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Team T100
Part Three
Parts Sent For Repair,
Silencers Found on ebay
By Bud Wilkinson
The restoration of a 1969 Triumph T100R Daytona began only three weeks ago, but timing and luck are already playing roles in the process. The goal is to have the bike finished by the annual Brit Jam rally in August. That’s a mere six months away and, as a result, the work schedules of others and a buying opportunity have forced “Team T100” into snap-decision mode since last Saturday’s report was written.
Not all of the parts on the vintage Triumph can be rehabbed in the workshop. Some must be sent out, and outside expertise is certainly needed to put the speedometer and tachometer back into operating shape. They’ve been sent to Nisonger Instruments in Mamaroneck, N.Y. where they will be restored at a cost of $165 each.
The decision to get the gauges out now was made because the company promises a five-week turnaround up through March. After that, it could take as long as 12 weeks. It seemed wise to play it safe. They were mailed Feb. 1.
While the game plan going in was to focus on the motor and get it running before allocating any sizable funds for other parts of the bike, an ebay buying opportunity presented itself last Sunday afternoon as well.
A pair of original, never-used chrome silencers (mufflers), which would cost $479 retail, came up for bid and I snagged them for $218.50 plus shipping. The total tab came to under $250, so it was a purchase worth making – providing they arrive in as-promised condition.
(Originally published February 9, 2008 in The Republican-American.)
Part Two
Promising Start
By BUD WILKINSON
Finding an old motorcycle in barn, buying it and putting it back on the road is admittedly a clichéd tale. If you read RIDE-CT last Saturday, though, you already know that’s what I’m doing with an antique Triumph T100R Daytona, the twist being that I have no mechanical skills myself and am relying on the help of experts and friends to get it running again.
The 1969 Triumph was pulled from a barn behind Toymaker’s Café in Falls Village, but that’s not where seller Greg Bidou found it back in 2002. You could say that the bike was on ice when he acquired it from the estate of a one-time Triumph dealer in Nashville, Tenn.
“There was an old ice house, meat locker, actually” at the rear of the dealership, recalled Greg, explaining that the walk-in freezer compartment was used for bike storage. The T100R was part of a group of bikes and parts that he purchased and had shipped to Connecticut for his side business, T100 Toymaker’s, which sells vintage British motorcycle parts. Greg and his wife, Ann, also own Toymaker’s Café.
The bikes have gathered dust ever since the purchase – until two weeks ago when the T100R was extracted from a snarl of metal, dragged across the icy car park (to use the British term for parking lot) and secured on a lift in an unheated workshop in another barn.
The temperature was in the teens that day, so Greg, who is mentoring the restoration process, friend Carl Foster and I weren’t able to give it much more than a cursory inspection. Some parts were obviously missing – an engine cover, tank badges, some footpegs, the headlight bulb, a side cover and the kickstarter lever.
In pulling the bike from the barn, Greg snagged a side cover from similar vintage machine to go with it. The T100R is Lincoln green and silver, while the spare side cover is a red-orange with a mass of brown flowers on a white background in the middle, the image a definite throwback to psychedelic times.
Three days later, with the temperature up near 32 degrees, we reassembled to fully inventory the bike, determine how much of it was “original” and create a list of needed parts before starting disassembly.
In preparation, I’d been reading the how-to book “Triumph Twin Restoration” by Roy Bacon, loaned to me by “Tike” Ladd, owner of the Classic Motorcycle Co. in Terryville, who is the fourth member of our “Team T100” restoration quartet.
Tike’s responsibilities will include helping me fix the bike’s dented gas tank, repair a rip in rear mudguard (what the Brits call a fender) and paint the “tins.” I’d mentioned to him that I was thinking of using one solid color instead of going with an original two-tone scheme to save money, with British racing green being my likely choice.
However, Tike warned that green is considered an unlucky color for bikes, especially British bikes. It wasn’t until later that I remembered that the T100R was already green.
