LaBelle Lyster Triumph Racer

I first saw this bike about eight years ago. It was consigned to the Chadds Ford Classic Motorcycle Auction by Ed LaBelle, former Canadian National Champion Roadracer and longtime motorcycle drag racer who had a shop on Felton Street in North Philadelphia for about half a century. Ed was in frail health and passed away about a year ago. He was quite a character and I was glad to have known him. The bike didn't sell, but I bought it about a year later when I put sold another bike to buy it.




Below is a picture of an Englishman on his nicely finished
"Kennedy - Lyster" kitted out with lights for the roads.




I was drawn to the raw, crash damaged patina that the bike wore. Ed built the bike with Colin Lyster, the Rhodesian native who found fame in Europe first as a racer, but then as an early adapter of disc brakes for motorcycles of his own design. Grand Prix mechanic Nobby Clark told me he knew Colin from when they both worked together in the off season (from racing) in the Copper mines of South Africa. Back in Europe, Nobby went on to working with Mike Hailwood, Gary Hocking, Giacomo Agostini and Kenny Roberts over the next twenty years. Colin Lyster went on to design frames for racing motorcycles. When he decided to try his luck in America, he and Ed LaBellle formed a venture through the Bike Shop stores in the Mid Atlantic region, according to a press release in a Cafe Racer magazine I have from 1973. No more than a handful of this type where built, this one wears  #3.





While Lyster put together the package of triple disc brakes and a lowboy style chassis, Ed supplied the 800cc Triumph twin that powered this woolly beast. Ed told me the bike was crashed at Laconia in one of its few race outings and it was shuffled to the back of his workshop and forgotten while he moved on to other projects.

Along with the complete bike, a rough Lyster frame was found in the old shed at Ed's place.

Very purposeful looking all alloy tanks looked fantastic. The Marquis de Sade ergonomics were about the worst I'd ever tried. The poor rider must have had a difficult time wrestling this vibrating monster with those narrow clip-ons too. I know I did the few times I rode it.

I really wanted to buys Ed's old Ducati 900SS but a change of heart saw

the Lyster come home with me instead.

After we got the bike running again, it was sold in a moment of what can only be called poor judgement on my part. I was buying Yamaha two-stroke racers at the time and a special one came along I just had to have. In a perfect world, I'd keep them all, but I've come to realize we are merely  minding the machines until the next owner comes along. It's best to pass them on to someone else who'll appreciate it in my opinion.  The LaBelle Lyster Triumph found a good home and remains in the area for now.

Here's a short clip of the Triumph Lyster running for the first time in 30 years.
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G64lm9OOe3c

Below is a shot of Ed about to give the Vincent a run. He also did battle on the back streets of Philadelphia in the 1950's against Harley-Davidsons, BSA and Triumphs to see who had bragging rights. Oee of my friends, Harley tuner Charles Kawchak said that seeing this as a young boy changed his life. He was fishing with friends when he heard the roar of motorcycles revving their engines. They scampered to the top of the hill just in time to see Ed get beaten by a Harley-Davidson ridden by Tommy Hannum.  After he got out of the Navy, Charles Kowchak, now grown up and a skilled machinist,  went on to tune for racer Cook Neilson (Cycle magazine Editor and AMA Hall of Fame) and has built hundreds of fast Harley Panhead and Knucklehead engines. Looking down at the worn asphalt on those same streets where tires have been shredded for decades, you can't help but admire the men who earned their street smarts here.

                                                                                 

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