Three-Way Triumph

THREE-WAY TRIUMPH

Drags, Custom Shows and Road Race wins — all in a year’s work.

CHUCK CLAYTON

MOST OF THE MOTORCYCLES we get to try here at CYCLE WORLD are shiny new and full of promise, but occasionally we come across an old acquaintance like Harry Penn’s 1963 Triumph TT Special, which has led a busy life this past year, yet feels almost as good, and in some ways better, than when it came out of the box.

Penn has trophied a dozen times on the bike at Eastern 1/8-mile drag meets, has won top awards in custom shows with it. and even herded it to second place in an AAMRR road race. He then rode the remarkable road eater from his home in Philadelphia, Pa., to Southern California, where all good Triumphs get to go. and

where Penn now works, for a Triumph dealer naturally.

Penn generously offered us a ride on his pride, which started easily, partly thanks to the 9'/2-to-one pistons which Penn runs in preference to the stock 12-to-ones. The bike accelerated strongly enough to satisfy the most impatient street rider but flattened rather early, with the symptoms of spark failure. There was very little vibration up to that point, however, and the cycle still cruised comfortably at freeway speeds in top gear. For the total of $1900 which Penn spent for the machine, including purchase price, he has made an investment that is still paying dividends.