The (not quite) Original Sin: 1960 Triumph Thunderbird

It’s one of the great biker conversations, isn’t it? If a custom bike changes some of its components, is it still the same custom bike?

Nick Eddison, you see, is the custodian, as he describes himself, of a piece of British chopper history – he’s the third owner of ‘The Original Sin’, a 1960 Triumph Thunderbird originally put together by the legendary Dick Smith of the hallowed South London workshop Baron’s Speed Shop. He’s world famous for being one of the best in putting together period correct stock and custom British bikes, especially Triumphs, and has an impressive client list which includes A-list celebrities as well as humbler customers (like Nick) too.

The Original Sin was built 15 years ago to showcase the skills of Baron’s Speed Shop, and was originally owned by Del Russell, who was then part of the original set-up. At that time, the bike was in a different incarnation, with a different paint job, different oil and petrol tanks, a different sissy-bar, different footpeg and handlebar rubbers, and the rear light was positioned differently.  However, the majority of what you see here is still what Dick built back then, and the look of the bike, and what makes it what it is, hasn’t, he says, really changed.

Back then, the petrol tank was a different Sportster item, and the oil tank was painted in a blue/purple flip-flop. The rear light (a one-off made for the bike) was attached to the top of the side-mounted ‘plate, instead of tucked underneath the small sissy-bar as it is now, and the original sissy-bar was lower across the top of the mudguard, but the engine, the frame, the forks, the wheels, the ‘bars, and the exhausts’re still the same so, although there’ve been some changes, they’re not anything you’d consider significant.

The main change, apart from the age-related weathering, has been in the paintwork. When Del decided to move the bike along, it was purchased by another South Londoner, Carl Parker, a talented panel beater and sprayer. Del’d kept the original petrol and oil tanks as part of the sale agreement so Carl sourced another Sportster petrol tank and commissioned a custom oil tank from Dick, and decided to put his own mark on the bike, laying down a deep blue/purple basecoat, with a rainbow ‘flake (which really pops when the sun hits it), and commissioned the amazing pinstriping and custom paintwork from Neil ‘The Striper’ Melliard, another South Londoner who’s custom-painted many hot rods and drag cars. His work on ‘The Original Sin’, Nick says, really is stand-out and in a class of its own.

He first saw ‘The Original Sin’ at the third Trip Out when it was over at Scald End Farm in Bedfordshire, and instantly fell in love with it.  At that time Carl hadn’t done the repainting you see here, but just the stance of the bike, and the killer upswept pipes, really did it for him.  In the interim period Carl and Nick became friends, especially as they’d both started build projects for show-style choppers with Dick at roughly the same time – Carl finished his about a year ago, whilst Nick’s is still ongoing, and the bike he produced, another Triumph pre-unit, is just as spectacular as ‘The Sin’. He decided he didn’t really need two show bikes, so put ‘The Sin’ up for sale and, as Nick’d coveted it for years (and had the available funds sat in the bank gathering dust), it was a done deal.

Since then he’s kept up with the polishing and cleaning, and had a full top-end rebuild done with Dick.  This revealed a bit of coking on the pistons, and barrel tops, and a few perished gaskets, but nothing else – testament to the quality of the original build. He’s also taken the bike to a couple o’ three shows; the Bike Shed Moto Show at Tobacco Dock in London, the 101 Show in Margate, The Trip Out (as you’ll seen in our feature on last year’s), and Kickback, and it’s been featured in DicE magazine, and now BSH, and he says he’s determined to show her around so as many people as possible can share in what he thinks to be one of the finest examples of old British iron around.

Del Hickey

Spec:

1960 Triumph 6T Thunderbird ENGINE (E3134 cam, Amal 389 Monoblock carb, alloy open bell-mouth, Lucas K2F magneto ignition, 12volt Lucas alternator, one-off exhausts, Wassell exhaust clamps)/frame (modified)/foot-rests (Baron’s Speed Shop white rubber covered)/rear wheel hub & brake/forks/yokes/switchgear/handlebar & foot controls, Avon tyres (3×21-inch Speedmaster MKII front, 3×16-inch Safety Mileage rear), Radelli WM1 21-inch front rim, Triumph Sports Cub front hub/brake, tapered Baron’s Speed Shop fork shrouds, period neoprene fork gaiters, one-off z-bars, Baron’s Speed shop grips, H-D Sportster petrol tank (modified), Bates tuck & roll seat, Wassell universal rear mudguard (modified), one-off oil tank, one-off side-mount, 3.×16-inch drop-centre H-D rear wheel rim, Powerbox electrical components, one-off loom, Bates 4.5-inch headlight, one-off tail-light

Finish:
Experimental blue/purple flip-flop with rainbow ‘flake by previous owner, finishing/pinstriping by Neil ‘The Striper’ Melliard (07768 901853 or [email protected]), polishing by Baron’s Speed Shop

Engineering:

Bike built by Dick Smith at Baron’s Speed Shop, various parts by Tony ‘Cookie’ Cook, wheels laced by Hagon Products, seat cover by Lee at Viking Motorcycle Seats (07977 874075 or www.viking-motorcycle-seats.co.uk); loom by Steve ‘The Sparx’ Hallam at the Motorcycling Wiring Company
Thanks To:

“Dick Smith at Baron’s Speed Shop; & Carl Parker…”