Cafe racers, custom motorcycles and classic motorcycles

Issue 11 of Greasy Kulture magazine is about to be despatched, and one of the highlights is this late ’40s Triumph custom. The builder/owner is Pete Stansfield, who found the bike—minus engine—in a cellar, almost beyond repair. Stansfield traced its history, and discovered that it was one of the UK’s best-known show bikes from forty years ago. It was created by a guy called Jack Nuttall in 1966, and by the time Nuttall sold it in ’78, it had starred in several magazine features. The bike now has a 1961 650 motor cannibalised from one of Stansfield’s Triton projects: the frame is an original Triumph Thunderbird item. Stansfield kept the Tiger Cub oil tank, Wassell fuel tank and Triumph rear mudguard, but installed forks from a Japanese dirt bike. The reversed eight-stud head is a Stansfield signature, appearing on many of his builds, hooked up to an Amal monobloc carb. Those wheels are vintage Invaders, and the wonderful, patina-rich paint job was achieved by spraying on gold paint after rubbing the metalwork down with oil. [Thanks to Guy Bolton.]