The Triumph TT Special

In the mid-60s, the ultimate street bike was a Triumph TT Special.  

The regular Bonneville was a pretty hot number, but it came with mufflers, lights, a horn, and all the stuff it needed to be street legal.   Those bikes were pegged at 52 horsepower, and although that sounds almost laughable now (as does thinking of a 650 as a big bike), I can tell you from personal experience it was muey rapido.   I don’t believe there were any vehicles on the street (on two wheels or four) that were faster than a Triumph Bonneville.   And there was especially nothing that was faster than the Triumph TT Special.   It took the hot rod twin-carb Bonneville and made it even faster.   And cooler looking.   Those bikes will always hold a special place in my heart.

I had a spare hour a day or two back, so I did what I normally do when that happens and I’m on the road.   If there’s a dealer nearby I’ll stop in, and that’s what happened.   The dealer was Bert’s in Covina, and what do you know, they had a Triumph TT Special on display…

I didn’t have my Nikon with me, but I did have my iPhone, and like they say on the high seas, any port in a storm will do.    I asked the sales guy if I could take a photo or two, he was cool with it, and what you see above is the result.   It’s the real deal…a Triumph TT Special.

You know, I had to wonder what most folks think when they see the TT Special in that dealer’s showroom.  They sell to a mostly younger crowd (you know the type…kids who just got a licenses and go for 170-hp, 170-mph sports bikes), and my guess is they don’t really “get” the TT Special.   I sure did.   Like I said, back in the mid-60s the Triumph Bonneville ruled the streets, and the TT Special would absolutely smoke a standard Bonneville.  

Back in those days the Triumph factory rated the TT Special at 54 horsepower (as opposed to the standard Bonneville’s 52), but let me tell you there was way more than just 2 horsepower separating these machines.     The TT Special was essentially the starting point for a desert racer or a flat tracker.   They were racing motorcycles.   The TT Special was never intended to be a street bike, but some of them ended up on the street.   If you rode a TT Special…well, you just couldn’t get any cooler than that.

I only knew one guy back then who owned a TT Special (Jimmy something-or-other), and he did what guys do who wanted to put their bikes on the road…a small Bates headlamp, a tail light, and a single rear view mirror.   The first time Jimmy got stopped by a cop on that bike was because, well, he was a young guy on a Triumph TT Special.    Back in those days, that was probable cause.    After checking over the bike carefully, the police officer gave Jimmy a ticket for not having a horn.  It was what we called a “fix it” ticket, because all you had to do was correct the infraction and the ticket was dismissed.   Jimmy didn’t want to spend the money (and add the weight) that went with wiring, a switch, and an electronic horn, so he bought a bicycle bulb horn.   You know, the kind that attached to the handlebars and had a black bulb on it.   It made noise when you squeezed the bulb.   Ol’ Jimmy (old now, I guess, if he is even still around…but young then) went to the police station, honked his horn, and the police officer dismissed the citation.   With a good laugh.   It was a good story 50 years ago and it’s still a good story today.  Simpler times, I guess.

So, fast forward to the present…I fired up  the KLR this morning to ride over to the plant, and I took the long way through the mountains.   I hadn’t run the KLR in a long time and it doesn’t want to idle right, so I guess in the next week or two I’ll be tearing into the carb to clean the jets.   Good times today up on Glendora Ridge Road, but truth be told, I’d rather be on the Baja Blaster.  I’m convinced that little 150 is faster through the corners than the big KLR, and the CSC-150 sure is a lot easier to get on and get off. 

There’s a lot happening in the factory.   Steve and the crew have three really beautiful customs they were wrapping up today, but you’ll have to wait for the next blog entry to see them.  

Later, my friends…ride safe!