I was turned on to Butch’s magnificent ride by Tito, who is a friend of Sean, who hangs out with Marcus, who works with Will Perry. Will knew I was on the lookout for bikes worthy of being featured in Barnett’s. It’s great to have friends and acquaintances all over the country. After many years in this business I have connections throughout the USA, so when I need an event, a feature bike, or a place to hang out, one usually is available. Like Woody Guthrie sang, “This land is my land from the Atlantic waters to the Redwood Forest [sic]. . .”, and I’m grateful.

This red iconic antique piece of the end of the British motorcycle industry is a very popular bike to customize, chop, and/or restore to like-new. The particular late model of the Meriden-built Triumphs was a restoration with a lot of love. Originally equipped with twin Amals it now sports a single Mikuni to get the gas from the tank to the cylinder head for combustion. Amals are classic and have many problems. Did you know how to tickle an Amal? A very simply stupid device on each carb that when depressed, i.e. tickled, floods the carb with gas and when the starter pedal is kicked it allows air to be sucked into the combustion chamber with liquid gas for the explosion that starts the engine. On a twin carb bike like a Triumph Bonneville, both carbs must be tickled just right. Too much and it’s a flooded. Too little and it’s not enough mixture for the explosion to start the engine.

It took an amount of skill and practice to start those old Brits with Amals so some people dumped the British-made Amals for the more reliable Japanese-made Mikuni carb. Very unclassic but much easier to start. Butch rode the Triumph to the photo shoot as he rides it everywhere. It sounded great but I am prejudiced towards British bikes and cars having owned an MG, TR3A, Jaguar XK150, Nortons, and suffered with them at the hands of Joseph “The Prince of Darkness” Lucas, whose famous quote was “A gentlemen does not motor about after dark.” Luckily all the Lucas ignition components had been removed from this bike and was replaced with a reliable Boyer Bransden electronic system.

Butch is also involved with the Antique Motorcycle Club of America and attends the Seminole Chapters annual swap meet held in Eustis, Florida, on the fairgrounds the first weekend of Daytona Bike Week. He feels real bad about the decline of the British bike industry and in his spare time he helps other with their Limeys in his small shop.