Bare Beauty

BARE BEAUTY

Metal masterpiece from a first-time builder

YOUNGSTERS WEANED on Jesse James T-shirts and OCC action figures will no doubt find this hard to believe, but at one time not all customs were based around 45-degree V-Twins made in Cheesehead Land. Nope, back in dark ages of the 1960s (ask your folks), a steadfast and upright 650cc inline-Twin from Merry Olde, a country of warm beer, cold women and insufficient dental coverage, was just as likely to be slotted into a chopper frame.

Ryan Todd, a callow youth of 37, never heard the Beatles play live, but the man knows that England swings.

“Triumphs are just cool,” he says. “Besides, with a custom Harley these days, you can’t tell which parts are store-bought and which are hand-fabbed. With a custom Triumph, about the only off-the-shelf parts available are old Webco items-finned carb extensions, oil passageways, etc.-and even those are getting pretty rare. Everything you want, you build. I’m all into the fabrication.”

That much is made clear by a quick walk-around of this bike, a simple, stunning cross between a Fifties bobber and a Sixties chopper that manages to be far cooler than any $30,000 chop-shop special. Did I mention that this is Todd’s first attempt at building bikes and that his parts tab ran to just $5500?

Schooled in horticulture of all things at Cal Poly Tech, Todd now divides his time between a day-job remodeling apartments and nights spent in his small San Fernando Valley shop doing piecemeal work on rockabilly-style Triumphs for his pal Wes White at Four Aces Cycle Supply (818/997-8321; www. fouracescycle.com).

As befits a man who once built an awardwinning smoothed and slammed 1940 Ford pickup, Todd brings a street-rodder’s ethic to his own bikes, preferring cleaner details and more flowing lines than the typical rough-hewn Triumph rigid. That’s why this bike started with a purpose-built frame from Willy J’s in Illinois, featuring a gracefully curved downtube and elongated hindquarters.

The engine glows with what seems like a cast-in brilliance thanks to three months of after-hours metal polishing. “Never again,” sighs Todd. “That gets farmed out from here on!”

That will give him more time to concentrate on details like the finned aluminum seat base, meant to mimic those beloved Webco pieces from the past. Ditto the fluted footpegs.

A moment of indecision gave Todd’s Triumph its signature full-metal look. Unable to pick a color scheme, he clearcoated the tank and rear fender, laid on some pinstripes and called it done. Cooler than a Kenmore.

But let’s get back to Horticulture 101 for a second. Dude, what’s up with that?

“Hey, flowers, shubs or bikes, it’s all about color, shape and lines,” Todd argues.

True enough, but in this case, landscaping’s loss is definitely motorcycling’s gain. -David Edwards

American FLYERS