Triumph “Whitehall Scrambler” by Acre Moto

Triumph Scrambler

Classic style, modern performance… 

For a long time, we’ve been fans of restomods — vintage motorcycles whose period aesthetics are largely retained while the bike’s suspension, brakes, electronics, and overall performance are boosted to modern standards. Recently, however, we’ve been seeing another customization trend that flows somewhat in reverse, bringing vintage aesthetics to a modern motorcycle.

Triumph Scrambler

For our new friends Luke and John of Acre Moto, that was their primary goal with this 2006 Triumph “Whitehall Scrambler”:

“The goal from the start was to do our best at making a modern bike as ‘vintage’ aesthetically as we could. So we set out pulling inspiration from classic Triumphs of the past. The best thing about these bikes, especially the two years they put silver engines on the scramblers, is that Triumph did an amazing job of preserving these classic characteristics. We just wanted to throw it back a little more.” –Luke

Triumph Scrambler

Luke and his brother, Amos, document their travels via the popular Instagram account Scrambler Brothers, and Luke met John — an avid off-road rider since his youth — while working on his bike on the street.

“We’ve now been on numerous moto trips together from Utah to California to North Carolina and West Virginia.” –Luke

Triumph Scrambler

They picked up this ’06 Triumph from a seller in Whitehall, Maryland, and got to work taking the bike back in time a bit. The bike is now running a shortened frame with custom saddle, Hagon rear shocks, a Free Spirit off-road kit with heavyweight oil, Keihin CR carbs, custom bashguard, TKC tires, and much more.

Triumph Scrambler

For John and Luke, this “Whitehall Scrambler” is the fruition of a long dream — good on them for making it a reality:

“This was something we had both had wanted to do for a long time but as we all know, wanting to do it and actually doing it are very far apart.” –John

Triumph Scrambler

One thing we love is that the Acre Moto boys don’t just build, they ride. Recently, they took the Whitehall Scrambler for its maiden voyage to West Virginia, where it performed even better than anticipated.

“The bike is really fun to ride. Compared to our EFI scramblers, the suspension is a nice upgrade. It soaks up the bumps a lot better than stock. It tracks really well down the gravel roads and feels really planted but ready and willing to break it loose at will.” –John

 

Below, Luke and John give us the full story on this retro-mod Triumph.

In the Builder’s Words…

My buddy John and I ride air-cooled Scramblers. Over the years we’ve talked about working on a bike together. This was our first stab at doing something like this and it turned out to be way more fun than we thought. The bike is a 2006 Triumph Scrambler. We picked it up on Craigslist pretty much bone-stock.

Triumph Scrambler

The goal from the start was to do our best at making a modern bike as “vintage” aesthetically as we could. So we set out pulling inspiration from classic Triumphs of the past. The best thing about these bikes, especially the two years they put silver engines on the scramblers, is that Triumph did an amazing job of preserving these classic characteristics. We just wanted to throw it back a little more.

  • Stripped front fork, added Free Spirit 30mm off-road kit and 5wt oil
  • Hagon 2810 390mm rear shocks
  • Free Spirit chain tensioner
  • Keihin CR roundslide carbs
  • Custom bashguard
  • Pingel highflow petcock
  • Custom painted tank and vintage badges
  • Deleted airbox with motone battery box
  • Shortened frame and added rear hoop
  • Deleted passenger pegs
  • Custom seat repurposed from stock
  • Stock exhaust with VW angled tips
  • Vintage 7/8 bars
  • Dime City mini speedo
  • Radiantz turn signals
  • Dimecity headlight and taillight
  • Deleted oil cooler
  • Cutdown rear fender and fork brace from Motone
  • Motone high mount rear caliper
  • TKC 80 tires

Triumph Scrambler

Builders Interview

• Please tell us a bit about yourself, your history with motorcycles, and your workshop.

John: I started riding motorcycles in my late teens. My first bike was a YZ125 so the desire to ride off-road has always been in the blood. Since then I have almost always had a moto in my life. I just wish I had more time to ride.

