VOL. 52 ISSUE 25 JUNE 23, 2015 P91
effort since the old Triumph
in the mid-1970s.
Robinson's effort is
bolstered by having Joe
Kopp and Brent Armbruster
behind him. Kopp manages
the Latus Motors/Castrol
team, while championship-
winning mechanic Arm-
bruster might just be the fi-
Gately is happy with his prospects
with Jake Shoemaker. He describes
him as a throwback type of rider,
gritty and determined to do his best
no matter the circumstances. So far
the 2013 Rookie of the Year is 13th in
the standings. He put the Bonneville
Performance Triumph in the main at
both Springfield and Sacramento.
Gately has stayed with basically the
same chassis he used since '05 that
uses the engine as a stressed mem-
ber and he has stuck with carburation,
while Latus has moved to fuel injection
and a more traditional cradle frame.
"George [Latus] can do the EFI
thing because he has more money
than I do," Gately says. "It's an
expensive venture and for me it adds
too many potential pitfalls with wiring.
I just don't want to add things that
can break. I don't see the need to go
beyond carburation—I mean XR750s
are still winning races and they're all
carbureted."
The stock air-cooled, DOHC,
parallel-twin that forms the basis of
the Triumph flat tracker are 865cc.
The race bikes are bored to 995cc.
The one knock on
the Triumph is that
it comes in at about
20-25 pounds heavier
than the Harleys and
Kawasakis. Gately
said they've got the
bikes about as light as they'll go.
"It's the engines," he says of the
additional bulk. "You're taking a
weight penalty immediately with the
Triumph because the engine weighs
158 pounds—and that's after you take
substantial weight out of it. So we
don't run the counter-balance system
with it, that's nine-and-a-half pounds.
We don't run the sprag clutch and
gearing that goes with the electric
starter—that's another eight pounds.
We don't run the stator and rotor,
that's another 11 pounds, so we're
down to the bare minimum. We're still
with a 25-to-30 pound weight differ-
ence with the engine, but we don't
care, we're Triumph people. I'm going
to run Triumphs. They're built like a
diesel. And you want the heavy crank
that you've got in there, you need the
flywheel effect."
So if Triumph does ultimately be-
come a true championship contender
it won't be an overnight success by
any stretch. Bill Gately has been
putting in the time, effort and develop-
ment it takes to run with Harley-David-
son XR750s, which have decades of
development.
Dan Gedeon (13) put
a Triumph built by the
late Ed Fatzinger in
AMA Grand National
mains back in 2007.
(Left to right) The Latus
Motors/Castrol Triumph
team has a ton of experience
with Team Manager Joe
Kopp, chief mechanic Brent
Armbruster and rider Brandon
Robinson.
