TR3OC Triumph and Rocket 3 Owners Club was established to assist and unite owners of the Triumph and BSA 3-cylinder superbikes of the late 60’s and early 70’s.
These bikes when fitted with a racing frame manufactured by Rob North achieved notable success on race tracks in the 1970’s. This success was on both sides of the Atlantic with riders of the era such as John Cooper, Paul Smart, Percy Tait and Ray Pickrell and, in the USA, Dave Aldana, Don Emde and many others.
The club is not all about racing though and supports modern owners with parts supply recommendations and mechanical advice. The road bikes are fondly remembered as the first British Superbikes which followed the success of arguably the first ever Superbike, the 750cc Honda 4-cylinder machine launched in 1969.
I personally remember staring in awe at the just released Honda through the window of my local Honda dealer, Cusworths of Doncaster. Four cylinders and four chromed exhaust pipes, two either side of the bike, together with candy blue-green paintwork. A spaceship wouldn’t have been any more exciting for a young 21 year-old like me!
Back to the Triumphs and BSA’s. The owners club now puts on a rally every year at a race track where current owners can “show and shine” their treasured bikes or take them for a spin around the track. The rally is dubbed “Beezumph” in a joint fracturing of the BSA (known amongst motorcyclists as Beezers) and the Triumph names.
I particularly loved the style of the factory racing versions with their Rob North frames, special fuel tanks and “letterbox” fairings and so a trip to a Beezumph rally has always been on my to do list.
I applied for a ticket and was pleasantly surprised to find that it wasn’t necessary to arrive on a Triumph or BSA in order to be able to have a spin around the track. So, I bought a ticket for this year’s event at Cadwell Park circuit and paid for an “entry level” speed controlled few laps of the track. I have been watching racing at Cadwell since 1970 so the opportunity for a seriously old (21 days short of my 78th birthday!) guy like me to ride around the circuit and up the infamous “mountain” section was too good to miss!
The rally is spread across 4 days with arrival and set up, a ride out to the seaside for a couple of hours, meet and listen to lectures given by special guests, track activities, show and shine, a dinner and party period to round it all off.
I could only make it to the track activity day so I arrived at the rally at 8am and joined the queue for noise testing my machine. Duly tested, I parked my bike and made my way to the clubhouse to sign in and watch an on-line compulsory safety video on my mobile lasting around 10 minutes. Having proved that I had watched the video I’m fitted with a wrist band for my allotted track session.
So far so good but the temperature is climbing up to the 30’s so I sit under a tree with a bottle of water and watch the other bikes go out for their sessions. 10 o’clock and it’s my turn now, full leathers and a back protector on makes for a hot and sticky feeling but I am ready as the Marshall checks my wristband and back protector and signals me to follow the Marshall who will lead us around the track.
Three laps and we are back to the paddock. Did it! – another box ticked on my bucket list & to my surprise I also had my name in the program – added bonus! There were more sessions to be had but the temperature was still rising & the heat was getting to me so I wandered around the paddock, took a few photos then left for home.
A great day!
Beezumph – well organised and a friendly atmosphere!
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