January/February 2009
By Andrew Westlake
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George Pooley's home-built Triumph Quadrent.
Andrew Westlake
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If you’ve ever carried out a restoration or customizing project, you can identify with all of the frustrations and setbacks that come along with getting even the most humble machine running and roadworthy again.
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If you’ve ever faced a box full of gleaming new paintwork and glistening chrome, only to realize the notes you made when you stripped it all down are less than comprehensive or the wiring is now strangely unfathomable, then you know exactly what I’m talking about. For some people, of course, the challenge of just restoring a machine isn’t enough, so they go several steps further to create an original machine. George Pooley is one of those people.
The 4-cylinder Quadrent prototype put together at Triumph’s development shop in Kitts Green, Birmingham, England, in the 1970s under the leadership of Doug Hele is well documented. That it never reached production to take on the might of the Japanese multis is something now consigned to the history books. But why talk about “if only” when you can build your own?
First sight
I first saw George’s impressive machine at the International Classic Motorcycle Show in Staffordshire, England, in 2005, where it took home the trophy for the best classic special, and I was delighted when George invited me to take it for a ride. It probably doesn’t come as a surprise to learn that, having previously owned six triples, George is both a fountain of knowledge on Triumph triples and a highly accomplished engineer. The Quadrent (rhymes with Trident) is not the first special to come from George’s well-equipped workshop. In 1993, the same show saw the debut of a 1,500cc Triumph six. This was an amazing concoction featuring the top end from two T160 triples joined together in a common crankcase to form a V6. Along with
several other embryonic projects, the Triumph six still resides in his workshop.
As the thousands of show goers who admired the Quadrent at the Stafford show will testify, it looks anything but a “backyard special,” and is testimony to the quality of George’s workmanship. A working career that started as an under-paid apprentice engineer in 1969 was followed soon afterward by his first motorcycle, a Royal Enfield Clipper. The association with the Enfield gave George an insight into the mechanical side of motorcycling, though he quickly had his sights set on something sportier.
“I’d always hankered after a BSA Super Rocket, and in the early 1970s bought one for £25 [about $60 U.S.], which even in
those days was a bit of a bargain,” says George. “By the time I’d finished my apprenticeship I was on better money, so it was then that I got my first Triumph, a T120, closely followed by a T140. The ‘Bonnie’ got nicked, so with the insurance payout I bought my first triple, which was a 1969 T150.” That first 3-cylinder was the start of a love affair with Triumph triples that has now lasted more than 30 years. And despite the ups and downs that occur in any long-term relationship, this one shows no sign
of cooling.
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