Jockey Journal Forum banner

65 Triumph Chopper for sale

5K views 1 reply 1 participant last post by  spinedoc 
#1 ·
CityErie
StatePA
Price10,000
Selling this bike. It is a 1965 Bonneville that was built as a chopper decades ago by Lee Burkhart, a Pittsburgh area Triumph dealer mechanic and good friend of mine. Built for a friend of Lee's as a show bike and with the capability to be ridden as well.

Bike was featured in The Horse magazine, issue 32. I purchased the bike from the original owner over 20 years ago. It was my summer ride for several years, I won some trophies with it and it has been parked for the last 4 years in a heated garage. The motor was gone through less than 500 miles ago and new pistons and rings were installed.

The bike is based off of a Bonneville. The frame was chopped, the seat rails were dropped (konged), the swingarm was kept but lengthened 4 inches. All modifications were gusseted and molded. The rear wheel is a Triumph hub laced to a larger Harley wheel. The forks are 'Forks by Frank'. The paint was put down by Ron Purse, a Pittsburgh area custom painter in lacquer.

The engine has polished cases and covers, and according to Lee was built with performance in mind.

The theme of this bike is Hexagons. 6 sided items are featured throughout the bike. The frame neck is hex shaped, all foot controls are hand bent hex stock, as are the handlebars, fender supports and sissy bar. The oil tank is hexagon shaped. The stitching on the seat is hexagonal. The tail light is off a 40's era Lincoln I have been told, but I have yet to identify what model it came off of. The sissy bar is shaped to follow the form of the tail light. It has original Smith gauges.

There is a lot of chrome on the bike. If it isn't painted, it's chromed. All the hand bent hex stock was chromed, hubs and rims, oil tank and engine plates are chromed. Fork lowers are chromed.

The bike has some nice Webco parts on it. The points cover, rocker oil feed, valve cover screws and intake manifolds are all Weber units.

Overall the bike is solid. It was well built by a talented factory mechanic with an eye for detail. There are so many hand built parts on this bike you don't find on most builds. It starts and runs well. Handles and rides great. I have taken it on some nice road trips over the years. It is a 50 year old bike, and was built decades ago, so, although it looks good, the paint is chipped in places, and it could use new tires. It is being sold as is. Please contact me with any questions about the bike. I will answer as best I can. I would love to see someone get this bike and keep it going strong. I figure you can ride it as is, or polish up the chrome and repaint the frame. Either way, you'll have a slick chop. Thank you for your interest.
































































 
See less See more
19
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top