https://youtu.be/G0xjCnYNhW8
The Triumph that heartthrob soccer legend David Beckham rides in the BBC1 documentary “David Beckham: Into the Unknown” has been recreated by a British custom house.
And you could win it!
While most people assumed Beckham’s Triumph was a Scrambler, it was actually a Bonneville with all the trimmings so that it looked like a Scrambler.
David Beckham in South America with Triumph ScramblerNow Guildford retro clothing specialist Motolegends has teamed with FCL Motorcycles to recreate a replica of the customised Triumph Bonnevilles that Beckham and his pals rode up the Amazon last year.
Later this year, the bike will given away at the UK National Exhibition Centre. To enter the competition, click here.
Motolegends acquired their donor bike, a 2001 model, from a local ex-policeman. Even though it was over 10 years old, it had been meticulously looked after, and so presented an excellent starting point for the project.
David Beckham’s Triumph “Scrambler” recreatedThe build was actually incredibly simple, and although the end result is quite dramatic, the work is well within the scope of any budding ,‘bike-shed’ mechanic.
Part one was the strip-down. Off came the mudguards, the indicators, the rear grab rail, the exhaust, and so on.
What was left was treated to a matt black paint job that included the wheels, fuel tank, engine casing, cylinder head and, handlebars on.
The wheels were re-shod with Metzler Karoo 3s as per the original bike; rubber fork gaiters were added, the seat was re-trimmed, and a new rear mudguard and number plate holder was fabricated.
The pièce de résistance, and the most expensive single part on the bike, was the Arrow exhaust. But it only comes in a metal finish, so it was sent off for a black ceramic coating. A bracket was fabricated, to allow it to hang correctly off the side of the bike.
Final touches involved moving the rear brake master cylinder to a new location, as the rear brake positioning couldn’t have been at all convenient on the original bikes.
Discrete indicators were then fitted front and back. On the Amazon bikes there were no rear indicators; just front ones.
The end result is a bike that somehow seems more than the sum of its parts.
The bike was built by Phil and Graham at FCL in Cranleigh. Including the original bike, parts, paint labour and so on, the build came in at around £10,000 (almost $20,000).
The only part that proved totally elusive was the small, under-handlebar mirror that the Amazon bikes sported. If anyone knows where it’s from, Motolegends would like to know!