Triumph Flashback 900

It wasn't long ago we featured another Mr Martini custom, but this Triumph Thruxton 900 was burning a hole in our inbox. Sent to us by the talented Mr Martini himself, we couldn't wait to post it. Although it isn't his latest creation, it's still one of our favourites. To create this incredible Thruxton-based bike or “Classic Urban Racer” as it has been nicknamed, Mr Martini took a fresh out of the factory pre-series bike and completely modified it. He started by adding Wilbers suspensions, a bigger rear rim and classic Metzeler tires. The forks rigidity plate has been replaced because the cut fender has been placed below to draw it up to the tire. The rear fender has been cut and the rear light has been set inside the seat, and in true cafe racer style loads of unnecessary components, standard speedometer included, have been thrown away. The beautiful long manifolds and megaphone pipes have been custom made and painted to give the bike a striking look. From an aesthetic point of view, this built “Flash Back” Triumph is a well balanced mix of modern and classic styling. Check out his other bikes at the Italian based Mr Martini site, particularly the tasty Triumph Flashback Racer.

Mr Martini Matty You-Stone

The Italians have made many masterpieces over the years and this Triumph Sprint 900 is another one. Named the Matty You-Stone, it was built by Nicola Martini who was the first Triumph dealer in the North East of Italy. Mr Martini tells us that this "project was developed around a hinge point: to show the wonderful 3-cylinders Triumph carburetors of the 90’s". To acheive this, the bike was completely stripped down, including the fuel tank and replaced with a much smaller one (4.5 litres) coming from a Peugeot Scooter and placed under the tail. The chassis has been shortened in the rear and the bobber wheels and fat boy light are the only components that have been purchased. The rest of the components come directly from Nicola’s well-stocked warehouse of old spare parts - from the smallest radiator connector coming from a Speed Triple to the tail of a trophy Thruxton. This standout bike has earned Mr Martini the first prize of the 2009 Verona Fair Contest amongst many other contests around the world. The bike is called “Matty You-Stone” where Matty is the name of Nicola’s first son, Matteo, who designed the graffiti writing on the tail of this special bike. To see more of Mr Martini's other bikes check out his inspiring collection.

TPR Urban Scrambler

These Italian Urban Scramblers have been causing a stir on many Italian motorcycle sites. It's the first motorcycle designed by TPR Italian Factory - a new company started by Pietro Figini. Like many custom bike builders, Pietro Figini couldn't find a motorcycle on the Italian market that showed character, style and uniqueness, so he designed this urban scrambler hoping others would share his taste for classic bikes. Figini loves his English motorcycles, so decided to use a twin cylinder 800cc engine as a base, along with the Triumph Bonneville’s double crade chassis. The rest of the bike then went into production, taking inspiration from bikes mainly from the 1960’s. The Urban Scrambler is no show pony either, but also a performance bike, with work on the engine and fuel system resulting in a respectable 75 hp. We love this scrambler and can't wait to see TPR's Cafe Racer which is apparently in production. To view the whole spec list hit this link. 
[Via Rocket Garage]

1947 Triumph Speed Bobber

This is the latest creation from a custom shop in Japan called Deluxie Customs. They are one of the few Japanese shops that don't use the Yamaha SR400 for their bike projects. They usually use Triumphs and Harley's for their builds, like this spectacular 1947 Triumph 'Speed Bobber'. It has a 1947 vintage frame and 650 engine, with a 750 front end, and the rear wheel has a 16 inch Harley rim on it. Mooneyes has helped with the overall vintage bobber look by supplying the seat, rear dish pistons and many other parts. To see more from the guys at Deluxie visit their custom gallery. 

Just a reminder to check out BikeEXIF as I'm doing some guest writing over there while they are on holidays.

Trident Cafe Racer

First spotted this amazing Triumph Trident Cafe Racer on the Bikebolt picture site, then traced it back to wedding and motocross (unusual mix) photographer Chad DeRosa who has taken some killer pics of this super clean cafe racer. The pipes and tank are worthy of a modern art exhibition. Speaking of which, there is a thorough thread by the owner on the Jockey Journal with many detailed pics of the build, starting with those eye catching pipes. Although the best piece of ingenuity must be the rear tail cone, which was made out of a 1928 Model T Headlight bucket - Macgyver would be very proud. Built from the ground up by Carl Bjorklund, Mark Bjorkland and Young Pon, I have a feeling we are going to see a lot more from this beautiful bespoke motorcycle and it's talented builders. Also check out the making of video here. 

[Photo by Chad De Rosa]

1966 Triumph TT

Stumbled across a blog called Triumph Flat Track which as the name suggests is all about everything Triumph from vintage photos through to modern bike builds. Like this cool 1966 Triumph TT with the very retro looking leather spider seat and flame tank. Greg Rovetta is the bikes owner and said this about the build: "The mastermind for this build is my friend "Steve Perez", with me doing the slave labor. I bought it in 1984. This was the 3rd ground-up rebuild. The frame and casings were in pieces in his back yard for over ten years. I was then reunited with my frame after not seeing my friend for ten years and slowly built it into what it is today." For more specs and pics hit this link to Triumph Flat Track.

4Q Triumph Bobber

Just a quick one due to it being Christmas Eve and I have lots of Santa duties. Mostly drinking the beers my kids left out for the big bearded man. I will be updating Pipeburn as much as possible over the holidays but will also be doing some guest writing on one of my favourite motorcycle sites BikeExif. Check it out if you don't already.
Discovered another great blog by pro skater and bike builder Max Schaaf. Named 4Q Conditioning Blog after his custom building business. He is a legend in both the skate and bike industry, his blog has a fresh mix of vintage photos, bike events, skate stuff, custom bike builds and whatever the hell he wants to post. It's all amusing and definitely worth wasting some time there. Just to give you a taste of 4Q's work have a look at this old school Triumph Bobber. If you're thinking the paint job on the peanut tank looks a bit fruity it's because the bike was custom made for a girl named Sara. 

1960 Triumph Bobber

This Triumph picture has been haunting me for about a month now. For some reason I couldn't remember where I found the pic and I couldn't find any information on it anywhere on the net... until tonight. It's name is Low Tide Larry and it is a 1960 Triumph TR6 650cc bobber built by Dan Patterson. Dan says "the motor is built from the sludge-trap up with custom "JOMO 15" cams, and everything else is either new or uprated to better-than-original". It has to be one of the cleanest bobbers I have seen, and the aqua blue paint job is just like eye candy. You can read about the whole Low Tide Larry build on this Jockey Journal thread. Hit this link to watch a vid of Larry being kick-started. [Thanks to Triumph Bobber Project]

Triumph Thruxton SE

This is the delicious new 2010 Triumph Thruxton Cafe Racer Special Edition. Expected to be released in July 2010, it's essentially the same Thruxton just with a striking red, white and black retro paint job. The other new feature is the cafe racer style headlight cowl. We really dig the red powder coated frame and red stripe that runs down the tank and cowl. The Special Edition Thruxton will have the same 865cc air-cooled, twin cylinder that makes a pretty solid 69hp and 51lb ft of torque. They haven't announced how much this bike will cost, no doubt Triumph will charge a premium for the privilege.