Bakersfield Bobber
BAKERSFIELD BOBBER
American FLYERS
It takes a village to build a Bonnie
WHEN A MOTORCYCLE is built by one’s own hand, it’s special. When it becomes a collaboration of components and assistance donated by a close-knit circle of lifelong riding and racing pals, it’s a keeper. This 1964 Triumph Bonneville bobber, ridden daily by Vic Hager, general manager at Fred Cummings Motorsports in Bakersfield, California, is a machine that will never be sold.
Hager’s Bonnie holds a great deal of sentimental value. His first ride came aboard an uncle’s strippeddown Triumph back in the early ’60s, the experience leaving quite an impression. “That was the last time I saw that bike,” says Hager, who drew on that vivid childhood memory for the blueprints of his Bonnie bobber project. “I knew what I wanted it to look like before I even started on it.”
It soon grew into a community project. “I had friends who donated parts, like the old days used to be where everyone would scrounge up something to help you out,” Hager says. “Then I was able to fabricate it accordingly.”
Hager ’s close friend Bobby Vanmeter, a local Triumph guru who raced Bonnies back in the day, was instrumental, offering up the stock main frame and a milk crate of engine components, some rare and quite valuable. The cases are special ARD castings like those used by factory racers of the era, meant to incorporate a beltdriven Joe Hunt magneto.
Some items were swapmeet finds, such as the seat and vintage ribbed fender.
Hager constructed the hardtail rear section and fabricated the axle holders, stretching the wheelbase 6.5 inches. He made the engine mounts, fender stays, seat mounts and adapted motocross pegs and a ’71 Husky aluminum fuel tank, chosen for its miniscule competition look. He also fabricated the aluminum oil tank that bears Moon Eyes, an icon of ’60s hot-rodding. A Ceriani fork, consistent with period racers, features reworked internals for a lowered stance. A riserless roadrace-style upper triple-clamp holds an old Yamaha handlebar that Hager re-curved and narrowed for a dirt-tracker appearance.
The Vanmeter-tuned motor features 13:1 compression, extensive porting, custom pistons and lengthened intake manifolds, and it trumpets through handmade TT exhaust pipes fabbed by Hager himself. Hager’s son ceramic-coated the pipes, laying pinstriping tape over a black base coat before applying a white ceramic topcoat. Vic’s wife painted the wheels red.
An avid motocross racer for many years, Hager favors a more competition-inspired look over the polished show shine. Using a Scotchbright pad on an angle grinder, he gave every aluminum part a circular swirl finish. Perhaps there’s something symbolic there, too. It was a circle of family and friends that brought this Triumph together.
Don Canet