Luke: I started riding back in 2016 after my brother kept sending me craigslist posts of Triumph Scramblers in my area, the same bike he had bought the year before. He broke me down and I’m grateful to him for it. My brother, Amos, and I started going on moto trips and documenting it through an Instagram called Scrambler Brothers. It’s been a great outlet for us and has led us to meet some amazing riders, now friends, that we get to meet up with and work on projects together. I met John as I was on the street working on my 2010 scrambler. He said he had the same bike, a 2012 scrambler, and to let him know next time I go for a ride. We’ve now been on numerous moto trips together from Utah to California to North Carolina and West Virginia.

Triumph Scrambler

• What’s the story behind the nickname?

John: We bought the bike from a guy in Whitehall, Maryland. He told us about how much he enjoyed riding it around the backroads in that area. We also always had an idea of incorporating some white into the paint scheme. When we decided to just paint the tank all white, the name just made sense.

Triumph Scrambler

• Can you tell us what the bike is like to ride?

John: The bike is really fun to ride. Compared to our EFI scramblers, the suspension is a nice upgrade. It soaks up the bumps a lot better than stock. It tracks really well down the gravel roads and feels really planted but ready and willing to break it loose at will. It takes a few minutes to get used to the CR carb throttle response compared to our EFI scramblers. Also we are still dialing in the jetting so we expect it to only get better, but so far it has behaved really well.

Triumph Scrambler

• Was there anything done during this build that you are particularly proud of? 

John: There were several things that come to mind, chief among which is chopping the frame. It’s daunting to take a cutting wheel and welder to a perfectly good moto frame for the first time. I guess the same could be said for the seat. That was also a big question mark in our minds but we took our time iterating through various ideas and we are really proud of the result. Luke and his wife Krista sewed together the seat cover and brought it all together.

I think it’s also worth mentioning that this was something we had both had wanted to do for a long time but as we all know, wanting to do it and actually doing it are very far apart.

Triumph Scrambler

Luke: The goal from the start was to take a modern scrambler and make it as “vintage” as we could…. without spending a ton of money. I’m particularly proud of our creative approaches in repurposing stock components and making our own parts in-house. This was a first time for us and a super fun journey. I couldn’t be more excited on how it turned out.

Follow Luke and John: @acremoto

 

 
 
 

9 Comments

  1. Absolutely love this, and the video’s great, albeit a bit short, darn. Don’t like that there’s no front fender, a nice chrome piece would only augment the thing, give it actual utility, and in no way detract from the looks. Would like to know more about “shortening the frame.” Was this a matter of reducing the distance between the steering head and the swingarm pivot? Purely a longitudinal thing? No changing of the height or angle of the head? How much? I’d love to know all the details regarding that.

    • Frame looks stock, except for the addition of a rear frame loop. It’s pretty easy to do this, there are kits available online. Buy the kit, cut the subframe, drill a couple of holes for plug welding slugs to the existing frame, then weld the loop on. A bit of grinding and painting, and you’re good to go.

      Bike looks pretty good overall, nice work!

      • Subframe work is almost expected for customs, nothing complicated about that. Hence my question regarding the statement: “Shortened frame and added rear hoop.” It’s a curious statement, because if I were doing subframe work I’d simply say I’d modded the subframe. If someone says the bike has a “shortened frame” I’m not going to assume that’s simply the subframe….

  2. Marc Devereaux

    Ahhh,yes,mud and gravel pity patty on your face,,googles coated in grime..gritt in your mouth..

  3. Marc Devereaux

    Beautiful bike otherwise

  4. Nelu Chesaru

    The motorcycle looks very well but the seat is pretty ugly.

  5. El asiento horroroso. Elimináis radiador de aceite, pero dejáis piñas y depósito original que son muy feos? elimináis la caja de aire y dejáis las tapas laterales originales? Un cubre cárter nada retro y más feo que el original, instalación eléctrica del manillar por fuera… No veo mucho talento en esta transformación la verdad.

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