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Classic Triumph dragster

Spectacular self-construction finished in just three months

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Others move through the furniture stores to fulfill their wish for an unusual piece of furniture. Josef Hasenhundl prefers to go to his workshop. And builds the very special seating furniture yourself. Like this Triumph dragster, which is not only an eye-catcher in the living room.

AT.The story of this unusual self-construction began on a very ordinary evening last summer. While surfing the Internet, Josef Hasenhundl came across a photo that the passionate Triumph enthusiast could not get out of the head. The thing that captivated the anglophile mechanic was the photo of a classic dragster with a Triumph Unit engine.

Classic Triumph dragster

Spectacular self-construction finished in just three months

"When I build, it is as original as possible"

Well, and just like that was still on the shelf of the 43-year-old master industrial mechanic. In his mind, the lathe and milling cutter were already warming up in the home workshop, while the Swabian worked deeper and deeper into the subject. In principle, the initial spark for the reproduction of such a Triumph dragster had already fallen. "When I saw the first photos and the simple construction of the dragster, I thought that I could build something like this myself with my skills and the local workshop equipment."

At first, however, many hours went by researching the exact dimensions and chassis data of the dragster kit offered by Alf Hagon in the 1960s and early 70s. Because one thing was clear to Josef from the start: “When I build, then it is as original as possible. And for that I need a good template. ”It was finally found in the vast expanse of the World Wide Web. For example, the original Hagon catalog from those years, from which the dimensions for steering head angle, wheelbase, saddle height and ground clearance could be taken. The hobby designer then transferred this information to a DIN A3 photo of the side view of the original in order to put the missing dimensions into the correct proportions. In particular, this made it possible to determine the distance from the lower fork bridge to the wheel axle and the dimensions for the rigid frame rear. When the passionate screwdriver had gathered all the important data, he let his mates know over a beer. Although they were consistently impressed by the idea, they didn’t believe that their gifted friend would actually implement it.

Triumph dragster ready to go after three months

But in autumn 2012 the starting shot was given to set up the unusual vehicle, for which a place had already been reserved in the living room at home. But only for the winter, because it was always clear to the future dragster pilot that the self-construction had to be implemented in such a way that you could go on the track with it from time to time. However, without any sporting ambitions: “With around 55 hp you can’t do a lot anyway. It’s all about having fun, not about winning. "

Which doesn’t mean that the technology freak has no sporting ambitions. However, he mainly focuses on perfection in the technical implementation of his ideas. And the speed with which he pulls through such a project: just three months passed before the classic Triumph dragster was ready to go in the living room. "If I set myself up for something, then I do it consistently," says the after-work mechanic, explaining his determination. Which also surprised the friends who “looked pretty stupid” when they stood in front of Josef’s spectacular self-construction after the short construction period.

It is truly a breathtaking appearance, reduced to the essentials, like the original from the late 1960s. In contrast to this, Josef’s work weighs a good 40 pounds more than the 94 kilogram model. No coincidence: “I deliberately built more stable because I wanted to be on the safe side.” That is why he welded the frame from three millimeter thick, seamlessly drawn boiler tubes from steam turbine construction. The top tube measures 90 millimeters and bunkers around 4.5 liters of fuel, while the 70 millimeter thick underframe has space for around 1.5 liters of oil.

Do-it-yourself remained within 3000 euros

Tea tank cap and oil cap come from the dairy industry, the telescopic fork from the Honda Monkey tuning accessories, the steering damper from a Triumph 955i Daytona and the front drum brake from a Hercules K 50 RL. He had the wheels spoked by a professional, everything else – for example engine mounts, rear frame with seat or the foot levers – Josef built, adjusted and finally painted it himself.

Only in this way did he manage to keep the costs for the self-construction within the planned range of a maximum of 3000 euros. Strictly speaking, this adds up to a further 3500 euros for overtaking and tuning the twin, which originally came from a 650 Bonneville, which has a 750 cubic set from Morgo, MAP aluminum rods milled from solid, full race intake and half race exhaust camshafts , 32 mm Mikunis and an electronic ignition from Boyer-Bransden help get things going. But the engine was – as mentioned – already on the shelf, carefully retracted over 4000 kilometers in a 1969 Bonnie.

In the meantime, the engine has passed its baptism of fire as a self-made dragster with flying colors. Let’s see what else Josef comes up with. The most extraordinary ideas come to him on very ordinary evenings.

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