Unless you are a Harley Davidson owner, the idea of customising your bike is not exactly encouraged by a factory; even in the case of H-D, it usually entails trawling through an extensive catalogue of bolt-on goodies with which to “personalise” your ride.
Many manufacturers have an option list when buying a new bike, but they fall far short of customising as we understand it. There is one manufacturer, however, that fully embraces encouraging owners to customise their bikes, either before they take delivery from the showroom floor or after a year or more of ownership. That manufacturer is Triumph, and, as a recent informal event at Triumph Johannesburg showed, Triumph South Africa is all in favour of the initiative.
Of course, this does beg the question, what is customising? For many, I suppose it means a unique paint job and perhaps altering the configuration of the bike, either slightly or significantly. For example, bolting on new lights, seat and handlebars or going further and turning a ‘roadster’ into a bobber or a ‘desert sled’. Whichever route you choose, Triumph SA can help.
Naturally, the Triumph models that are seen as ripe for customisation are the so-called ‘modern classic’ range of Bonneville-derived models. Some might look at these models and wonder what exactly can be done to improve them, but still others see the perfect blank canvas upon which to impose their vision.
Triumph South Africa has cleverly understood that, in customisation, there is a community that loves to gather and show off their creations, while it also gives Triumph itself the opportunity to showcase what it is capable of in its own workshops. By providing a home for this community, Triumph performs the important feat of getting feet through the showroom door and creating a sense of goodwill in the motorcycle world as a whole.
What is impressive is the quality of the work carried out by Triumph South Africa. Some of the paint jobs have to be seen to be believed, and globally, the company has partnered with like-minded creators of bolt-on accessories that can completely change the appearance of bikes, while maintaining the illusion that these have been custom-made for that particular bike.
Should you want more drastic alteration of your bike, then Triumph SA’s workshops can do that as well, to an incredibly high degree of engineering expertise. It’s important to understand that it’s not only Bonnevilles, Speed Twins and Bobbers that can be customised; there were a couple of extremely pretty Speed Triples that had received makeovers, proving that any bike can be customised, if the vision is in sympathy with the original concept.
There is some incredible work being carried out by both Triumph and private owners, and it is to Triumph’s credit that they provided a showcase for this work. As it stands, there are no plans to make it a regular event, but perhaps, if we all shout loudly enough, they’ll relent and give us something to do one evening every two or three months?
In the meantime, if you have your own customising ideas but neither the skill nor time to do it yourself, give Triumph a call on 011 444 4444 and ask to speak to Workshop Manager Paul. If anyone can turn your dreams into reality, he can!