Besides reading “Triumph Twin Restoration,” I’d also been studying a Haynes “Owners Workshop Manual” for 1958-1973 Triumphs, which I had bought from Greg, and came prepared with a smattering of book learning and no hands-on experience whatsoever.
We first checked the VIN (vehicle identification number) on the frame and on the engine to see if they matched. They did; a good sign. The “XC” preface told us that the bike was built in December of the 1969 model year. That meant that the bike actually rolled out of Triumph’s old plant in Meriden, England in December 1968, more than 39 years ago.
The odometer showed only 8,754 miles and the California license plate revealed that it was last registered in 1971. The bike’s relatively short street life immediately suggested that beneath all the grit and grease there might be a fairly unmolested gem of classic bike. Indeed, wiping away the grime on the rear wheel revealed a glistening chrome rim.
Starting at the back end and working forward, Greg called out to me the parts that would be needed, occasionally adding comments and sometimes pointing out the void on the bike for me to see. When mentioning the need for two sparkplug caps to replace the existing ones, he added, “It’s cheap insurance.”
The parts list for the exterior necessities totaled 37. After nearly four hours, having completed the inventory and having taken off the seat, gas tank and front mudguard, we called it an afternoon. Besides getting my hands dirty for the first time, I learned from Greg that in assigning numbers to its models - T100, T110, T120 - Triumph was suggesting the top speed of each model.
The fact that the nuts on the T100R were unscarred and turned easily further gave us hope that the inner workings might be in sound shape, too. As we savored the caviar, sun-dried tomatoes and cheese on crackers that Annie had brought to the workshop, I couldn’t help but think that the “Team T100” restoration was off to a promising start, perhaps too promising.
Part One
Team Assembled To
Restore '69 T100R
By BUD WILKINSON
When the picture popped up on the computer screen nearly two weeks ago showing some decaying motorcycles – smothered in dust, missing parts and generously labeled as “project bikes” in a craigslist.com posting – I knew instantly that 1) they could be found in a certain barn in Falls Village and 2) that somehow one of the motorcycles deserved to be rescued and restored.
Maybe it was the numerous TV commercials for the movie “The Bucket List” over the proceeding days that had me in a peculiar mood to try something uncharacteristic. Maybe it was a winter case of P.M.S. (parked motorcycle syndrome) that had me antsy. Or maybe it was merely the festering desire to get a vintage second bike.
Whatever the inspiration, I soon picked up the phone and dialed Greg Bidou to learn the asking prices and to float a scheme that was quickly fermenting in my mind.
Greg and his wife, Ann, own Toymaker’s Café, my favorite riding haunt ever since I profiled them in the second installment of RIDE-CT back in July 2005. Toymaker’s Café is a motorcycle-friendly eatery known for sweet potato waffles and English banger breakfasts. On weekend mornings during the riding season, the parking lot is inevitably filled with all brands and styles of bikes and the picnic tables outside are jammed with riders sipping coffee and swapping stories.
Besides serving as the café’s chef, Greg has a side business importing and selling motorcycle parts for British antiques under the banner T100 Toymaker’s, the T100 referring to a Triumph model. He also restores old British iron for fun and profit. Unbeknownst to most customers, the two red barns behind Toymaker’s are dedicated to motorcycles. One houses a workshop, while the other is stuffed with numerous derelict bikes and thousands of parts.
On several occasions in the course of introducing riding friends to Toymaker’s cuisine, I’d gotten permission from Greg to give them a tour of the motorcycle boneyard. That’s how I recognized the motorcycles that had shown up online.
In calling Greg, my initial questions regarding the bikes in the picture were: What models are they? How much? It turned out that two were 500cc T100s, one a 1969 and the other a 1970. The asking prices were $1,250 and $1,000, respectively.
What might it cost to get one of them back on the road and how long would it take? I wasn’t talking pristine show quality, rather to just get one running smoothly and safely, and looking as sharp as a limited budget might allow. And could the job be completed in time to make it to the annual Brit Jam rally in East Hampton in August?
