Just for fun- pics of vintage Triumph bobbers

I had a 1968 Bonneville in 1972 and hung around with some guys that went all out with the customization of their Triumphs. ( Back then in my neighborhood, not many people owned Harley’s, and if they did, they were usually much older). The cool bike of choice was a Triumph.
Not to be outdone, I installed 6” longer front tubes, put on a king and queen seat, painted a really bad rattle can flame job on the tank and fenders, fabricated a high back sissy bar in metal shop at school, pulled off the mufflers and put on downturn tips, and painted my helmet to match the tank. I wish I had some pics of this monstrosity but none survived. It was so ridiculous looking that I think it would be pretty cool to show in this thread. I loved that bike. It never let me down and I rode it into the ground. One thing I remember about that bike is that there was no battery and there was a thing called a zener diode that would work with the generator to provide the spark. I didn’t notice that gadget on any of the custom bikes. If I remember correctly, it was mounted in the front of the bike near the gas tank. Anyone know what I’m talking about?

These are all beautiful!

For a counterpoint - Here is an ugly one in progress.

Note: I'm a huge fan of my ugly old triumph. I don't use that term as an insult

monkey man said:

zener diode

Click to expand...

Ahh the good ol' zener - The artistry involved in the Triumph Zener housings is one of my favorite pieces from the old ones. Even on machines that I have converted to electronic ignition/regulator setup I keep the old zener on the front because it is just so nice to look at.

Here is a great breakdown (no pun intended) of how they work - https://www.electronics-tutorials.ws/diode/diode_7.html

And how they look