The custom motorcycle scene is a fascinating but often uneasy battle between form and function. Occasionally the two worlds collide in spectacular style—and that’s what happens when you buy a Triumph street tracker from Florida-based Bonneville Performance.
Owner Bill Gately also runs an AMA Pro Flat Track team, which is sponsored by Triumph. So he knows how to make a bike go very fast.
For between $24,000 and $26,500, Bill will sell you one of his road-legal Street Trackers, with your choice of setup and performance package. Yes, it’s Ducati Panigale money—but it’s also money well spent.
No matter what engine you select, the core of the BP Street Tracker remains the same. You get a frame and top-braced swingarm made from 4130 cromoly—the same rig used on the race bikes. The wheels are 19-inch Sun alloy forged aluminum items, with stainless steel spokes and Barnes-style hubs.
Suspension is top-drawer stuff too. Up front are Yamaha R6 forks: rebuilt, re-sprung and lengthened. They’re attached to the frame with adjustable triple clamps, with offsets ranging from one to seven millimeters. Behind the rider is an Öhlins three-way adjustable shock—with the spring rate matched to the rider’s weight.
Braking is via a mix of Beringer and Performance Machine components, with full floating rotors and a multitude of pistons: six at the front and four at the back.
The real fun comes when you spec the engine. It’ll be a 2005 or later Triumph parallel twin, with a firing order of 360 degrees (Bonneville) or 270 degrees (America, Speedmaster and Scrambler).
A dynamically balanced crankshaft will replace the counter balance system, and you also get new Carrillo rods, hotter cams, oversized intake valves, Nikasil-plated cylinder sleeves, and ported heads and intake manifolds.
Fuel enters via a 41 mm Mikuni TM carb kit, and the exhaust system is Bonneville Performance’s own 2-into-1 stainless steel piping, terminated with a SuperTrapp silencer. If you prefer a darker look, simply ask for it to be ceramic coated in black.
The biggest decision to make is engine capacity and power. There are four capacities ranging from 865 to 1100cc, with varying bores and compression ratios. The 904cc spec will give you 82 rear-wheel horsepower, whereas the 995cc race-spec motor uses a 13.5:1 compression ratio to deliver a hefty 101 rwhp.
For a bike that only weighs just over 350 pounds—or 160 kilos—that’s ample grunt.
Complete power junkies can ask for a 1200cc motor. With the help of a lengthened stroke, this one sends 104 horses to the rear wheel but keeps the compression ratio to a friendly 10.5:1.
Bill’s developed his engine kits with the help of Wiseco, and they’ve been tested on the track. Even the paper gaskets are specifically made for the uprated motors, and the engines are heat-cycled to break them in and seal the rings.
With many customs, you have to choose between fast, cheap or good. But Bonneville Performance gives you two out of three, and that ain’t bad. At all.
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