Greg’s answers were encouraging. Maybe $4,000 and 150 hours of work from start to finish. In my head, I doubled the numbers, figuring any restoration project would likely take twice the money and twice the time predicted. At that point, the nascent plan seemed dead on arrival – far too expensive and too time-consuming.
Just as quickly, more positive thoughts intruded. It wouldn’t be necessary to come up with all the cash at once. A bike could be restored part-by-part, dollar-by-dollar over a seven-month period.
Greg then started explaining the meticulous process that would be required, beginning with the taking of countless pictures as the bike was disassembled. All pieces would have to be cleaned, catalogued and bagged before restoration could begin.
I explained that when it comes to wrenching, I’m worse than a novice, changing the oil in the lawn tractor being the extreme limit to my mechanical skill, but Greg was again supportive.
It was at this point that the plan truly crystallized: Write series of RIDE-CT columns chronicling the rebuild, while enlisting others to help on the project. I figured readers who regularly do their own repairs and know the pitfalls might get a chuckle over “newbie” mistakes and frustrations, while other riders whose knowledge is similarly limited to turning the key and hitting the starter button might be inspired.
Seeing the value of the idea, or perhaps foreseeing some laughs as well, Greg volunteered to serve as mentor. He’d help locate parts that were missing and do what he could to keep costs in check. He also suggested that I talk with “Tike” at the Classic Motorcycle Co. in Terryville, a business that specializes in restoring British motorcycles, for additional expertise and guidance.
Another phone call and a quick explanation of the project to Robert “Tike” Ladd and he was aboard as well. In the process, I learned that Tike lives in Harwinton not too far from my house.
If two heads are better than one, well, why not three? I called my friend Carl Foster in Avon, with whom I often ride. Not only is he mechanically inclined, Carl’s a well-grounded person who would reel in my impulsive personality and keep me organized, ensuring that the project would stay focused and on budget. He agreed as well, although he was a bit aghast that I’d already been searching ebay for parts that, if I had bid on them successfully, might not have fit or be needed for the as-yet undetermined project bike.
“Team T100” was set: Greg the Mentor, Carl the Voice of Reason, Tike the Expert Advisor and Bud the Restoration Apprentice. While the project suggests a melding of “Ask This Old House” and “American Chopper,” with elements of several other reality-based TV shows tossed in, it’s safe to say that no one will be voted off or fired. I need them too much.
Why a Triumph? The basket case could just as easily been an old Harley or an old Japanese bike, but with the surname of Wilkinson, I’m a diehard Anglophile. The nameplate Triumph suggests to me a bit of romance from a bygone era.
Last Sunday morning, Carl and I drove to Falls Village and, joined by Greg, we extracted a relic from a row of battered bikes. It’s a green and silver 1969 T100R Daytona with 8,754 miles on the odometer. A California license plate show that it was last registered 37 years ago – back when I was a teenager and when my mother was of the firm mindset, “You’re not getting a motorcycle. You’ll kill yourself.”
Mom’s been dead for 24 years and I’ve been riding for three-plus years. To my untrained eyes, this seems like a good project bike – old enough that it’s “simple” mechanically yet new enough that finding parts shouldn’t be a problem or outrageously expensive, unless I make it so.
Greg assures me that if the bike actually gets restored and I decide not to keep it, I’ll at least be able to get back the money I’ve invested in it. The picture taking has begun. Brit Jam is only seven months away. The clock is now ticking.
(Originally published January 26, 2008 in The Republican-American.)
Team T100 Picture Gallery
The 1969 Triumph T100R Daytona as it was pulled from a barn behind Toymaker's Cafe in Falls Village.
The bike was last registered in 1971 in California and probably hasn't been ridden in 37 years.
The odometer shows only 8,715 miles.
Members of Team T100 include, top to bottom, Greg Bidou, Tike Ladd and Carl Foster.
More pictures of the 1969 Triumph T100R Daytona
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