When your job description entails riding virtually every new motorcycle made in the last 25 years, your personal collection of motorcycles can run toward the weird and wonderful. We’ve shown several of former Cycle World magazine boss David Edwards’ customs over the past few months, but our new favorite is this British Racing Green Triumph Bonneville 750 based on a nickel-plated Trackmaster flat-track frame, and bristling with drilled alloy and carbon-fiber bits. Our friends at Germany’s Klassik Motorrad apparently agree: They’ve just printed a 16-page story on David’s bikes and featured the Trackmaster Cafe big on the cover.
“CW did a story on the bike in 1995 after it won the Street Specials class at the old Del Mar Concours,” says Edwards. “Some years later when it come up for sale, I couldn’t say no. To my eyes, it’s a practically perfect special, plus the build quality is second-to-none.”
Credit for that goes to builder Danny Erikson, a Southern California aircraft technician with experience in composites—hence the tightly woven carbon-fiber fenders, taillight, sidepanels and gas-tank inserts, left bare except for a layer of clearcoat. There’s lots more to look at, including Barnes dirt-track brake rotors, a front-mounted ARD magneto, a leather seat done by American drag race hero Tony Nancy (a world-class upholsterer in his spare time) and a zoomy pair of chromed exhausts with nary a baffle to their name. “It sounds like Saturday night at Ascot Park,” says David. “The neighbors are not impressed.”
One of David Edwards’ other projects is restoration on an old Indian powered by a Ford flathead V8, an amazing half-ton highway cruiser built in Texas in 1954. He is also raising money to buy the bike’s late builder, Bill Drabek, a headstone. Currently, Drabek and his wife rest in an unmarked grave. To help with a donation or to find about more about the Indian V8, head here.
