Mentioning ‘Triumph’ and ‘Steve McQueen’ collectively conjures up photographs of the long-lasting desert sleds that the King of Cool kicked up Californian mud with. This tradition Triumph T140 Bonneville takes inspiration from one in every of McQueen’s most well-known bikes—his quantity 955 TR6 desert racer. But it surely’s been constructed for a really totally different objective.

The 1976-model T140 lacks a desert sled’s lengthy journey suspension, massive wheels, and tall handlebars, as a result of it’s been designed to dominate on the observe as a substitute of within the dust. Extra particularly, it’s been custom-made by Shiro Nakajima at 46Works to compete within the Japanese Legend of Basic race series.

We will’t consider a greater man for the job than Nakajima-san. A daily on our pages, he’s most likely greatest identified for founding the Japanese restomod powerhouse Ritmo Sereno—however he’s additionally a furnishings maker, a classic automobile restorer, and one heck of a motorbike builder.

Shiro lives and works in a captivating conventional wood constructing, tucked away towards the foothills of the Yatsugatake Mountains the place scenic B-roads abound. However he nonetheless commonly makes the trek to the Tsukuba Circuit a number of hours away, the place he races the traditional race bikes that he’s so adept at constructing. So he is aware of the way to make older bikes look good and go quick.

Shiro put the Triumph T140 Bonneville collectively for a buyer, who provided nothing greater than the body, swingarm, and engine. McQueen’s ‘955’ supplied design inspiration, nevertheless it was as much as Shiro so as to add all the correct mods to make the T140 track-capable.

Straight away, the engine went off to Gladstone, a Triumph specialist in Shizuoka, for a full rebuild. It got here with high-compression pistons, upgraded camshafts, a modified head, and a belt drive conversion. Additionally current are a Quaife five-speed transmission equipment, and a pair of Keihin CR carbs.

From there, Shiro set about constructing the chassis—beginning with tweaking and reinforcing the body. The entrance forks come from a Yamaha (Shiro received’t say which), and have been rebuilt with new internals. They’re held in place by a set of machined aluminum yokes, related to a {custom} steering stem.

The Triumph T140 rolls on 18” Excel rims, laced to 2 totally different Yamaha hubs with brand-new Yamaha spokes. There’s an Avon Roadrider wrapped across the entrance wheels, with an Avon Tremendous Venom AM18 out again.

Because of the brand new wheels, the bike advantages from a significant braking improve. It now makes use of two AP Racing calipers up entrance and a single Brembo caliper out again, with Sunstar discs and Brembo grasp cylinders at each ends. (There’s no ABS, however the T140 ought to cease faster than it did within the 70s.)

Equally spectacular are the bespoke rear-set foot controls, and the myriad linkages that make them operate. And since this can be a race bike constructed by an skilled racer, there’s security wire in all the correct locations.

Shifting to the bodywork, Shiro pieced collectively a set of components that come as near mimicking McQueen’s Triumph as a observe bike can. The gasoline tank is a copy Triumph unit, whereas the seat, which seems like a traditional Bates quantity, is a one-off. Shiro constructed the aluminum seat pan, after which handed it over to Razzle Dazzle for foam and fabric.

The rear part follows the standard desert sled method of a three-quarter seat, a kinked subframe, and a protracted alloy rear fender. On the reverse finish of the bike, Shiro replicated the type of fairing and fairing brackets discovered on McQueen’s bike, however with a stubbier design.

The dual shotgun-style exhaust pipes are one other nod to the TR6 sled, proper all the way down to the way in which that the ends are stacked. They’re additionally a testomony to Shiro’s craftsmanship, since he hand-bent the headers out of titanium. Aluminum quantity boards add to the bike’s classic attraction (and provides the proprietor someplace to stay his race numbers).

Different particulars embody a Setrab oil cooler with Kinokuni fittings, a hand-crafted oil catch tank, and a battery mount that provides fast and quick access. Shiro wired the bike from scratch too.

The cockpit sports activities low-rise handlebars fitted solely with probably the most primary controls. A {custom} dashboard hosts a Stack tachometer, a single warning mild, and a Daytona temperature meter, whereas a lap timer sits atop the bar clamps. There’s nothing pointless on this T140; each final inch of it has been fine-tuned for Shiro’s buyer, “in order that he can win races.”

Even the livery is all enterprise. Fairly than absolutely mimic the McQueen bike, this Triumph opts for a easy coat of jet black with period-correct logos. Prime work by common 46Works collaborator, Drops Design Works.

46Works’ {custom} Triumph T140 won’t be the very first thing we image once we consider a traditional Triumph observe bike, however that’s what we love most about it. It’s additionally refreshing to know that it’ll be used as supposed—as we write this, Shiro’s at Tsukuba ensuring it goes pretty much as good because it seems.

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