Offered from the National Motorcycle Museum Collection, 1969 Triumph 750cc Trident Drag Bike

Registration no. not registered Frame no. none found Engine no. not stamped

• Built in the USA by Bud Hare
• Set a new class record of 169.33mph in 1969 at the Bonneville Salt Flats
• Ridden by Jeff Gough

The unique Triumph Trident-powered drag bike offered here was built in the USA by Racing Service Center (owners Harry Seevers and Bud Hare) with funding from Triumph of America. Built to compete in the up-to-750cc APS-AF Class (Altered frame, Partial Streamlining, Altered Fuel (methanol), this machine set a new class record of 169.331mph in 1969 at the Bonneville Salt Flats ridden by Jeff Gough. Its creator was Bud Hare from Southern California, the legendary motorcycle tuner and drag racer credited with being the first man to build a twin-engined drag bike – the Triumph-powered 'Dübble Bübble' – in 1953.

The three-cylinder Trident engine is mounted well back in the special hard-tail frame, no doubt to improve traction, while it is easy to understand why hub-centre steering was chosen in preference to a flex-prone telescopic fork. Fuel is pumped from tanks mounted low down in front of the engine; electronic ignition fires two plugs per cylinder; and large Japanese Mikuni carburettors replace the standard British Amal instruments.

The Triumph was kept in California by owner Bud Hare and came near to being scrapped when he died in 1985. His widow decided to get rid of the bike and only the fact that the scrap man was a motorcycle enthusiast saved it from the crusher. He told a motorcycle-dealer friend, who bought the bike and preserved it.

The machine's mechanical condition is not known; accordingly, prospective purchasers must satisfy themselves with regard to its condition, completeness, correctness, or otherwise prior to bidding. There are no documents with this Lot.