In our corner of the custom bike scene, we tend to think of the rebirth of the Triumph Motorcycle company arriving with their 2001 launch of the ‘new’ Bonneville. But a decade earlier, the real work had begun, when bikes wearing names of old like Daytona and Trident had been displayed at the 1990 Cologne Motorcycle Show. But in 1994, Triumph produced something much more daring and the three-cylinder Speed Triple was one of the first true factory ‘Street Fighters’ and a model that lives on to this day. Seeing the endless potential in starting a project with such a platform, Mighty Motorcycles of Croatia and Germany have taken a 2005 example of the Speed Triple and turned it into a power-packed racer for the road, which they simply call ‘The Punisher’.
For more than twenty years, Josip Bucic has been crafting brilliant custom motorcycles of all makes and models, and what began as a simple cosmetic makeover on his own bike has morphed into a successful full-time career. No matter which motorcycle Mighty picks for their latest project, it will receive a full going over so that both form and function are perfected. And this was one of the great appeals of the Speed Triple, straight from the factory it has all of that horsepower from the stonking triple and it’s a looker in my eyes, and those of many the world over.
But this machine had to wait patiently for its turn to finally get some love. As Josip explains. “The project is for my best friend from Germany. We started rebuilding the bike together 10 years ago. Shortly afterwards I emigrated to Croatia. So the baby was left gathering dust in the garage. Then last year he asked me if I wanted to complete the project. Of course!” The idea was never to go crazy and spend huge amounts of money, instead, the Speed Triple would be enhanced in every single way, maximising the potential within.
The visual appearance takes a big change instantly, simply by ditching the twin headlights that make the original such a standout. But that’s not a bad thing, as the focus has shifted to a more universal racer appearance. To help achieve this a cafe racer style front fairing was purchased and Josip got to work shaping it to best fit the lines of the Triumph. The lower section has been slimmed down to help show off the unique chassis rails, while the bar openings have been opened up to maximise steering input. Finally, an ultra neat fairing stay was fabricated and you basically can’t see it from any angle you look, genius.
The factory fuel tank remains and she’s a beauty, its heavily sculpted lines and broad shoulders make a big impact. But this makes integrating a new seat unit that much more challenging and it starts with a new subframe. The construction is ultra neat, with beautifully fluted side covers and lower covers sheeted off to serve as an inner fender. But the seat unit and tail section are a complete one-off, with Josip crafting the shape to perfection and then making a mould to produce the part. Hand-laid fibreglass brings it to life, brilliantly running under the tank and the mould means Josip can make more in the future.
The final piece to the bodywork puzzle was to shape up a belly pan, not only does it help to frame out that stunning engine, but it gives the bike a true half-faired appearance. To begin the painting process, Josip laid down a matte graphite grey which serves as the foundation for a race car inspired transformation. The graphics mirror the look of the iconic BMW M1 ProCars and seriously enhance the stunning lines of the transformed Triumph. A race-style number package and sponsor decals add to the look, and the seat is a picture perfect Alcantara saddle.
But it’s the engine that is the real party piece of the Street Triple package, delivering a stonking 131bhp to ensure you have plenty of top end while producing bags of torque as low as 2,000rpm. The factory exhaust, with its twin upswept lines and dual mufflers which spit from under the seat, was a cool thing in their day. But the reality is, they weigh a lot and they’re restrictive, so to unleash more of that triple threat, Josip has simplified the system. It now features a stainless mid-pipe with the O2 sensor in an almost factory location, while the flames now fire out of a MIVV carbon end can.
To bring the Speed to a stop, the big factory Nissin calipers have been rebuilt and now clamp Probrake wave discs front and rear. Then to give his friend maximum control, Josip went to the best in the business and has fitted the bike up with clip-ons and rearsets from Gilles Tooling. The final step was to rewire the whole bike and keep it all as simple as possible, the main loom hides under the new seat, while tiny indicators keep things legal. The twin light look has been cleverly adopted for the rear end, while the endurance racer vibe shines with the small front headlight. It might have taken a decade, but this Speed Triple now truly is a Might Motorcycle and the boys report she’s an absolute beast to ride.
