Triton

Above are some of the parts I have as well as some examples of parts that I hope to get in the future. The Triton is quickly becoming the love of my life on two wheels. It is the perfect machine, far beyond anything I could have been thinking when I started in directly after dad died in July 2007.

I realized about two hours ago that I have right now all but the throttle cable that I will need to get the bike on the road (oil and hoses aside). I have the low mufflers seen in the picture, actually those specifically - all I have to do is get some adapters I used to fit the high pipes out of the head. I have a headlight assembly seen on the bottom which I bought for the KZ1000 but won't need. I also have the Joe Hunt Magneto seen in the side picture. All of these parts combined with some wiring and a bit of elbow grease will put the machine on the road in almost perfect order.

What is available to me through a wide variety of sources is an endless supply of parts that can be picked from to upgrade, rebuild, restore, and just enhance what I already have. 

I for example have access to every little piece inside that engine, which I'll be able to use in a couple of years to completely rebuild it back to brand new condition - and in places better than new condition, with 0 miles and ready to be run in again. 

There are also simply incredible wheels and brake set ups available, two of them are shown here. Everything has its price, and every nickel put into the bike will never be seen again - it's like shoveling money into a furnace. However as long as you accept this and don't mind it, you can just have the sweetest finest machine known to man.

The front wheel shown on the bottom right is a 4 leading shoe brake. That means there are 2 sets of brake shoes one on either side of the hub that activate when you pull in the level, a mechanical marvel, which costs the exact same as the disc brake setup for the same machine. 

The rear wheel - only the hub shown - offers a much smaller amount of braking, but is absolutely brand new, and cable operated. 

There are carburetors to be had, belt drive primary drives, lower handlebars, modern switch gear, better wire harnesses with modern connectors, progressive springs, performance clutches, and the lists are endless. 

This is not a bike I am building to sit in a museum, this is a bike that is being built to be ridden. Not always hard, but not always soft. This is the bike that I hope to ride every day (once it is on the road in a month or two) for the rest of my life - 3 seasons. Slowly as time goes forward I hope to just better and better it in every way I can. 

By rebuilding the engine, building up new wheels with these powerful drum brakes, upgrading the electrical system (which is incredibly simple) into something that can power modern lights and maybe turnsignals, by adding as I said modern clip connectors, refining the ride, electronic gauges, eventually re-chroming the front and rear fenders, and just continuing to upgrade and improve it where I can when I can. The mufflers on there now are cheap chinese copies of wonderful old English mufflers - the chrome will be gone in two years - I would like to eventually get real English mufflers for it. 

You name it, I intend to improve it - but all the while maintaining the basic look of the bike that my father rode all through his 20s. 

I believe there can be no better tribute to him. 

Also it being a 1967 it is outside of the laws of emissions, but I hope to make it as clean and smooth running as any modern bike can be with carburetors, and quite frankly she gets better than 50 miles per gallon running regular gas. So as far as just about anything goes, I am doing my best for the planet as any green hippie that goes out and buys something made yesterday. My bike has already left it's footprint.