That’s a mighty impressive result for a year’s work, so how come this bloke who’d made a living flogging fridges and washing machines could get bikes looking that good?
It was, to use Doug’s own words, ‘done up’, a modest way of saying that it looked so good it was voted best in show at the 1971 BMF Rally.įrom the T100 he moved on to this particular Trophy in 1973, bought in bits and rebuilt so well that it was featured on the cover of Bike magazine in July 1974.
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Whatever your personal view of Triumphs of that period, only a blind man could deny that they are very attractive machines with their shining alloy and sleek lines, not to mention paint colour schemes that left less inspired competitors wondering how to beat those smart beggars from Meriden. 'After the Crusader Sports, Doug moved swiftly towards a seminal moment in his motorcycle life when he bought a 1958 Triumph Tiger 100'Īfter the Crusader Sports, Doug moved swiftly towards a seminal moment in his motorcycle life when he bought a 1958 Triumph Tiger 100. Members of the Burton Appreciation Society who read CBG may care to write to The Editor with contrary opinions. Richard Burton wouldn’t have agreed with that last statement, but he was into that William Shakespeare of Stratford and Dylan Thomas, so he wouldn’t really appreciate a motorcycle produced by craftsmen in the fair town of Redditch, in Worcestershire. He moved on from the Phillips – well, any sensible young man would – to a Zündapp K70 and then to a Royal Enfield Crusader Sports.Īh, now we’re beginning to talk motorbikes, because Royal Enfield’s finest 250 was a tasty little bike with a half-decent performance and more good looks than Elizabeth Taylor. When he went to work, as people did in those days when they reached the age of 16, he graduated to a Phillips Panda moped to get him to the Electricity Board showroom, where for the next 10 years he developed the silver tongued skills that still shine through today. They clearly had enough nous to keep out of the local constabulary’s radar and graduated to a 1939 Ariel Square Four with hand-change and a lot more oomph than a tired old Norton plonker.
He arrived at Trumpet ownership after an apprenticeship in motorcycling that started as a kid in Slough, when he and a gang of mates had an old side-valve Norton they thrashed around the local common. The point to be taken from all this wandering from the point is that Doug Webb keeps his bikes, whatever their status as classics, in a highly presentable state. Did you know that Malcolm Uphill, one of Triumph’s great heroes after putting in the first 100mph lap of the Isle of Man TT course on a production bike, a works prepared Bonneville, used to ride a VFR400? Don’t go knocking these Japanese models until you know who’s ridden them. As well as the Trophy, his Honda VFR400 is a beautifully presented example of that future classic line. He’s just an enthusiast who loves his bikes and wants them to look as good as possible, so his 1955 Trophy Triumph has loads of neat detail work as well as a lovely paint job and chrome plating nearly everywhere you look. Blimey, this bloke has an award-winning bike and actually rides it everywhere! No trailer, no Transit, no Securicor contract to take it from home to show and back again with total protection from the elements. It was voted best in show and, after all the back-slapping and photo taking, Doug climbed back on the bike and rode it home. Enjoy more Classic Bike Guide reading in the monthly magazine.īut I saw it again at the CBG Show at Stoneleigh, late in the same year, when the weather was awful and anyone who turned up on a bike was acclaimed a minor hero.
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