Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/141041
~ w Z W ..J U >- U Photos b y Art Fri edman d ead . But th en , at the On tario new Last fall d uring th eir new mo de l mod el show, it was reb orn - as a pr eview at Ontario, the officials o f T riumph. Not sur pris ing really; the o nly Birmi ngham Small Arms tal ke d about d ifferen ces b etw een th e T riumph and " putti ng BSA back on top. " T he _ Beesa Th rees was o utsi de th e engine. machi ne that they set fo rth as one of Vetter's BSA-turned -Triu mph was the th e main rungs o n the ladder to th e to p climax of th eir new model sho w, and, was th e sam e basic bike t hat ori gina lly th ey hoped , the first ste p on th e road came to light a few ye ar s ago as a back to Th e T op . When the subject of cu stom BSA Rocket Three. It had some thi s test , the Triumph X·75 Hurricane, arr ived , we wer e pr epared to be won of the appeal o f a ch opper - lon gish forks and a small tank. However, it was over, also going to handle, th ey said. It wa s The mach in e loo ks very appe aling, designed b y an Am er ican , Craig Vet ter, yo u see. It begs to b e ridden. Where we and was de sign ed with t he Yan kee expecte d so meth ing in th e vein o f the market in mind. Then th e time so rt o f Norton Hi-Rid er Or a relative to the glid ed by and th e de sign faded fro m th e Harley Super-Gli de we found a b ike that public mind. Th en word came d own looked like it was also ver y co ncerne d that BSA wa sn't going to make an y about bei ng serio usly ridden. mo re st reet machi nes, a nd th e last It is pretty ; Cra ig Vetter 's Triump h lingering memor y o f it wa s erased. nee BSA has all th e b est a utomotive And indeed , the BSA trick triple wa s s ho wma ns hi p of a well-execu t ed ch opper. The engine is a n exce llen t ba se; the Beesumph 750 Triple ma y ver y well be th e prettiest e ngine in mot or cycl ed om. It lo oks and sou nds pow erful and ex cit ing. Th at it may not b e t he mo st soph isticated e ngine availab le is of little co nce rn . It looks rig h t and p er f o r m s more tha n adeq ua tely . T h e h ighl y poli shed engine is complem ented by several othe r nicely fini sh ed parts. Th e exh au st pipes ar e the most st riki ng fea ture if yo u are sta nding o n the right side of th e mac hine . Th ey are beautifull y chro med with no scam s and all three exit th e right side o f th e mo torcycle. Other shi ny pa rt s includ e th e Borrian i rims and polish ed hub s. T h e se are com plemented . by th e d ynamic red and yellow d esign on th e seat -tank assembly. Nestl ed among t he large im portant The X-75 was nimble enough to ride on dirt roeds and good trails. Handling was ligh t and very predictable, particularlv with the _ r on . :11 l pieces ar e so me nice sma ll details. Th e ugly, hard -to -use Luc as switc hes ar c go ne from the bars. There is o ne switc h, a co mbina tio n horn and d imm er ; pretti er and easier to use. T here are no tu rn signa ls, b ut th ey will appear in 1973 upon the insist ence o f the Fed s. T he ex ha ust sy stem will also have to b e a ta d quieter, alt ho ugh we wer en 't ab le to find it o bjection able the way it was. Th e h eadlight has a unique mounting bracket. A single ste m splits to b rack et th e light and mount at t he usual place' o n the she ll. It look ed pr et ty , bu t it wasn 't sta ble eno ugh to keep the beam fro m bouncing around over bum ps. Even though th e major com pon ents seeme d to have b een des igned fo r look s rat her than functi on , the y all work ed ve r y w el l. Th e seat l o o k ed uncomfortab le, b ut we co uldn 't have aske d fo r mor e. Th e ta nk held gas, ...