Assid’s Truimph

It is an age-old idiom that necessity is the mother of invention. The necessity to feed yourself on a regular basis is one that few of us can ignore, and to that end, how a very cool, very underground, little known (at least for now) motorcycle builder came to find his true calling in life. Employed until a few years ago in the home building industry, Todd Asin opened Small City Cycles in 2005 informally as a small side business that he ran out of his garage. Once the housing boom went tits up faster than a hooker hired by a televangelist, Todd took the shop to a full time occupation.

The majority of his work has been on bikes that he builds and then sells, hopefully for a profit. But, be they profit or passion, all the bikes are one make and one make only. Todd only works on or builds Triumph motorcycles. Enamored with the old school choppers and bobbers of the day, you rarely find so much as a sprocket for a café racer anywhere near his facility located just outside of Boise, Idaho. It could, I suppose, be said that he is a bit myopic when it comes to what it is he builds. But I think that kind of rigid exclusionary ethos is exactly what gives Todd his vision when he constructs a bike. He isn’t sidetracked by all the bells and whistles of the day. Trends can come and go. He takes no notice of it. He builds his bikes, his way. And that’s pretty much it.

One of the latest creations to come out of his shop is this lovely ‘67 Triumph TR6. It’s based on a custom-made single down tube frame that was Todd’s design and brought to life by Factory Metal Works. In short order it was graced with an old Ness springer fork and it wasn’t long until the bike began to take shape.

Built specifically to debut at the Born Free show, Todd adorned the bike with a 21” spooled front wheel, a Wassell peanut tank that he narrowed and added a rib to, a 16” rear Harley rim laced to a triumph hub, a Wassell ribbed fender, and all kinds of one-off, custom machined, polished and plated detail parts. Todd modified the original Santee oil tank as Luke at Union Motorcycle went to work rebuilding the 650cc engine. Todd then constructed a custom-made seat pan, pairing it with a P-pad and some very nice tuck-n-roll upholstery.

Steering the wild ride is made possible through the use of drag bars mated to triple trees that Todd fabbed from scratch to better match the lines of the bike. While the tins were out for a custom flake and fade candy paint job by Joel at Hogs and Rice, Todd set to work constructing the one-off fender struts.

Once all the parts came together, he made the deadline and attended the Born Free show where the bike garnered a “Best Unit” award first time out. Not bad for a bike that came together from nothing to a trophy winner in less than four months. For more cool projects, or to keep up with what is next from Small City Cycles, visit the shop’s website: www.smallcitycycles.com.

Read the rest of this article in ISSUE 25: Hot Rod Revolution