If you’re involved with motorcycles, as I have been for many decades, you eventually begin to suffer from a weird kind ofanti-immunisation效果。症状包括一个类型的盲目性和选择性失忆，让我们忘了血腥的麻烦摩托车到底有多少曾经是。因此，我们把头伸出买旧自行车，通常英国的...那总是最麻烦的人。然后，我们不坐他们，因为他们是这么大的麻烦继续运行。我认为这是不道德的周围有自行车，你不骑，所以在我的情况下，我再卖给他们。
In thrall to anti-immunisation (not to be confused with anti-vaccing) I have bought at various times a BSA Gold Star (BSA has been interpreted as meaning Bloody Stopped Again for good reason); a Silk S700 (the syphon cooling system doesn’t work in Australia’s temperatures); a square case Ducati 750SS (how many mechanical and electrical problems can one motorcycle have?); an Indian Chief (don’t ask) and…
Ah yes. My latest bout of this disease found me looking through a catalogue from a long-ago bike exhibition in Milan. There, beautifully photographed and looking as classy as half a dozen Afghan hounds in company with Jane Birkin, was a Triumph X75 Hurricane.
Beware of imitations: any number of copycat X75 Hurricane bodywork was made and sold.
So I started looking for one of the roughly 1000 Hurricanes made, and found one in Queensland. I wanted to be sure it was genuine (there are many fakes) so I called Gary McDonnell at Triumph Australia to find out how to check.
“啊，”加里说，“真是太巧了。我在梅里学徒谁设立的装配生产线之一。我会送克雷格·韦特一封电子邮件，问他关于你的号码“。
Craig’s e-mail in reply confirmed that the number was good and that the bike was a real Hurricane but, he wanted to know, why was I asking?
“I’m thinking of buying it”, I replied.
“In that case”, came an e-mail back, “why don’t you buy mine? I’m not a collector so I sold it to a friend, and he’s had it sitting in his den for the past dozen years. He’s moving and doesn’t have the space to keep it.”
无破损散热片。这总是一个好兆头。
Err, well, I thought, why not? Why don’t I buy Craig Vetter’s own Triumph X75 Hurricane? And why don’t I buy it before Jay Leno, the Barber motorcycle museum or even Triumph America find out that it’s available? After all, all of these people (and more) have or would like to have one of those thousand or so X75s made, and if you’re going to have an X75 wouldn’t you want Craig’s own bike?
Yes you would. I know I did. Keep in mind that this is a bike that Craig bought with his own money. Triumph America was too mean to even give him one of the motorcycles he designed.
So I bought it, arranged to have it shipped to Australia by my friend Dave Milligan at Get Routed motorcycle shipping, and paid all the various government charges and the GST (Goods and Services Tax). The cost was adding up but the bike, though a little worn, was just as beautiful as it is in photos – this is the very bike that is in all of Craig Vetter’s posters and even on the coffee mug.
The bike was not in perfect condition, but it was all there.
One of the things I had forgotten is that it takes a determined prod on the kick starter to get the BSA triple going, so to make it easier I fitted TriSpark ignition (from Adelaide), generally regarded as the best electronic ignition for British triples. Starting was much easier, and the bike now runs very smoothly.
It’s hard to convey the pleasure you get from riding a bike like this, but I can safely say that I love it – even with the dicey front brake, which is the only real shortcoming. The X75 handles beautifully, the three unique exhausts make a lovely noise and even though hardly anyone knows what it is, everyone looks as you go past.
然后我发现自己一瘸一拐比平时多一点。我的医生诊断加速磨损，在我酿的右膝盖和髋关节。如果我最近一直在做什么，给我造成的痛苦，他问。是。启动飓风。嗯，他说，停下来，否则你会更早，比我们还以为你会需要一个新的髋关节和/或膝关节。
于是，我又上当了克雷格·韦特自己的胜利飓风X75。尽管克雷格告诉我可以电启动装备它很容易 - 但我需要削减的框架。克雷格，交配。我打算削减在框架上的原始X75？是不会发生的。我们收藏者有我们的原则。等待 - 我刚写的“收集器”？噢亲爱的。
