64Herald
Been there, done that, now whats next?
- Joined
- Feb 24, 2007
- Messages
- 548
- Location
- Selden,Long Island,New York
- Ride
- 2006 Rocket Classic Bone/ivory
xhdskip
Living Legend
check out the part of this writeup that is in red....
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]MGS Custom Bikes: Triumph Rocket III
Featured Article in Barnett's Magazine #52
Story by Buck Manning,
Photos by John Wyckoff
“When they uncovered the original bike that I drew to build for Metric TV’s build-off series, you can’t imagine the look of shock on my face,” said Mike Stafford of MGS Custom Bikes. “They told me I had 180 days to customize the bike and I’m going, ‘What am I gonna do with that?’ ” So goes the first meeting between a Triumph Rocket III and Mike, but as you can see, he pulled it off and did such an amazing job of designing the Triumph Triple Threat that it makes you have to open the doors to your imagination and drink it all in.
If you aren’t familiar with the Rocket III, let me give you a little background. It’s a tall 2300cc, three-cylinder in-line motor mounted length-wise with shaft drive in a stubby bike with cartoon-ish features. Not a particularly handsome lump of Ol’ Blighty to start with compared to the Bonneville-based choppers of the Sixties and Seventies. Mike called upon John Triplett of Nothing But Customs in Taylorsville, Kentucky, to collaborate on getting a frame built to somehow house this engine and make it attractive. “Not many people build motorcycles around a car engine and in my opinion, that’s what that thing was,” said Mike. “All John got was the motor and his initial reaction was, ‘Dude, you gotta be kidding me? Is this a joke?’ ” No, it wasn’t. Shortly thereafter, John started to get into the project and told Mike, “It might actually be cool.” John fabricated a long and low frame stretched 12” with a horizon reaching 43 degrees of rake and an additional 6 degrees in the trees. He likes to proportion his frames so there’s a 50/50 percentage from the center of the engine to each axle to give it the stretched, balanced style he loves. American Suspension supplied the classy looking inverted black forks that try their best not to go horizontal while holding a Tight Customs 21” Triplett-designed wheel sporting a single-disc American Suspension front brake. The how-low-can-you-go look is courtesy of Air Ride Technologies rear suspension, which not only allows the Triumph to kiss the tarmac when stopped, but also provides 3.5” of usable ground clearance with a comfortable real world ride when in motion. John used his intermediate shaft system, which allows the drivetrain to be centered in the frame to connect the stock Triumph unitized 6-speed tranny/ex-driveshaft setup to left-side chain drive to the rear wheel. Mounted on that intermediate shaft is a hidden disc brake that not only stops the 360mm Avon shod rear wheel, but also enhances its delightful fatness as well by not being anywhere in sight.
If they can get a six speed tranny, why can't we?
[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]MGS Custom Bikes: Triumph Rocket III
Featured Article in Barnett's Magazine #52
Story by Buck Manning,
Photos by John Wyckoff
“When they uncovered the original bike that I drew to build for Metric TV’s build-off series, you can’t imagine the look of shock on my face,” said Mike Stafford of MGS Custom Bikes. “They told me I had 180 days to customize the bike and I’m going, ‘What am I gonna do with that?’ ” So goes the first meeting between a Triumph Rocket III and Mike, but as you can see, he pulled it off and did such an amazing job of designing the Triumph Triple Threat that it makes you have to open the doors to your imagination and drink it all in.
If you aren’t familiar with the Rocket III, let me give you a little background. It’s a tall 2300cc, three-cylinder in-line motor mounted length-wise with shaft drive in a stubby bike with cartoon-ish features. Not a particularly handsome lump of Ol’ Blighty to start with compared to the Bonneville-based choppers of the Sixties and Seventies. Mike called upon John Triplett of Nothing But Customs in Taylorsville, Kentucky, to collaborate on getting a frame built to somehow house this engine and make it attractive. “Not many people build motorcycles around a car engine and in my opinion, that’s what that thing was,” said Mike. “All John got was the motor and his initial reaction was, ‘Dude, you gotta be kidding me? Is this a joke?’ ” No, it wasn’t. Shortly thereafter, John started to get into the project and told Mike, “It might actually be cool.” John fabricated a long and low frame stretched 12” with a horizon reaching 43 degrees of rake and an additional 6 degrees in the trees. He likes to proportion his frames so there’s a 50/50 percentage from the center of the engine to each axle to give it the stretched, balanced style he loves. American Suspension supplied the classy looking inverted black forks that try their best not to go horizontal while holding a Tight Customs 21” Triplett-designed wheel sporting a single-disc American Suspension front brake. The how-low-can-you-go look is courtesy of Air Ride Technologies rear suspension, which not only allows the Triumph to kiss the tarmac when stopped, but also provides 3.5” of usable ground clearance with a comfortable real world ride when in motion. John used his intermediate shaft system, which allows the drivetrain to be centered in the frame to connect the stock Triumph unitized 6-speed tranny/ex-driveshaft setup to left-side chain drive to the rear wheel. Mounted on that intermediate shaft is a hidden disc brake that not only stops the 360mm Avon shod rear wheel, but also enhances its delightful fatness as well by not being anywhere in sight.
If they can get a six speed tranny, why can't we?
[/FONT]
tdragger
Living Legend
obviously having "stock" followed by "6-speed" doesn't make sense. most likely a typo or the writer is misinformed.
I still don't know why the desire for a 6th gear. Just change the gearing in the 5 speed config. Don't need to redesign the castings. You're thinking like it is a harley with the separate gear box.
I still don't know why the desire for a 6th gear. Just change the gearing in the 5 speed config. Don't need to redesign the castings. You're thinking like it is a harley with the separate gear box.
Terminater
.060 Over
- Joined
- Mar 27, 2012
- Messages
- 111
I will say this is ugly.
TxRIIIRider
Living Legend
This has been around for years and been for sale about that long. I think it's a lot more functional than most people think. It rides on an air bag suspension in the rear, so it does lift up for ground clearance. I think it looks pretty cool, and looks like they've dropped the asking price quite a bit, but still too much for my meger salary to handle.. lol
xhdskip
Living Legend
yea, you're right.
that's a shame too.
Been riding Triumphs for years now,
and still think in harley mode....
