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Wood Meets Metal in Anthony Robinson’s 1969 Triumph Custom Build
Wood Meets Metal in Anthony Robinson’s 1969 Triumph Custom Build
Dec 12, 2016
The 1969 T-100 basks in the SoCal sun at the Ventura Chopper Fest
Spend a few minutes talking to Anthony Robinson and you begin to realize that he is what a custom bike builder should be. He’s a guy who designs, fabricates, and wrenches out of pure passion for the work. He searches for treasure at swap meets, studies Craigslist for donor bikes, and painstakingly handcrafts his various one-off parts. Robinson is the builder of an amazing 1969 Triumph T-100 custom that won both the Modified Retro and K&N Performer classes at the J&P Cycles Ultimate Builder Custom Bike Show at the Progressive International Motorcycle Show (IMS) in Long Beach, California.
Robinson spends the lion’s share of his time providing for his family by running his successful company in Palmdale, California. Bike building is a passion that he fits in the limited time he can muster between home and business. In fact, the T-100 is only his second completed custom build. “I don’t build bikes to make money. I have just always loved motorcycles,” Robison said.
Anthony Robinson reaps the fruits of his labor at the Long Beach IMS
“I own a garage door business, so I have worked with metal and wood virtually every day for the last 20 years.” Metal and wood - that’s the perfect segue into Robinson’s inspiration for his Triumph show stealer.
“I wanted to build a flat-tracker with a wood theme,” Robinson said. As dichotomous as that may seem, the end result shows the wisdom of his vision. We have to start with arguably the coolest part on the bike; the rear fender. “The wooden rear fender took me three tries, and I was beginning to doubt myself,” Robinson said. “But the third time was the charm. It took a month to build, but it was worth it.” Indeed it was.
The low-slung profile of Robinson’s Triumph is the result of some frame-building magic. “The frame is Triumph, but the front fork is an original Harley-Davidson 45 springer that I bought from an old guy at a swap meet,” Robinson reveals. That mating of the Triumph frame and the springer fork makes for a supreme level of retro-cool.
The 1969 flat track build and Robinson's first project, a 1961
Amazing tidbits abound on the Triumph. Robinson says it is always a goal of his to creatively hide the battery and wiring. That task is artfully achieved on the 1969 Triumph with a 1940s era US Navy issued binocular case. The bike rolls on milled and engraved custom wheels, and the hand-crafted seat rests on perfectly integrated leaf springs. The stainless fender struts are minimalistic and match the bike’s theme to a tee.
The paint job transitions the wood motif into the tank in a masterful way. It’s as if there is an evolution from the organic to the metallic that flows from the rear fender to the headlight. The paint-matched, down-turned handle bars complete the flat track look of the build. Every detail is pristine. “My goal is to bring a bike back to life as if it’s new. I know other builders like to leave their bikes sweaty, that’s just not my thing,” said Robinson.
The wood and metal theme of the custom flat tracker works on many levels
The 1969 T-100 engine is restored to polished perfection. The hand-crafted straight pipes make up an exhaust that certainly lets out a British howl. The engine, with a reversed head, breathes through the front intake and dual carburetors. Despite the fact that Robinson’s T-100 wears only screened velocity stacks that are appropriate for the sterile show-floor environment, he is quick to sing the praises of K&N filters. “I trust K&N filters completely. I run one on my 1953 Chevy and on my Harley Baggers. There is a K&N in my daily driver. K&N makes a great filter.”
K&N congratulates Anthony Robinson on his masterful Triumph custom. We all look forward to the next build. You can find Robinson on social media under his bike-building tag – Gasoline and Coffee.
