BUYING AND SELLING
Beezumph triples, a Harley café racer and other buying advice
BSA or Triumph? The choice is yours. No matter that Triumph’s Trident and BSA’S Rocket 3 share most of their mechanical components, vices, virtues and a lot of soul, the badge on the tank still means a lot to a lot of people. But what they all agree on is that riding a BSA or Triumph triple is one of the genuine pleasures of the classic motorcycling world.
Ride one and you’ll find out why. Wind the revs up over 5000 and you’ll be rewarded by one of the most spine-tingling exhaust notes in motorcycling – along with adrenaline-pumping acceleration. More than 40 years on from its 1968 launch, either a BSA or Triumph triple has still got it. Honda’s CB750 may have been more sophisticated, better-specced and even a touch more reliable in the long term, but for handling and the sheer joy of the ride, the Brit triples are hard to beat.
By the time the triples got the nod for production in 1968, the BSA/ Triumph Group was all one big (and supposedly happy) family, which made the decision to offer quite different BSA and Triumph versions of the new model slightly odd.
The Rocket 3’s barrels are inclined forwards, but the Tridents were vertical. That meant all eight main engine castings were different for each model. And, though the rest of the engine components were shared between BSA and Triumph models, the full double-cradle frame of the Rocket 3 was MIG welded while The Trident’s was a traditional, single downtube, lugged-and-brazed affair. The differences may have helped forge brand identity, but they also increased production costs.
Similar styling for both models –
‘ADRENALINEPUMPING ACCELERATION’
courtesy of Ogle Designs – didn’t help, either. The boxy fuel tank and futuristic ‘ray-gun’ silencers were not universally liked – especially in the USA – and probably contributed to initially slow sales. So called ‘beauty kits’ were supplied to US dealers to make unsold bikes look more like the Bonneville and 1970 US models were restyled to match.
But, despite a troubled genesis, the triples somehow contrived to be so much better than the sum of their parts. Although the Rocket 3 was dropped in January 1972, the Trident ran on until 1977, gaining disc brakes, a five-speed gearbox and an electric starter along the way. And, by 1975, the T160 Trident even looked the part, with its gorgeous teardrop tank.
Any triple can provide a thrilling ride. Parts availability is great and upgrades abound. T150s seem to be slightly more affordable than T160s and Rocket 3s, so maybe this 1973 Us-market T150 on offer for £8495 at Godin Sporting Cars and Motorcycles is worth a look. It’s a disc-brake, five-speed gearbox model and looks pretty good value. anthonygodin.co.uk