'68 Triumph TR6R - A Triumph In Avalon

This '68 Triumph TR6R may appear to be almost as stock as the day it was built, but in fact, the owner of the bike, Frank Bridges of Costa Mesa, California, re-built it from the ground-up twice. The first restoration occurred when Frank first bought the bike, between the 1991 and 1992. It ran great for about seven years until Frank got hit while riding the bike by a truck. He was minding his own business, cruising down PCH to a bike show and swapmeet with the boys when out of nowhere, he was blindsided and went down. Unfortunately, the bike sustained near-critical injuries, but thankfully, Frank was only bruised and scraped up a little. Not to be discouraged by a crashed bike, Frank started the restoration project once again.

Frank stripped the bike down to the frame in his garage and began the slow process of looking for parts online and at swapmeets. He was able to get the stock '68 frame bent back into place and to acquire an all-new old stock rear suspension, forks, triple-trees, and rear wheel. Between the forks is an H-D 16-inch wheel with an Avon tire that fit perfectly with the Triumph braking system. The motor is 100 percent 650 TR6R Triumph backed up with a stock transmission and primary. All the sheetmetal was stock restored to its original good looks: covered in multiple layers of silver paint with spider web graphics by Joe Kennedy.

About a year after the accident, Frank was back on the road and riding with a couple other guys that own Triumphs, which is how we got his bike shot in this bar. Mike Connelly rides a '67 Triumph and owns the bar. It's called Avalon and is also located in Costa Mesa.