Green Voodoo

January 25, 2021

0Points

Article and Photos By: Mark Velazquez

Originally Published In The February 2020 Issue Of Cycle Source Magazine

Sometimes a little routine in your life is not such a bad thing. Make it what you may, and you can always find the good in what we take for granted. For me, Brandon Cooper has become one of the many routines in my life that I enjoy. I first met Brandon at the Broken Spoke a few years back. I was asked by the boss to shoot a very cool Flatty, not knowing then that this would become pretty much a yearly ritual for Brandon and myself in Daytona.

Like most winters, Cooper is home in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and I am bunkered down in New York. Phone calls, emails, and text messages with build updates go back and forth between us, along with a little politics, home life, and just counting down the days till Daytona. Like I said, not a bad routine at all. Having a lovely girlfriend who is a devoted Triumph lover, we were both very excited to hear that Brandon had a frame-up custom Triumph on the lift! When I say frame-up, I mean fame up! This was going to be the one-offs of one offs. It’s not often that you will find a 250 rear tire Triumph built to race and a framed designed to make it all happen. With the help of a good friend and expert welder known only as Don Johnson Brandon, being an Aerospace engineer himself jump on his CAD system and design a frame that would accommodate the big rear tire as well as put the engine right in the middle of the frame with the use of full roller bearing jack shafts. The traditional bronze bushing shafts wouldn’t work. Once the mockup design was done, Don built the frame to perfection for Brandon and made one for himself in the process. So, it is safe to say there are only two of these frames in the world.

With the frame complete, the build began to take shape. Let it be known that all the work on this bike was done by Brandon himself. The jury is still out if visits from my buddies Jack Daniels or Johnny Walker helped or not but its highly doubtful. When Brandon builds, he builds to perfection and doesn’t miss a beat. Being the only one with his hands on the bike, Brandon knew exactly what needed to be done. The engine is truly race ready with a 5 speed 650 bottom and a 750-top end. The 650 was used on the bottom to get a shorter and stronger stroke. Of course, a big bore kit was installed. The heads were reworked race casting with Kibblewhite lightweight racing values, guides, and springs. Also, in the mix were a Donateli race cam, Joe Hunt magneto ignition, and a twin Amal 930 A carb, along with an open dry racing belt primary and clutch.

And if it couldn’t get any better the killer exhaust, which Brandon did not want to sound like your typical Triumph. Cooper built a two into one exhaust accompanied by one small single baffle leading out to the main pipe. This hot rod puts out a sound like I have never heard on any Triumph before. With the engine out of the way, the final fabrication took place.

The tank was “Frankensteined” from 7 tanks welded together to give a long look to the bike. The paint was a throwback to a 1957 Mercury Outboard Merchromic green complimented with silver striping. There is so much on this bike to see yet it is done with such taste that if you look to quick, you will miss all that this bike has to offer besides a ride like no other. Known as King Bee, Brandon continues to build. Before you know it, we will both be back in Daytona with his son and riding buddy Keane. I can only imagine what he has in store for Daytona in 2020. Well, I actually do, but what fun would it be to let you know now. Guess you will just have to show up at the Cycle Source bike show and seek him out… Stay tuned.