Eddie Muld Er Replica
Eddie Muld er Replica
Super Standards
ALLAN GIRDLER
What can be done when time and money aren't part of the equation?
WHAT WE HAVE HERE, NOT IN ORDER OF IMPORTANCE, IS 1) a street-legal replica of a vintage TT Triump; 2) a prototype for what the builder sees as a handmade production run; and 3) an exercise in almost infinite patience. You can't appreciate the parts until you know the sum, so we begin with the basics:
:T~vin. built by pro tuner Jack t1\~ith Morgo 750 bat iels t~o 34mm r1~nition and handcrafted megaphones that dont Kg. The engine is nearly identical in tune to the wincourse) of this year’s Vintage class at Pikes Peak, and r testing showed 72 horsepower at 7500 rpm. The engine's a f than it would be for racing because it’s fitted with an alterpator to Wer ignition and lights, of which the bike's got a full set.
The engine is housed in a Trackmaster frame-1 ikethe engine, a 1970 model. It carries the oil, two or so quarts, in the lfam<Éèubes The twin shock absorbers come from Works Performance, the fork tubes are Yamaha 250, 34mm in diameter and fitted with air-pressure valves. Ron Wood, the tuner best known for Nortons then and Rotaxes now, supplied the triple-clamps. He also did the engine’s mounting plates and laced up the wheels, 19inch front and back. This is a strictly street machine, so the tires are Dunlop Elites, in sport compound, and there are open bellmouths, with no filters, on the carbs. Brakes are from Grimeca, single disc front and rear.
The fuel tank is fiberglass, supplied by Neal Keen and as seen at the races 30 years ago. Jack Krisman made the rear fender, in steel, and reworked a Yamaha front fender to fit the 19-inch wheel. Tony Nancy, hot-rod legend and upholsterer to the stars, did the seat and pad, in buffalo hide.
The rear subframe to mount the taillight and brace the fender is aluminum. The light’s a classic aftermarket accessory, powdercoated, and the headlight is a hot-rod item, as fitted to fenderless roadsters way back when.
The housing beneath the seat and behind the engine, which wasn’t seen on road or track even back when, was made by Tri-C Fabrications. It houses all the awkward parts-the coil, black box, ignition switch and zener diode. There is no battery so start is by kick and the zener diode, sort of a giant condensor, soaks up the surplus voltage from the alternator when the lights aren’t turned on.
Combining two bits of folk wisdom here, Time is Money and Speed Costs Money, figure three years of building and rebuilding a fast, immaculate, photogenic and agile motorcycle, no expense spared and no shortcuts taken, and the bill
comes to $18,000.
These are heady days. Just as that price range doesn’t deter the Harley, BMW, Ducati or Gold Wing crowd, so are there enthusiasts who’ll spend-dare we say, invest?-that sum in a street-tracker.
Which is why the fuel tank on this Triumph says, "Eddie Mulder Replica #1.” In plain fact, this machine was more experiment than prototype. Mulder has been making copies in a general way, but they differ in detail. The frames for Mulder-Triumphs are now being built for him, based on Champion frames of the 1970s. Champions use a separate oil tank-Mulder has doubts that the oil-in-frame system, classic or not, cools the oil as well as the tank does.
The frames are being made by C&J, the most successful
builder in dirt-track and supplier of most frames used in Grand National, SuperTrackers and the PACE Dirt Track Series.
Production tanks and seats, and the wheels and hubs, are from A&A Racing, because that’s what Mulder uses in his own vintage-race program, so he knows they work. Brakes for the new machines are Brembo, mostly because of availability.
Engines will be the buyer’s choice. Triumph sold hundreds of thousands of Twins, in 500, 650 and 750cc displacements, during what’s now the Classic era. The engines are available, and can be rebuilt and tuned with only normal expertise-Jack Hately engines are more expensive, but only pros really need engines to that standard.
The replicas aren’t Mulder’s main business, as explained in the accompanying article. They probably aren’t even his primary hobby. They are authentic and, allowing for age, practical, and with the Eddie Mulder’s stamp on them, they should go (sorry) fast. □
