph started with a dream of building this bike about 10 years ago – he gathered ideas from many different custom builds and eventually focused on the style and type of bike he wanted. A Triumph Bonneville 650 was purchased as the donor [pictured on trailer] 2 years later and after many challenges, the finished Triumph Bobber is one of the prettiest I’ve seen.
No electric starter, just a full body weight descent on the kick lever and the electronic ignition boots this iconic twin into life. This is a cool, cruisy bike for the suburbs and feels a lot more comfortable than expected from the rigid rear end.
Jeff has done a beautiful job on the whole bike including hiding the wiring harness inside the frame and fitting minimalist style switches to the bars.
The bike is an absolute pleasure to ride with enough power to satisfy an adrenalin hit.
The ‘Bobber’ style earned it’s name from the 1920s [see B/W photo] when owners removed excess weight from the original bike like shortening the rear guard (bobbed), removing the front guard and unbolting anything not attributed to making the bike go faster. This style is not ageing – just seems to be getting more popular!
Jeff says his bike will stay in the family and will be passed on to his son when Jeff is finished with it – but that could be a long way off!
Cheers Noel SJW
Photos from Noel St John-Wood
14