tune in, turn on, drop out

 "Tune in, Turn on, Drop out"! It is the last Triumph chop I am building for awhile.  The engine was sold to me when I was 20 and knew nothing about Triumphs.  I grew up on muscle cars and hot rods, but not bikes. Since i was very young I wanted to split lanes on two wheels.  My dad was not into motorcycles at all, so maybe it was that rebellion I desired. When I was 16, I went over to my buddy Mike's house for the first time.  There in the garage was a 72 T-120 Triumph basket case.  I was in love!  Mike's dad bought it when he got home from Vietnam.  He raised a lot of hell on it, then wrecked it with Mike's mom on back.  So there it sat. For 4 years, I hounded Mike about his dad's Triumph.  Finally, the word got to Mike's mom's ears, it was time for the Triumph to go.  There was just one major problem, I did not know shit about Triumphs!  Very few people were messing around with Triumphs at that time.  Most Triumphs were like mine, in a basketcase or sitting collecting dust. Long forgotten in the back of some dudes garage, along with his faded memories of glory.   I scoured this thing, called the interent, to its farthest horizon.  There was not much out there at that time, just some really bad websites, not offering shit.  Then one day I stumbled across this guy out in California, Chopper Dave.  "Who was this guy?", I asked myself.  All I knew was his website was filled with pictures of some of the coolest bikes I had ever seen.  Cole Foster's, purple, Preunit Triumph, fucked me up! No joking! I was rocked!  Right then and there, I knew the Triumph had to be chopped.  This Triumph ended it up controlling my fate. Taking me down a bumpy road of highs and lows. It taught me to seek out what you don't know and embrace it.  No one, but me, was going to make this Triumph happen.  I learned the hard way, which the aches in my bones are now telling me. I have sacrificed a lot over the years for Triumphs, but I have met some of the greatest people ever.  Would not change a thing.  So after 10+ years and being moved from frame to frame, the T-120 is finally being finished.  The basket case I bought off Mike's dad went into both of my Triumph Chops.  I just want to thank Mike's parents.  If not for this engine I do not know how my life would have turn out.