1949 TR5 Triumph Trophy

1949 California Style & The Western Bob

And the discussion begins in 1949: The Harley garbage wagon vs. the West Coast Bob. What's this you knowers of the true and original definition of the Bob Job? That aint no Harly on the right.

Uniforms are "out". California Boots, Levis & Chopped Bikes baby.

1940's Racing

Velocette launching over Indian

The Most Thrilling Motorcycle Sport

Reprinted from the New York Times in a 1949 issue of Motorcyclist. The dude really should have taken off the license plate.

Pair of Champs Triumph T100 & Ariel

1948 JoMo ad

Picture Perfect 1940's Man & Machine

This picture that popped up on the internet recently flat blows me away. My favorite 1940's image hands down. With a quick flip through my stack of 1940's Motorcyclist magazines I found a couple ads that help ID the machine. Ariel Red Hunter 500. Most likely a 1938 chassis with Flanders risers and bars and small headlight. Custom dual port, high flow exhaust pipe with megaphone muffler. Bullet taillights mounted by the axle AND a Triumph Sprung Hub! The rear fender is awsome and identified below as a 30's era front fender that has been shortened and placed just right. If you know where I can get one of these fenders email. I think I see a Zirwes sidestand too. This bike is PERFECT. Maybe a little too clean to be a competition machine or maybe it has just been built. I like to think of this guy as your post WWII bar hopper that evades police for sport. The Red Hunter set up like this with performance mods was probably capable of 100 MPH and up to the job. If you have any further info on Man or Machine please comment.

A reprinted 1938 article used in a 1946 JoMo ad for the sprung frame version, but showing the same basic bike with that flared front mudguard.

1947 Dual Port single cylinder Hot Rod available from Johnson Motors.

Tiger 90

The Tiger 90 put up as the header pic today with tuner/co-ownder A.J. Lewis on the left, rider Bruce "Boo Boo" Pierson center and co-owner Sam Dockery right.

The 1949 Program

Wanted: Original Mustang Gas Tank

Anyone know where I can get an original Mustang gas tank? Not the Paughco style repop.

1948 Triumph Speed Twin & T100

Mustang Gas Tanks

1947 pic from the book "Triumph Racing Motorcycles in America". This looks to be the same bike from the post below with all the same stuff including the tilted back rear fender grabrail. After seeing the matching gas tank on at least two different bikes from the period makes me wonder if JoMo made up a batch of these for sale in the late 40's?

1948 Cover Shots

From Motorcyclist Magazine

Note the chrome Mustang tank with the painted teardrop Triumph badge on the sides exactly like the tank on the Ted Evan's bike.

Zirwes and Superior Side-Stands

First featured and advertised in The Motorcyclist Magazine 1948

A much better design than the factory arrangement. The proof being all the old Triumph frames with broken off kickstand lugs.

In 1950 Flanders picked up distribution of the Zirwes side stand.

The Superior side stand came later and was a more developed and better looking design. The Zirwes being more desirable for late 1940s and early 50s bikes for period correctness and rarity. This Superior catalog listing is from 1960 and shows five different applications with spare part numbers.

My Zirwes stand above and a NOS Superior stand below it.

If you have any of these for sale please email me.

The backside of my Zirwes stand showing application info and dating it to post 1950. To be used on my 1952 Martin Spring Frame Thunderbird.

GP makes it to the states in 1948

The GP makes it to the states 18 months after its creation. The factory line about it being only slightly modified from the T100 is a bit of a stretch, but it did get OK'd for Class C competion. Deliverable 90 days from time of order.

The Daytona beach bike 1948. Dig the cuffed denims and lace up boots.

The machine was quickly adapted to West Coast racing with the addition of California Bars, small competion gas tanks and track pipes.

1947 T100 with sport front fender, Flanders risers and bars, small headlight and chopped rear fender with bullet tail lights. Propped up with a ZIRWES sidestand.

1948 Speed Twin

ad from 1948

"California Style" Handlebars

1946 bars from SoCal for English Motorcycles only

Cool throttle from 1946 for the parts hunters to find

1947 Helling's and Flanders ads

115 MPH in 1947 on a Triumph 500

Right from the get go JoMo was selling aftermarket parts to make their motorcycles faster and better looking. This beautiful ad is from 1947.

And right out of the JoMo service bay in 1947 rolls this show and go beauty. Gall's Cycle shop exhaust, dual carbs, Mustang gas tank, chrome fork covers, bobbed fenders and California bars.

1947 race results with the same bike equipped with number plates.