Like an alarm clock
You woke me up. Attached are a couple of photos of my 1967 Ducati Sebring. I could not believe my eyes when I saw my bike on the front cover of your magazine. I have been getting Motorcycle Classics from the start and always wished that an article on this bike would show up sometime, never believing it would get a full review. Thanks.
I bought mine at a dealer in Fayetteville, North Carolina, when I was stationed at Fort Bragg in 1967. $610.00 got me the bike and I never looked back. As you can see, in 1971 I gave it some modifications. 1977 was the last time I rode it. It’s stowed in a shed waiting for me to bring it back.
In 1998 Ducati gave me a dream bike by making the ST2. That’s my ride today. Fantastic bike. I could go on and on about the 350.
Swiss Army bike?
Great article on the 1948-1964 Triumph 500s in the November/December 2022 issue … but … what’s that Swiss Army knife doing on the back pilon of the ’57 TRW?
Randy Riblet/Rio Vista, California
Hi Randy,
Thanks for the note. How funny. I didn’t see the knife until you mentioned it. The day Robert Smith went to shoot this bike they had trouble getting it started. I can only imagine they were using a screwdriver on the knife to fiddle with a carb adjustment and forgot to put it away. But I had to ask Robert, who replied “Close, but no Corona. Randy obviously has better eyes than me. I didn’t see the knife at all. By that time in the shoot, we had fixed the starting issue. Reason for the Swiss Army knife … Tom used it to take the license plate off!” — Ed.
Italjet clarification
I received from friends the July/August 2022 issue of Motorcycle Classic magazine in which an Italjet Grifon is presented. As the holder of the Italjet Historical Archive, it seems only right to make a couple of clarifications. The Grifon you presented was never produced with those exhaust pipes and silencers. Furthermore, its color does not correspond to those originals. The person who restored that Grifon in Italy is a friend of mine and, despite my insistence not to, he decided to equip the bike with two high exhausts of pure invention. Never, say never, the Grifon was produced with that type of exhaust.
And the amaranth-cream coloring is also fancy. For the second series Grifon the colors used were: white-red, white-green, green-black, and blue-silver.
So at this point what I feared happened: what never existed became truth.
I enclose a couple of photos of my Grifon, the last of the series produced, for a total of 90 units, 15 of the first series and 75 of the second (including some California specimens). Thank you for your attention.
Pasquale Mesto /ITALJET Archivio Storico
Pasquale,
Thank you for the letter. We were aware that the paint choices and high exhaust were non-stock, though maybe we failed to point that out specifically. We appreciate you sharing this letter and photos of your Grifon with our readers. — Ed.
More info on TR5Ts
I look forward to your magazine arrival and read it cover-to-cover. The tech support is great, plus well written articles. After reading your short article about the Triumph TR5Ts I thought I’d share a pic of my small collection.
They are in different stages of being completed, as I have to gather correct parts. They will soon be completed. The detail photo shows the controversial “Glass Fiber” airbox used on the 1974 TR5Ts. Some scholars claim they were never used, due to the employee walkout/sit-in, but here it is! Correct passenger footpeg mounting seems to be uncertain also. Maybe I haven’t found the right person.
Gene McKillips/via emailÂ
