Daytona dreamin'
Jim always wanted one of these ... and three years ago he finally got on. He's now cracking on with this Triple Treat. ..
Sothere we were, me, Bertie Simmonds and photographer Gary Chapman standing by the side of the road taking a break from a CMM photoshoot when I mentioned doing a Hinckley Triumph Daytona for my next project. Bertie said Niall Mackenzie had one... in bits.
If you're wondering why an ex racer of Niall's ability would be interested in an ancient, battered first generation English sports bike, the brief answer is he wasn't, although he did appear with it in the September 2016 issue. Here's the story. Niall was instructing at a Mallory Park track day when one of his charges started badgering him to take his bike for a spin and see what he thought of it. Reluctantly, Niall agreed.
Sod's Law, a couple of laps in, he high-sided at the bus stop making more of a mess of what was already an untidy motorcycle. Despite the fact it had been the owner's idea, the fool now got stroppy.
Being a good guy, Niall decided that the best way forward was to buy the Triumph and maybe turn it into some sort of streetfighter custom. He made a start, removing most of the trashed bodywork, the headlight and various other odds and ends. Time wore on. His interest waned and we did a deal. Eventually I turned up with my trailer, handed over the agreed sum in cash, chewed the fat, had a look at Niall's desirable collection of motorcycles, loaded up the bike and boxes of bits and headed home.
That was in October 2017. I made an enthusiastic start. The bodywork Niall had already removed was fit only for the recycling centre. The remaining bodywork, which I removed, was in the same state. On the plus side, the frame and wheels were
straight and cosmetically (although unloved) were salvageable. With the battery rescued and fully charged on my everreliable Optimate, I set about figuring what to connect to what in the jumble of wires and plugs spilling in untidy fashion from the place where the headlights should be.
After a few false starts (ahem) I thumbed the starter and the motor turned over. It was firing reluctantly on one and then two cylinders. My workshop, with open door, began to stink of unburnt petrol. I was about to call it quits for the day when (heralded by an alarming sheet of flame from the genuine Triumph carbon silencer) the engine announced its intention to rejoin the living by spluttering uncertainly into action, albeit low-grade action, accompanied by unseemly misfires, backfires and more (but less scary) flames from the end-can.
With the tank drained and refilled with fresh fuel, it eventually began to start and run quite well, even ear-splittingly well! That end-can has to stay... In my world the roar of a 120-degree triple is matched only by the flat bark of a V-twin.
I found a full set of scruffy, but otherwise undamaged bodywork. The guy was asking £495. We managed to agree on £425 and it arrived well packed on a palette a few days later. It did not stay undamaged for long. A thief - or thieves - broke into my lock-up and in their haste to escape with my ancient Mcculloch chainsaw (perfect working order, but probably worth no more than £20) stepped on the upper fairing, breaking a corner completely off. Bugger -and itwasstill 2017.