Actually, Paul didn’t do a lot of cutting on this 55-year-old Triumph called Cream Sickle as the basic frame geometry is still stock. This bike is nothing like the previous Bones Legacy Triumph we featured recently called Black Rainbow that was about as wild as you could get with lovingly replicating a true Old School build. But, he did do a little welded-on hardtail and that’s got to get a 100-point restoration purist in a dither right from the start. Keeping things straight and level did require cutting a couple of inches off the original 1959 forks, though, so there’s another point for or against Paul depending on your point of view. I’m declaring I’m for Paul in this case and I assume you custom lovers are too. If somebody get’s a bee in their bonnet years from now to restore this bike back to stock, it would not be impossible by any means. So if you’re a restoration purist, just bide your time and maybe you’ll get a chance to make things right according to your strict interpretation of what’s correct and acceptable.

 

  Paul turned to his Triumph engine specialist buds at Franz and Grubb Engine in North Hollywood, California, for the killer pre-unitized twin that looks like it was dipped in a chrome bath repeatedly after it was assembled. This may be the shiniest chromiest Triumph engine I’ve ever seen. Besides all the extensive Franz and Grubb stuff done internally for power and reliability, there were some cool things done externally too. Forget sticking a single Mikuni carb on here for tuning simplicity or whatever, Paul went properly Brit with a set of Amal 930s topped with ribbed velocity stacks from The Factory Metal Works. Matter of fact, that ribbed/finned theme runs throughout this engine from the valve inspection ports to the neat round TFMW oil tank. The stock wet primary was replaced with a belt drive piece that displays its guts from behind a gorgeous and shiny cover which should also eliminate one area prone to leaks.

 

   Rolling stock consists of a 21” brakeless wheel up front wearing an absolutely period correct Avon Speedmaster Mk II ribbed tire. Although these look absolutely great, from personal experience I’ll admit they’re one of my least favorite tires for running a grooved highway with. The ribs follow the grooves and you’re just along for the ride for better or worse, but I doubt that will be a problem to whoever owns this bobber as it’s more of a secondary road rider than a highway basher. In back, Paul used a Triumph drum brake to lace up a 19” wheel to mount a square-shouldered Firestone replica tire. Another cool looking tire that I don’t enjoy riding, but who cares you say and you would be correct.

 

   I do love what Paul’s done to the Wassel fuel tank and rear fender with an added rib running down the center of both. It’s a modern take on an old style that looks like the way it should have been in the first place. Not too much and not too little, just enough to make it interesting and a good line-break for the two-tone Creamsicle-inspired paintjob by Sean of Naked City in Las Vegas. The great looking Tangerine paint is actually taken directly from the 1959 Triumph Bonneville catalog while the sharp Alaskan White is from a 1966 Triumph color chart and both are separated by tasteful gold striping by Gary Johnson. Yeah it looks like a paint scheme that could have been straight from the old Meriden factory and that’s a cool plus-plus to Paul as far as I’m concerned.

 

   Where Paul really took this to another level for me are the same places on the build that defined not only the bike, but who the owner was back when transistor was thought of as a cutting edge word. Take that outrageous twisted trident sissy bar that also matches the twisted Z-bars for instance. That piece alone could have been the pride and joy of a builder back in the ‘60s, but Paul didn’t stop[ there. No sir, not when he could fab up a pair of similarly outrageous pipes like those ridiculously long, but extremely cool upswept exhausts. Not only that, but Paul reached out to fellow Las Veganite Cristian Sosa of Sosa Metalworks to top off the pipes with that wild end cap that looks Sputnik-inspired. Gotta love all this needless excess for reasons nobody with a lick of book learning would understand.

 

   With everything getting more scary everyday in real life, it sure is great that guys like Paul Ponkow are still shaking things up with a blast from the past all duded up to look new and old at the same time. This bike is serious fun in every way and you can’t ask for much more than that in a build today. As for me, I’m going back to Jack Cofano’s photo gallery and taking one more look around just for the hell of it. I’m sure I’ll find even more cool Ponkow touches and maybe just let my mind wander back to a simpler time.

 

  For more info on what Paul Ponkow and Bones Legacy are up to, please be sure to set your WABAC Machine to http://boneslegacy.com/ and get lost in the ‘60s and ‘70s.