Last weekend’s Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride (DGR) also saw the winner of the first ever Triumph Motorcycles Build-Off Challenge crowned, with Laguna Ashford Triumph’s Drag Racer taking top honours.
Thirteen British Triumph dealers took up the challenge of personalising the award-winning Bonneville Bobber using a mix of over the counter accessories from the Triumph range and some one-off engineering. The top three from a public vote were entries from Pure Triumph in Wellingborough, as well as Peterborough Triumph and the winning entry from Laguna, and the final decision was made by a judging panel that consisted of former Arsenal footballer Ian Wright, Bike Shed founder Anthony ‘Dutch’ van Someren and Triumph design boss Steve Sargent.
The winning bike’s paint scheme was inspired by Triumph’s legendary X-75 Hurricane of 1973, but the design is inspired by the straightline drag racers. The designers used a fairing from the Thruxton track racer and created a low and long tank and seat unit for the drag bike look. Retro Firestone tyres look the bomb, but do nothing to suggest that this bike has been designed to go in a straight line – and not around corners.
Judge Van Someren complemented the bike’s style, saying: “The whole silhouette just looks right from the first moment you see it, the retro paint creates a bodywork line that looks fresh out of a factory design studio. When you dig a little deeper behind the concept, the Bobber’s surprising start-line performance and torque is more drag-bike, so creating a build with pretensions for increased performance feels more appropriate than its competition.”
Steve Sargent, Chief Product Officer, Triumph Motorcycles added: “The Laguna Drag Racer is a stunning piece of design and is probably the least expected way to customise the original bike. The bike has a stance and design language that emphasises the performance angle of the motorcycle and I am sure that anyone who has ridden the Bobber can testify this is a bike that makes you smile when you open the throttle. What has really impressed me with this bike is how good it looks from every angle. The bodywork flows naturally from front to back and is incredibly well-executed. Dare I say it, I actually like it more than the original Hurricane that inspired it. Now I just need a chance to ride it.”
The modified Triumph was built to promote the Distinctive Gentleman’s Ride, a charity event aimed at raising funds for, and awareness of, men’s health issues.
