Featured Thruxton Ton Up Thruxton

Hi to all ageing Rockers (well me at least). Triumph are producing a "Ton up Special" based on the Thruxton RS with a 1960s theme, it is named after the "Ton up Boys" who raced (sorry officer rode) modified bikes back in the sixties from café to café. The bike will be available for 1 year only and retails at £14,050, it looks cool to say the least, black spoked wheels and blue/white/black paint among other mods. It is ironic that those of us back in the sixties who modified our bikes were often demonised, especially by the press, the only places we were welcomed at were the cafe's, if you turned up at a local gig wearing your leather jacket and kit you were told "we don't let your sort in", often venues had a notice saying "no leather jackets allowed", how attitudes have changed, it's great to now see Triumph actually recognising the contribution to the biking scene we made in the 60s, we had the freedom to modify our bikes with what we liked and when we liked (or finances dictated). I often look back on those days very very fondly (not rose tinted specs either) but a truly great era, especially for us bikers, I am a Rocker through and through and true to by biking past, I still carry on modifying my bikes today, although not to the extent I did back in the day, but I still have that "Rocker" spirit within me, anyway good to see a dedicated "Ton up Special". Ride safe all

 

That's exactly what we did with our bikes in the sixties (not exactly a hotch potch), but an individual expression of what we liked in different machines and incorporated those into one machine, such as the Triton, Tribsa, Tricati, Norbsa, Trifield and so many more, back in the day you could buy a running but neglected machine for £5, sometimes a lot less, take parts off it and modify them onto your own machine, often you could have a different tank colour to the mudguards, most of us didn't think twice about what we created (as rockers we were only interested in riding our bikes as fast as we could and as often as possible, we respected our girlfriends who rode with us and we partied hard). I guess it is difficult for some to see beyond a first glimpse of the "Ton Up Special", however for those of us that experienced those fantastic times we can relate right away with the "Ton Up Special" and appreciate what Triumph have created. I would like to think this machine will appeal to some of our younger riders who would like to experience "the spirit of the sixties" albeit riding a modern machine in modern times. For me I just love anything with an engine, I love the resurgence in the customising scene we are seeing, ironically many countries are seeing a huge and growing "Rocker scene of the Sixties", Especially Japan, and how ironic is that. Could I personally see this machine in my garage, hell yes as I can appreciate the history behind the machine. Ride safe all

 

Hi Bikerman, myself and a few other forum members posted some pictures and write ups a while back re the "rocker scene in the 60s", have a look back for them and happy reading.

 

Hi xorbe, I agree some Triumph models are far to expensive and there are better machines out there for the money that Triumph are asking, take the Speed Triple 1200rr for example. However for me personally what really enthused me was that Triumph have recognised the 60s Rocker era and what we were about and achieved, we were rebelling against the norm, we loved the excitement and freedom our bikes gave us, we felt alive and lived and breathed bikes, or girlfriends who rode with us had the same level of excitement we felt and got the whole thing. Having owned over 80 motorcycles of all makes and models, a while back another forum member asked what was my favourite machine from that era, it was a BSA DBD34 GS, the thing was fantastic to look at and hear, however it was problematic to start, a lot of clutch slipping in the villages, however there was very little traffic about back then. I usually buy a new bike every 12 months, currently I just keep to one machine as I slowly sold off the bulk of what I had, a few forum members bought some of my bikes, my Triumph dealer bought a couple off me for a very good price, I swapped a 1956 T100 in show condition I had restored for a new STRS, the dealer kept it in his showroom as a talking point, he did sell it recently though to a young rider who said he loved the classic scene. Anyway enough nostalgia, the "Ton Up Special" would for me be used for the occasional ride outs with those of us of that certain age, it would break my commitment to one bike at a time though. I think Triumph recognise the "Ton Up Special" will only sell in limited numbers, hence the production run of 1 year only. Ride safe all.

 

I am seriously thinking of purchasing a set of Kineo wheels for my STRS, they are expensive but gosh they do look good, have a look at bikehps for the different specs.
https://www.bikehps.com/kineo/

 

Ah that colour scheme was not unique though, with major sponsor John Player & Sons, the Norton Rotary achieved significant racing success with riders Steve Spray, Robert Dunlop, and Ron Haslam, together with stand-in riders Andy McGladdery and Terry Rymer. However for me the greatest ride of all time on the Rotary Norton is that of Steve Hislop at the IOM in June 1992. The Mountain Course on the Isle of Man has been the setting for some amazing contests but few, if any, can have been better than the 1992 Senior TT in which Steve Hislop powered the “white-charger” Norton to victory in an epic contest with Carl Fogarty decided at lap and race record speeds. There are a fair few forum members, myself included who were there to witness this great event, I had the privilege of a press pass (you had to have a pass in those days to enter the pit area, security on the gate checked your pass, a friend got me the pass as I was a bit of an amateur road race photographer) it is not so these days and one can gain access to the whole area. Anyway Steve Hislop, the proud Scot, ruled supreme at the end of a captivating, record breaking event over the torturous six laps as he took the victory, despite running on a shoe-string budget and racing with the backing of a long time supporter who found sponsorship through Abus locks.

The man from Hawick Scotland, who made his home on the Island was a real sporting all-rounder, winning the short circuit British 250cc crown and then twice the Superbike Championship as well as recording 11 victories at the TT. The “flying haggis” as he was nicknamed was described by some as a “flawed genius,” when everything clicked into place he was one of the fastest, if not the fastest, of his era to ride a motorcycle.

Anyone doubting that, then think on this. He was the first rider to clock a 120mph average speed lap at the TT and a decade on from his remarkable “white-charger” winning ride he confounded the sport by shattering the outright lap record at Donnington Park running with a time of 1m 31.45s aboard a BSB specification Ducati, better than the times recorded by the MotoGP elite.

This was Hislop, the man who in 1992 had finished second to Phillip McCallen in the opener to the festival, the TTF1 race. The Ulsterman was back for more as were Joey and Robert Dunlop and Fogarty riding the Loctite Yamaha. The opening lap was a scorcher with Hislop leading by a little over a second from Fogarty while Robert Dunlop on a Norton was only a further couple of seconds, all three averaging over 121mph.

Hislop doubled his lead going into the first round of pit-stops but Fogarty was full of fight – he wanted the victory and it showed as he reeled in the Flying Scot to take a one second lead at half distance. Hislop responded, breaking the record, and amazingly pulling a lead of over seven seconds at two thirds distance.

Fogarty trimmed two seconds off him on the fifth lap and then went for broke on the last dash over Snaefell, smashing the lap record again at an average speed of 123.61mph but Hislop was all but matching him, barely a second off that scorching pace, as he took the victory by 4.4 seconds. He had given Norton their first victory in the Senior TT since 1961 – a milestone success for him and the marque. Both Ron Haslam (Rocket Ron) and Trevor Nation race at the Isle Of Man TT and other road races such as the NW200, shown together in the last photo. Two of my favourite racers were the husband and wife duo Dennis and Julia Bingham, I have some lovely photos I took of Julia before the sidecar race showing her rather pensive, it was a great loss to sidecar road racing when they retired, I felt for them both it was family pressure that Julia decided to hang her leathers up.