Spain’s TAMARIT MOTORCYCLES crafts a cool-as-hell custom Triumph café racer…
Spanish Jade. A magnetic piece of art in the form of a Triumph Thruxton transformed from the practical to the beautiful. The antithesis of the raison d’etre of the original 1960s Triumph Bonneville “Thruxton” — a racing machine par excellence built for speed and nothing else. This re-imagination by Tamarit Motorcyles, the renowned Spanish custom builder based in the small town of Elche near Alicante, is the opposite. A thing of beauty built not for speed, but to be adored. To melt the hearts of steely, hardened, motorcycle men. In much the same way that a sidelong glance from a seductive blonde siren would.
Arriving at the weekend meet with thighs hugging a fuel tank re-clad in quilted leather, atop a matching quilted leather seat hanging out into the ether above the extended swing arm reaching longer, altering geometry — and putting you closer to the ground. Easier to hop off to chat over Bullet Coffee and fancy bagels about this mystical beauty you have arrived on. To run through the details of the 640-hour labour of love that was lavished upon her every detail. The rebuilding of the original Triumph Thruxton heart, addition of K&N trumpet air filters, the re-routing of the oil into the frame reimagined with fins to fit the aesthetic and cool the motor oil. New electrics, hand-turned details, new wheels and tires, new everything. Of course, her key fits into her headlight as all retromobile keys should.
Oh. And the “Jade” paint job that gives her her name. A thing of lust to all around with an eye for proportion and propulsion. Lustrous on everything from the repurposed tank to the newly added methacrylate bellypan and headlight-bubble fairing. A mystical colour or befitting 1960s Mercedes Benz SLs and Aston Martins of the best provenance. The colour of a mineral stone said to possess special powers of luck, healing, and many other things tied to its magnetic properties. Perhaps this is what makes it so hard to take your eyes off this sultry piece of machinery. Maybe a nod to the legendary French textile house of Dormeuil, who make a cloth fit for kings, soaked in a supersaturated solution of crushed jade. Or even the elves who made her crushed jade to put into the paint mix. But whatever they did, it worked. As she is a beauty in the eye of every beholder.
But why, one may ask? In a sea of custom café racers stretching across the globe what was the genesis of this mystical beast? Well why not, said Tamarit. Since 2015 they have become one of the most talked about builders in the world, with facilities and capabilities which have grown as their order book has filled. Instead of waiting for a new order to fulfill the dream of their 100th build, they decided to take fate into their own hands and create a bike to truly represent their craft. And recently auctioned it off in partnership with fancy French art curator Artcurial.
For one lucky guy that was almost US$60,000 well spent. If you want to be lucky guy No. 2, we’re pretty sure the blueprint and jade paint job can be had from the brothers Quique and Matías who run Tamarit. Give them a whistle and ask. T
By DUNCAN QUINN
PHOTOS: COURTESY OF TAMARIT
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