MY £25 TRITON WAS A CHEAP COMMUTER
Having read about the Tritons in the July issue of CB, here’s one I picked up in 1973 for £25. It came to light as a result of me needing cheap transport for work, having recently been married and not yet having a car. Through a friend I found the Triton, much as it looks in the picture but not particularly of a standard to jump on and go. The engine/gearbox required re-aligning and the multiple washers and bodged bolts replacing with spacers and correct-length fasteners to ensure that the chain and associated bits were safe to use.
The engine was an iron head/barrel 500 of unknown origin with a Norton ’box and seemed sound enough for my purposes – even the dynamo worked! The glassfibre tank was sound if not visually endearing and for a Wideline frame it was quite comfortable.
The bike served me well for a week or two – apart from a front-wheel puncture at 70mph, which was interesting! The wide bars helped me to maintain enough control and fortunately the road was straight and traffic-free.
Mick Coldron