Triton Build (67 Triumph Unit & Billyfry Featherbed Frame)

With a kid on the way my budget for this build is next to nothing so I'm really going to have to scrounge my junk/parts pile and the loft for as many parts as I can get.

I've had this Kawa 550 sitting in the shed for years. A buddy was going to chop it but lost interest and I don't have a title for it anyway, so it's sawzall time:


If I measured well this swing arm should fit nice. It's actually a little longer than the original Norton would have been:


Now I just need the front forks. Out of all the junk I have laying around these look the best. I have an original Triump front setup but someone has done some real ugly work lengthening them so I think I'm better off with the jap forks. :

Here's the Triumph donor. I've had this for years. Originally it was going to be for 650 bobber to replace my 500 bobber. It came with a bolt on hardtail and an extra bolt on plunger, but none of the original rear frame or swing arm. Otherwise it might have been turned into a Triumph cafe years ago.



A quick mockup of my days treasure hunt.:


Now that I have all the major components all that's left is everything. I hate these wheels so maybe a little more digging is in order to find some spooked wheels that aren't too bad.

Thanks for the info on Peter Williams. I actually was able to find a picture on his website.

Had some time Saturday to get a little work done. I cleaned up the headstock from the Kawa donor. In hind sight it probably would have taken less time to make a new one, but since this is what I had and I didn't feel like bothering a friend to use a lathe, this will have to do.



I'm hoping to find time this week to put the frame in Billyfry's jig to make the final cuts to attach the neck. I also pulled the 650 from it's original frame to start test fitting it. I don't know if there's some trick to getting a 650 motor out of the frame without taking the heads off, but I gave up and just cut the frame apart. I didn't really want to chop up the original frame but It's a reconstructed title so all I really needed was the VIN tag and motor.



The 650 fits in Billy's frame really nice. Since it's not an original Featherbed frame and doesn't have any of the original mounting tabs, I'm going to make up all my own mounting plates.

I also, tossed on the original Triumph tank to see how it looked.


I'd like to try and make this work for the bike. Partly because it's what I have and don't want to spend any money, but mainly because I've always loved the way Triumph tanks look.


I could probably get away with just mounting the tank on top the frame but the hot rodder in me is saying to section, widen, and channel it down over the frame. It already has a few dents and is far from pristine so why not cut it up.