A Triumph Desert Sled is a classic British twin — typically a Triumph Bonneville, TR6, or similar — modified in the 1950s–1970s for off-road and desert racing, especially in the deserts of Southern California. Built by stripping weight, raising exhausts, fitting wide handlebars, longer-travel suspension, knobby tires, and reinforced frames, desert sleds emphasized torque, durability, and high-speed stability over rough terrain rather than motocross agility. Raced in events like Baja and local desert scrambles, the Triumph desert sled became an icon of early off-road culture and directly influenced modern scrambler and adventure-bike design. Some Triumph singles were also used.
Today, these bikes remain popular among custom builders and collectors. Below you’ll find a wide selection of the Triumph desert sleds we’ve had the privilege of showcasing in recent years.
Patina A-Plenty: 1970 Triumph Trophy T25W Desert Sled - Triumph Trophy 250 Desert Sled from Scott Verrall… The Triumph Trophy T25W (W for ‘Woodsman’) — aka the Trophy 250 — was a lightweight single-cylinder scrambler born from the company’s tight relationship with BSA. The […]
Desert Sled 55: 1963 Triumph Speed Twin - Built for for £4K: Dan Steward’s Triumph 5TA Desert Sled… Ed Turner — Triumph’s legendary designer and director — launched the original Speed Twin 5T at the 1937 National Motorcycle Show. The 500 parallel-twin […]
50 Years in the Making: Rickman Metisse Scrambler - James Russell’s Triumph Trophy-Powered Metisse… In the natural world, they call it imprinting — when a young animal comes to recognize another animal, person, or even a thing as a parent or prime figure of […]
’49 Big Bear Scrambler: Triumph TR5 Trophy - A Spring-Frame, Square-Barrel TR5 Trophy from Ton Up Classics… In the 1950s, Triumph dealer Bill Martin designed a spring frame for desert racing in Southern California. Production began in 1952, while Triumph wouldn’t offer […]
City Sled: ’71 Triumph TR6R Tiger “Black Bike” - From Freeland Motorcycles: “The clean cut brother of a desert sled”… The Triumph TR6R “Tiger 650” was the single-carb version of the mighty Bonneville twin — a bike that had become synonymous with power […]
Desert Bonnie: Triumph Bonneville Black - A “Bonnie Desert Sled” from Old Tops Garage x Atlantic Custom Studio… For many of us, the golden days of 1960s California desert racing remain one of the most romantic and defining periods of motorcycling […]
Catching Freedom: Serge’s 1973 Triumph Tiger 750 - A British Tiger, German Friends, and One French Beach… We love motorcycles themselves — the sight, sound, speed, sensation, even the smell — but if we had to pick one thing that makes this two-wheeled […]
Black Bird: ’56 Triumph Thunderbird Desert Sled - A Triumph 6T Thunderbird desert sled from Japan! On one of his trips to oversee Triumph operations in the States, Edward Turner — the legendary designer and director of Triumph Motorcycles — had the idea […]
Trophy Bird: 1956 Triumph TR6 Scrambler - Heiwa Motorcycle’s Triumph TR6… In 1956, Triumph launched the TR6 Trophy, a lean and mean street-legal scrambler developed with an eye toward a US market hot for desert racers. The 42-hp 650cc parallel-twin featured Triumph’s […]
Sunset Rider: Triumph Scrambler 900 “Susie” - A fuel-injected, vintage-styled daily rider from Bunny Builds Customs… In 2006, Triumph introduced the Scrambler, which featured a twin-shock chassis, an air-cooled 865cc parallel-twin engine, and styling that spoke directly to the glory days of […]
Triumph “Whitehall Scrambler” by Acre Moto - 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 […]
Come Correct: 1968 Triumph TR6C Desert Sled - Joey Yedowitz builds a period-correct ‘sled down to the nuts, bolts, and washers… The Triumph TR6C was the 1960s version of the company’s single-carb, high-pipe 650 scrambler. Not only did it perform the most iconic […]
All Parts Fun: ’66 Triumph T100C from Tamara Raye - A Disneyland engineer and rockstar bassist builds a desert Tiger… While the 650cc Bonneville may have been the big seller for Triumph in the 1960s, the 500cc Tiger 100 range remained extremely important to the […]
Bud Ekins Desert Sled by Ace Classics - Ace Classics builds a faithful replica of Bud Ekins’s desert sled… James Sherwin “Bud” Ekins was an accomplished motocross, desert, and enduro racer from Southern California who would become one of Hollywood’s most famous stuntmen, […]
Burly Bonnie: Triumph Bonneville “Laia” by Tamarit Motorcycles - The Triumph “New Bonneville” has proven to be one of the most versatile contemporary platforms for customization. The straight-twin roadster competes directly with the 883 Sportster: “The Triumph Bonneville is unquestionably the better motorcycle. The […]
Triumph TR5 Trophy by Blitzkrieg Machines - From Chopper to Desert Sled… The Triumph TR5 Trophy debuted in 1949 as a 500cc off-road/trials version of the Speed Twin. Interestingly enough, the aluminum barrels and heads came from a generator the company had […]
XEcutioner: Triumph Scrambler 1200 XE by A&J Cycles - This year, the crew from Hinkley debuted the Triumph Scrambler 1200 XE and XC with a very bold statement: “The Real Deal.” Unlike many factory-built “scramblers” of today, the big Triumph Scrambler 1200 lives up […]
Rickman Metisse Desert Sled by Chelsea Borchert - A street-legal Rickman Metisse desert sled influenced by Steve McQueen… In the early 1960s, the deserts of Southern California were alive with the sound of Triumph twins, BSA singles, and other British-built machines streaking toward […]
Triumph T100 “Street Sled” by Modulus Moto - A street-legal Triumph built for trophy truck territory… Dave Guerrant of San Francisco’s Modulus Moto has one of our favorite mission statements in the industry: “We are pushing boundaries. Maybe even farther than they should […]
Triumph T100 Scrambler by Purpose Built Moto - Tom Gilroy of Purpose Built Moto started his business in 2015 to design, build, and sell parts for custom bikes. Previously we featured his Suzuki GN250 scrambler. Now the man is back with another bike […]
Triumph TR6 Tiger Desert Sled - The Triumph TR6 is one of the most iconic motorcycles of all time. Built from 1956 to 1973, the “desert sled” carved its name into history competing in — and winning — major off-road races […]
Triumph Scrambler Desert Sled by Modulus Creative - Today, we’re thrilled to present the most radical desert sled we’ve ever seen: “Indominator,” based on a (now-unrecognizable) 2014 Triumph Scrambler. This build is the work of San Francisco’s Modulus Creative, whose mission statement is […]
Modern Triumph Desert Sled: Stasis Scrambler 900 - At this year’s Handbuilt Show, we were lucky enough to discover the work of Cliff Fisher, the man behind Stasis Motorcycles. He simply blew us away with his “Stasis Scrambler 900,” a modern incarnation of […]
