Licks Cycles: Triumph 1050 Café Racer

Velocity Triple Café Racer from ETTO Bikes…

Again in 2005, Triumph launched the Velocity Triple 1050, a manufacturing facility streetfighter that packed a 128-bhp, three-cylinder gobsmacker of an engine. Right here was a hooligan’s dream, simply as snug at monitor days as wheelie-ing down the native excessive road.

“The Velocity Triple at all times was, and stays, a little bit of a Rottweiler.” –MCN

Nevertheless, the stunted tail and bug-eyed headlights, paying homage to Hoover from Andy Sparrow’s Bloodrunners, weren’t for everybody. There have been those that questioned how the bike would possibly look and carry out as a high-performance, retro-inspired café racer — one thing Triumph didn’t supply on the time.

Our buddy Ian Davis of London’s ETTO Bikes — an aluminum fabricator, tank maker, and customized bike builder — determined to search out out.

“I constructed this Triumph 1050 for a very good buddy of mine, referred to as Robbo. He did an superior job making the seat unit in fibreglass, utilizing components of the unique facet panel.” -Ian

For Ian, the problem could be the strains, redesigning this bare streetfighter right into a glossy, modern café racer which may have simply rolled out of the Triumph manufacturing facility — a two-wheeled Rottweiler was a Greyhound hunched for velocity.

“The bike is a 2007 mannequin and it’s an excellent triple. The one downside (I feel) is the again finish seems to be like another person designed it with out seeing what the entrance finish designer was doing. So the primary goal was to get the move of the bike proper from entrance to again and provides it that tremendous cool cafe racer vibe.” -Ian

The bike was stripped all the way down to the bones and so they began the construct from a clean canvas. A entrance fairing was fitted, and Ian made fast launch, race-style fairing brackets with lock-wired R clips. Very cool.

An LED headlight was fitted to the fairing and indicators to the radiator guard. All of the wiring was modified and many of the parts relocated: regulator / rectifier, relays, fuses, and so forth.

Ian then fabricated an aluminium sub-frame, battery field, coolant catch tank, and likewise relocated the ECU.

On the rear, an integral LED rear brake mild and indicator housing was fitted, hidden contained in the seat unit for the cleanest strains attainable.

The brakes have been upgraded with Brembo grasp cylinder and levers, and new Gilles Vario bars fitted. The rear shock was swapped for a Nitron NTR1.

“So now a great deal of weight had been lower off, the suspension and brakes had been upgraded, and the dealing with is spot on.” -Ian

The twin exhaust system was junked in favor of a Micron hydro-formed finish can. The bike has a great deal of different little particulars that exhibit Ian’s metal-shaping prowess, such because the bespoke aluminum chainguard made to appear to be it’s straight from the manufacturing facility. Ian does every thing old-school, eschewing CNC for hand-fabrication.

The Gulf Oil paint scheme was chosen as a nod to the McLaren F1 staff again within the day and actually units the bike off superbly.

“The bike was completed in time for the 2018 Bike Shed Present and it went down a storm. Triumph even posted a photograph of it on their very own web site. Little bit of a cool nod.” -Ian