T509

My Triumph Triples

[t509speedtriple]

What did you say? It is summer when the orange glows?

No, I said: It is summer when I wear orange gloves.

[t509speedtriple]

Celebrating Easter Sunday.

[t509speedtriple]

With new regulatory frameworks, it will be close to impossible to build road-legal lightweight Restomods in the future. End of a story. And a label to sum it all up.

[t509speedtriple]

Small fleet of T509 resto-mods ready for the next riding season.

[t509speedtriple]

In theory, my three Speed Triples ride the same. The differences - like the stock wheels on the black Mk5 - should be noticeable to a good rider, but they should not account for a much different riding experience. When a fellow rider returned from a ride with the Mk5, he mentioned that the bike feels quite different from the red Mk2 and the orange Mk4.

It seemed to boil down to the ergonomics in the end, precisely: The handlebar. The Mk5 has a lower and wider handlebar than the other two machines which are equipped with Rizoma handlebars identical to the OEM shape. So what is the difference? The lower bar makes you feel more integrated and more in control. In fact, the higher and narrower bars on the Mk2 and the Mk4 make you feel a little like pushing a wheelbarrow.

This was reason enough to go out and hunt for the (meanwhile no longer available) Saito handlebar. Thankfully, my local shop still had one in stock plus a handlebar from another brand that is close enough in dimensions. Now all three Speed Triples have the ergonomics for the much desired "end boss" stance.

Owning three identical machines means that each bit of optimization is three times as expensive…

[t509speedtriple]

Almost finished - just synchronizing the throttle bodies and updating the mapping.

[t509speedtriple]

New cams with a more modest lift to adress low-RPM resonance and improve rideability at low RPMs.

[t509speedtriple]

[t509speedtriple]

Candy red.

[t509speedtriple]

Out with the overly complex and error-prone stock idle system with all its hoses und valves and in with a manual idle adjuster. Looks cleaner and works better, too.

[t509speedtriple]

Walchensee lake, Bavaria, with the T509 Mk2 resto-mod.

[t509speedtriple]

Gerlos pass, Austria, with the T509 Mk4 resto-mod.

[t509speedtriple]

Gentleman’s Hooligan: Triumph Speed Triple Restomod

Mk5: The fifth and final Speed Triple T509 from Munich's Tom Gessner...   Last fall, we featured a pair of Triumph T509 Speed Triples from o

[t509speedtriple]

[t509speedtriple]

[t509speedtriple]

[t509speedtriple]

T509 Speed Triple Mk5 resto-mod project completed.