Over the years since they started the J&P Ultimate Builder Shows inside the IMS Expos, we have had the pleasure of giving a Cycle Source Award to a number of builders who displayed their works throughout the country. One such build was the hot little Triumph you see here. We found this little gem during the Long Beach IMS and I was blown away at the craftsmanship. Little did I know at the time that the story behind it would be as impressive as the build itself.
Anthony Robinson is one of those cats who I can say is a brother from another mother and I only just met him. He has some real old world values in the way he raises his kids, conducts his business and builds his motorcycles.
In our short conversation, I was very impressed with this cat. His garage door business is his daily bread, but he doesn’t put anything before his family. Motorbikes possess the precious time he has in the middle.
In fact, the very foundation of how this bike was built was a bi-product of his daily grind. You see, in his business there is a lot of recycling; old garage doors are recycled as his company installs new material. Anthony squirreled away the recycle money from scrap garage door metal for his Triumph project. In fact, if the recycle money didn’t add up to cover the parts on his list, he would wait until he had the funds. This is a man of strict responsibility and patience.
Even his swap meet finds in Long Beach were governed by stringent criteria. If he bought a part, and it was wrong, didn’t fit or whatever, he forced himself to flip it before he would spend additional loot on the correct component. This pushed him to learn every aspect of the T-100 quickly. Valuable lessons became T-100 project Code of the West.
Anthony was born into motorcycling. His old man, Jack E. Robinson, was deep into it from a young age as a flat tracker. He raced in the real “back in the day” at Paris and all the old tracks around California. Anthony grew up surrounded by bikes and the itch crept under his skin early on. “I always wanted to build a bike,” Anthony said. “What kid doesn’t?” About the time he finished his first modified Softail, a good friend went down and lost his life. Shook-up, Anthony sold his Softail and didn’t ride for a minute.
Some time passed and the itch returned. He approached his wife tentatively and explained. He felt like getting into the building end of motorcycling. Then one night, while perusing the almighty Craigslist he came across a deal he couldn’t pass up in Arizona. It was wheels, a frame and the motor from this T-100 and he could have it all for $750.
“I called the guy and eventually we met up somewhere in Canyon County, 40 miles north of LA,” Anthony said. “He was driving this ratty old Toyota pickup full of Triumph, BSA and Norton parts. And there it was in the mess of it all, this frame, a seized motor (unknown to me at the time) and wheels. I won’t lie, it was a pile…but it was my pile and I had a vision.”
“I had no idea where to start… everything on it was rusted, crusty, dirty, and oily. I couldn’t pull it out of the truck…tires were deflated, seemed to be in gear, and the handlebars wouldn’t move. I eventually got this beauty into my truck and headed home.”
He snatched a Harbor Freight lift and scored a T-100 book on e-bay. Together with his middle son, Austin, he went to work. During the learning curve, he ran into neat sidelines like the battery box. It was actually an old ‘60s battery-charger he found in an old parts pile. He brought it back to his shop and gutted it to be used for hiding the battery and electricals. It took a couple of weeks to work out the correct latch to use, the right location, but in the end it paid off.
Anthony is well into his next project, and now has the complete support of his wife. We can’t wait to see what he comes up with next. “You got space here man, whatever it might be,” said Chris Callen.
Owner: ANTHONY ROBINSON
Bike Name: LA MOSCA
City/State: PALMDALE, CA
Builder: ANTHONY ROBINSON
City/state: PALMDALE, CA
Address: 39450 3RD STREETB EAST PALMDALE, CA 93550
Phone: 661-816-4248
Web site: WWW.GASOLINEANDCOFFEE.COM
E-mail: GASOLINEANDCOFFEE@GMAIL.COM
Fabrication: ANTHONY ROBINSON
Manufacturing: ANTHONY ROBINSON
Welding: LUCKY MOTHER GARAGE
Machining: ANTHONY ROBINSON, DAVE JACKSON
Bike Name: La Mosca (The Fly)
Owner: Anthony Robinson
City/State: Palmdale, California
Fab. By: Anthony Robinson
Year: 1961
Model: T-100
Value: Still Counting
Time: 2 Years
Year: 1961
Model: T-100
Builder: Dean Collinson
Ignition: Pazon
Displacement: 500cc
Pistons: Stock
Heads: Stock
Carb: JRC 30mm
Cam: Stock
Air Cleaner: Amal
Exhaust: Triumph Straight Pipes
Primary: Stock
Year: 1961
Make: Triumph
Shifting: Four-Speed
Year: 1961
Make: Triumph
Rake: Stock
Stretch: 4-inch
Type: 1937 Triumph T80 Girder
Builder: Triumph
Extension
Triple Trees:
Wheels, Tires, Brakes
Front Wheel: Triumph 40 Spoke.. Copper Plated Nipples
Size: 19-inch
Front Tire: Firestone Deluxe Champion 400-19
Front Brake: 7-inch Drum
Rear Wheel: Triumph 40 Spoke.. Copper Plated Nipples
Size: 18-inch
Rear Tire: Firestone Deluxe Champion 400-18
Rear Brake: 7-inch drum
Painting
Painter: Mat Egan = Extreme Designs
Color: Copper Leaf, House of Kolor Black, Kustom Burnt Umber
Type: House Of Kolor
Graphics: Recycle Symbol On Oil Tank
Powder Coating: Pacific Coast Powder Coating, Palmdale, CA
Accessories
Bars: 7/8-inch Drag Bars
Risers: Girder Dog-Bones
Hand Controls: Amal Style
Fuel Tanks: One off by Lucky Mother Garage
Front Fender: None
Rear Fender: 5-ingh Lowbrow Custom’s
Seat: One Off with Two 4-inch Seat Spring Shocks
Foot Controls: Stock with Custom Mounts
Mirrors: None
Oil Tank: Two Bottom Fire Extinguishers Welded Together
Headlight: 5 ¾-inch Bates Style
Taillight: Model A Ford
Speedo: None
Special Credits
KEVEN GARCIA OF PACIFIC POWDERCOATING
MAT EGAN OF EXTREME DESIGNS
DAVE JACKSON OF DJ LOCKETS
RJ OF LUCKY MOTHER GARAGE
MIKE SANMARCO
