TRIUMPH OF THE MOTORBIKE SPIRIT
Calgarian returns to restoring 60-year-old classic Thunderbird, a ‘chopper survivor’
Since I was a boy I wanted to get a motorcycle. But my dad always told me I’d hurt myself.
Winter is definitely here.
While the streets are icy and snow covers the ground, what’s a motorcyclist to do? If there’s a warm place to work, they’ll likely be toiling away on a two-wheeled project. That’s what 25-year old Kaetyn St. Hilaire plans to do.
In 2015 the Calgarian bought a 1956 Triumph Thunderbird that had been customized years ago. Each winter since, St. Hilaire has altered it to suit his tastes and this year he’s going to change it up just a little bit more.
St. Hilaire is a relative newcomer to the hobby of motorcycling, however, and says there are two types of motorcyclists: those who grew up with them, or those who weren’t allowed to have one when they were young.
“Since I was a boy I wanted to get a motorcycle,” St. Hilaire says. “But my dad always told me I’d hurt myself. When I was 19, though, and had moved out of the house, he told me I was old enough to make my own decisions.”
That’s when St. Hilaire obtained his motorcycle licence and bought a 2011 Kawasaki Ninja sport bike. He grew tired of the machine after a year and began looking for something older that he could work on himself. Kijiji provided a lead on a Honda CB650, which he bought, fixed up and sold. He followed that with a 1975 Honda CB750. “I really wanted to learn how to ‘build’ a motorcycle with that one,” St. Hilaire says.
Working alongside Kenny Kwan of Ill-Fated Kustoms, St. Hilaire performed much of the disassembly and cleaning chores while Kwan looked after most of the welding and machining. The result was a pared-down Honda with the airbox and side covers removed, a new seat, dropped handlebars and a floating rear fender that hugs the rear tire.
“I just took things that I like the look of (from other custom and traditional motorcycles) and incorporated them on the Honda,” St. Hilaire says.
Seeing his son’s passion for motorcycles, St. Hilaire Sr. soon swung a leg over the CB750. The hook was set, and together father and son were maintaining a small collection of vintage Japanese machines.
Looking to expand his growing collection with something British, St. Hilaire was talking to his friend and Triumph enthusiast Jason Brunner of Airdrie.
“Jason suggested I search for a pre-unit Triumph 650,” St. Hilaire explains.
A pre-unit Triumph simply means the engine and transmission are separate components. After 1963, every Triumph featured unit construction, with the engine and transmission cases cast together.
“Jason found the 1956 Triumph Thunderbird in Saskatoon,” St. Hilaire says, “and he helped me out in securing the deal.”
According to its known history, this Thunderbird had been turned into a chopper sometime in the 1960s or 1970s. The frame, swingarm and forks had been chrome plated and a twin-carburetor Bonneville cylinder head and barrels added to the lower end.
“The owner I bought it from had bought it as a chopper survivor, repainted the tank and taken it down to Born Free in California,” St. Hilaire says. “When he got back he needed to sell it.”
With the Thunderbird in his possession late in 2015, over that winter into early 2016, St. Hilaire had help from Brunner in swapping out the chromed forks for a set from a later model Triumph. He ditched the highrise handlebars, added a solo seat and knobby tires and was well on his way to creating a desert sled, a style of motorcycle famous for being used in the California sands as a race bike.
Then, over the winter of 2016 and into 2017, St. Hilaire changed the low exhaust pipes to high twin pipes and installed taller rear shocks. He also bought a different Triumph tank on eBay and had Kevin Cuffley of Big Shot Customs in Calgary paint it grey.
He has more plans for this winter.
“At the back end something just doesn’t look quite right to me,” St. Hilaire says.
So this season he plans to either change or re-mount the rear fender, build a different seat and install an engine skid plate, all in time to have it ready for the road again next spring.
“I really like these old bikes because they all have a story to them,” St. Hilaire says.