OUR BIKES
“
THE THRUXTON
OOZES .
ALL THE CAFÉ RACERS
OF TODAY OWE IT A
SERIOUS NOD
pocket of the turned up blue jeans, and
glint of chrome buckle on black leather
boots. The smell of oil was everywhere, and
my three foot proximity to it made it
even more pungent. Hot oil dripping and
melting tar combined to make a lurid
olfactory picture, never forgotten. But
the bikes themselves are what affected
me most – red and black and blue with
polished chromium, headlights bigger than
my own head, tanks with swooping logos
and the bright red plastic sunspot badge
of the BSA or the swooping script of the
Triumph. Ridged leather seats, and drop
bars with black cables sweeping from
channeled, knobless clutch and brake
levers that could eviscerate in a crash.
This was the time of the Ariel, the Vincent,
and Scott, the Velocette, the AJS, Norton
and the Matchless. All of which invoked
wonder and thrill.
The Triumph Thruxton R looks like it was
born of those parents, still. On a side note,
Velocette also made a Thruxton, the Venom
Thruxton, and it is highly collectable, but
the hand-built twin from Triumph was a
very successful endurance racer of the 60s,
and the progenitor of the Café Racer
movement based around London’s Ace
Café – the Thruxton oozes heritage.
All the café racers of today owe it a
serious nod.
The Thruxton is named for the town and
raceway, nowadays known as the UK’s
fastest racetrack, where riders can reach
speeds over 300km/h. The Thruxton Circuit
is a similar shape to Australia, with only
eleven turns, and the British Superbikes
race there, but only for thee days per year
and it’s a crying shame. Sorry, I digress…
32 KIWI RIDER