T Birds and other Triumph's!

Remembered... Brit expat driving the bus!!

SEVERAL years ago, I was thinking of buying a new motorcycle.  Ha ha ha... I can hear you guys laughing now from here in Spring Valley.  Yes it's true, I've had enough motorcycles in my garage at one time to put many motorcycle shops to shame.  Brenda tells me I had over 30 when she met me.  Lemme see... that was nearly 5 years ago, there was the CL 350, the Victor441, the R3, the DS6B, the Seca II (and
in Europe awaiting my return, the Divvie 600)....... 

Spitfire w/s bolted on at my motel room.

Hotel Empress Victoria

You get the picture.

Mile 0 Trans Canada/ from one coast to the other!

Hiway 3 Southern BC

Anywaaaay, I digress.  Back around 2005 as a reward for having survived my second heart attack and bypass (Dr Pristie told me I had the Rolls Royce of bypass') I was hunting for a new bike.  I was very impressed with that year's Suzuki Bandit and they were on sale at Walt Healy's in Calgary, but really what I
wanted was a Triumph 900 Thunderbird.

Crow's nest pass AB

Since owning several triples in the late 70's early 80's I've always liked the sound and feel of them.  The T Bird by the new John Bloor resurrected Triumph motors, was a liquid cooled 885 retro styled, standard.  Of course as you all know I'm sure (my motorcycle friends have superior intellect...) the original T bird was a 650 twin.  The one I was after, was built on the triple/four cylinder platform that Bloor had used successfully to relaunch the line.

She was a modern bike, with a 6 speed tranny and plenty of grunt under those L/C cases... yet harkened back to the days when riding a Triumph was not only "cool" but very popular.  Problem was, during the building of the '03 model year, the factory suffered a huge fire and the entire Thunderbird assembly line melted, and I do mean "melted!"  As I was to find out in my near two year quest, T Birds were hard to find especially the latter ones.  Sure E Bay had the odd one, but my experience shopping for a bike on that platform wasn't particularly top notch.

Basil and Susan's place PEI.

Imagine my surprise when my frequent internet searches, located one in Victoria B.C.  I immediately contacted the owner, who informed me that he'd had several inquiries and was waiting for two potential buyers for his little used,'02 model; to arrive on the weekend.  Now normally I wouldn't pull the Moto-journalist card, but this called for drastic measures.  I literally begged him to sit tight and I would be along as soon as I could make a flight reservation on West-Jet.  Even going so far as to insist he call John Campbell at Canadian Biker right there in Victoria to confirm I wasn't some jester in disguise, that I was the genuine, "Dr. of N. Thusiasm."  This I don't know if he did or not, but when he retrieved me at the airport, he was sporting a brand spanking new CB ball cap perched on his head!

French River harbour

The deal done, I strapped on my soft bags and small shield that I'd brung with me, and headed to my downtown motel to get sorted.  A short ride around Victoria, for some snaps, and the following day I headed to the ferry and East for Calgary.

Metro Malpeque

I still own this bike today.  I still love it like a lustful teenager!

In preparation for the move out East, I had to make some very hard decisions as to what stayed and what didn't.  The T Bird stayed, (was there ever any doubt!?)

Now that I have the obligatory stickier on the fork leg, thanks to my long time competitor locally,  Layton J. I am looking forward to riding the retro triple around the hood, meaning, PEI, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and possibly a foray or two into new England which would be totally appro considering that my ride is also technically "New from England."

Darnley bridge