Our lovely feature Triumph bobber certainly seemed like something I’d seen before, but I couldn’t put a finger on it so I went searching through the extensive Barnett’s Magazine Online’s archive (almost 2,000 articles!) and lo and behold, it really was déjà vu all over again. I pulled up a feature on a cool Triumph bobber called the Pimp Slap built by Lucas Joyner of The Factory Metal Works in Concord, North Carolina, that we featured back in January and, at first glance, thought this was the same bike. Upon closer inspection, I realized it wasn’t, but if you click on this link to see that article, you’ll see exactly why I went all Yogi over it.

  Now the problem here is that Smoke Out bikes like this one shot by the lovely Jack Cofano rarely if ever have an owner around so we really don’t have the slightest idea who built them. That goes especially for this one that looks like it might have had the earlier build as an influence ─ a strong influence. Or maybe it’s another TFMW build, although I’ve never seen any two of them that looked alike, but it does have a lot of parts and pieces that look like TFMW products to me. Anyway, none of that matters much to me as finding the differences between the two became a game unto itself. They may be two peas in a pod, but they’re still different peas nonetheless.

   The general stance and layout of the bikes is pretty close with both keeping the Triumph mainframe pretty stock except for the bolt-on hardtail. Not a bad way to do it as it leaves a bunch of options for the future Yogi predicted like returning it to stock if need be. It’s nice to have options even if you never plan to use them. Both have telescoping forks, but those on the TFMW bike are just a bit fancier while the front wheels are the same size, but that’s about all. Our feature bike is brake-free up front and laced to a steel chrome rim while the TFMW bike has a small drum brake and flanged alloy rims. Out back, both bikes stuck with the stock Triumph sprocket brake laced up to rims that mimic their front wheel in material and design. One thing they do share is the exact same brand of tires in a vintage tread design.

  They obviously also share having a Triumph engine sitting in the engine room that look quite similar, but actually they’re not at all. The one in out feature bike is a later model unit construction version with the engine and tranny in one piece (like a Sportster) while the TFMW bikes is a pre-1963 separate engine and gearbox just like your beloved big block Harley. Our feature bike also has a bit of a thing going with the ribbed or finned engine pieces that look like they’re straight off TFMW web site. And, you gotta love the ribbed or chambered or whatever you want to call them exhausts that is also something TFMW builds to order. I don’t know why I like ‘em so much, but I do.

   In actuality, these bikes differ in almost every detail from the oil tanks to the fuel tanks to the fenders, but where they don’t is pretty obvious. What’s the first thing you notice when you see a bike? The color, right? Well even though I don’t have the exact codes used for the paint, I’d say they’re pretty close. Same goes for the complimentary white detailing. All I can guess is that someone out there simply loved Lucas’ bike so much they kinda sorta made a copy of it. Or maybe it was one of another million reasons, but I doubt they built that bike in a motorcycle vacuum and made such a similar rendering. Just changing the color and detailing could have made this bike stand out as its own beast which is a pretty damn nice bike and something they should be proud of. As Yogi might have said, “Imitation is the insincerest form of flattery.”