Over on the auction site we’ve got a beautiful Cheney-framed Triumph that the seller describes as a “real race machine that could also win a beauty contest.”
One of the most challenging races in any discipline was the International Six Days Trial (ISDT – now known as the ISDE). An annual test of rider, machine, and durability, the ISDT is also known as the “Olympics of Motorcycling.” In 1968, ISDT changed up the rules to state that a rider had to use a machine of their own nationality. For British riders of the time, this posed a huge problem, as the British bike industry had been in a serious decline over the last 10 years. Particularly with regards to bigger enduros, British riders now had no competitive bikes to ride on. They turned to Eric Cheney, a formerly successful racer who pivoted to building top tier frames after an illness forced him to retire from riding competitively. For more on Eric Cheney and what made him such a wizard, check out this story on Classic Dirt Bike Rider.
The seller of this example calls it a “one of a kind Cheney Triumph 500 ready to race or display, powered by a well-tuned ’66 T100 500cc Triumph motor mounted in a true nickel-plated Cheney frame built by Eric Cheney himself!” It was built in the mid-1990s and features a 500cc Triumph twin with Terry Weedy kickstarter, ARD magneto, 4 plug head, custom 2-1 exhaust, Ceriani forks, Works shocks, CZ wheels, and a wonderfully-painted Lyta fuel tank.
Find this Cheney Triumph for sale in Pleasanton, California with an unmet opening bid of $1,000 here on Iconic Motorbike Auctions.
Disclosure: Bike-urious is a partner in Iconic Motorbike Auctions.