Black Widow. Butch Walker’s Custom Triumph T100

Artists usually play well together. I mean they understand, respect the talent of each other without interfering with the other party domain of expertise . This beautiful custom 1966 Triumph T100 (500 cc) is the result of a great  collaboration between rocker Butch Walker and Lucas Joyner, owner of The Factory Metal Works, a shop in Concord, NC specializing in bespoke classic motorcycles. Butch knows more than most about motorcycles. But his domain is composing songs, singing and playing guitar with his band “The Black Widows” and producing music in collaboration with artists such as Pink, Avril Lavigne, Lit, Sevendust, The Donnas, American Hi-Fi, and SR-71.  Not at his first custom classic bike when he met with Lucas Joyner, Butch briefing was clear and tight but he promised to Lucas that he would let him run with his own ideas. 

Lucas Joyner is a former motocross racer and NASCAR chassis builder. Building bikes, his philosophy is simple but not so easy to apply as those who have tried already know. Improve lines of classic motorcycles through meticulous bodywork and at the same time rework their reliability and durability, but without changing their decades old appearance and appeal. Deceptively looking very simple, this 1966 Triumph T100 is the culmination of 6 months of intense fabrication and customization work.

“This is probably the coolest motorcycle I’ve ever owned,” said Butch Walker.  “There isn’t anything else like it on the street and Lucas and his team at The Factory Metal Works were a pleasure to work with.  I knew immediately that Lucas understood my style and can honestly say he took my ideas and made them real.

””Black Widow” is based on many Factory Metal Works own custom parts: a Triumph 500 frame, vintage style oil tank, 1.750 rippled drag pipes, ribbed rear fender, rear fender sissy, kicker, solo seat, etc…In complement, Lucas used a Wassel peanut tank modified with a custom rib. Wheels are 21″ front wrapped in Avon Speedmaster and 18″ x 4 rear using Firestone rubber. Some of the parts used in this Triumph build are for sale online at The Factory Metal Works.

25 Responses to “Black Widow. Butch Walker’s Custom Triumph T100”


  1. 1 Jason Hallman Mar 12th, 2012 at 7:42 am

    One of the nicest Triumphs I have ever seen…completely perfect! But then again…everything FMW does is just spot on. I would love to ride that!

  2. 2 Ray Mar 12th, 2012 at 7:45 am

    Thanks Cyril for publishing another extremely cool custom ride.

  3. 3 Gas Man Mar 12th, 2012 at 8:45 am

    Talk about stripped and super clean!!

  4. 4 ValueTeck Enterprises Mar 12th, 2012 at 9:07 am

    Sweet!

  5. 5 BrotherTiberius Mar 12th, 2012 at 9:46 am

    It is beautiful.

    Everytime I see a custom build, I think to myself, “What would it look like if I were riding that bike?”

    I’m a bigger guy, and in this case, my mental picture says, “Circus bear riding bicycle.”

  6. 6 hk Mar 12th, 2012 at 9:55 am

    what else has to be said,it looks perfect

  7. 7 Shifter Mar 12th, 2012 at 10:25 am

    Triumph of perfection.

  8. 8 Miltrane Mar 12th, 2012 at 10:25 am

    Bare Bones… an apt name for this work of art.

  9. 9 Boss Hawg Mar 12th, 2012 at 10:58 am

    Swwweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet

    Boss Hawg

  10. 10 yank Mar 12th, 2012 at 11:04 am

    I have a 169 T100 that I am working on and this just gives me great motivation to finish it. beautiful!

  11. 11 chaos cycle Mar 12th, 2012 at 11:46 am

    It has gotten to the point where i expect nothing less from Lucas, his bikes all have a super clean look with show quality assembly. He nails the triumph minimalist look like no other.

  12. 12 Jeff Nicklus Mar 12th, 2012 at 12:19 pm

    WOW!

    Over & Out,

    Jeff

  13. 13 Richard Mar 12th, 2012 at 1:22 pm

    I’m impressed! Usually, I lean toward reastoration rather than customization. In this case I have to say this as a REALLY nice ride. It’s one of the nicest old Trumpets I’ve seen.

  14. 14 Iron Horse Mar 12th, 2012 at 6:53 pm

    Very cool and very minimalistic. Love the look and the bike. I’ve always had a soft place for the old Triumphs as my first bike was a ’67 650 Tiger.

  15. 15 Kirkland Mar 13th, 2012 at 12:38 am

    Everybody likes old bikes. This one’s nice. Didn’t clutter up the rear brake with a lot of hardware. Wing nut and a spring. 🙂 Found a place to hang the stop-lamp switch. I like it.

  16. 16 Dog Williams Mar 13th, 2012 at 7:08 am

    Any builder with any bike on any given day are capable of achieving perfection, to wit, Butch Walker, the Black Widow, today.

  17. 17 Dog Williams Mar 13th, 2012 at 7:14 am

    Apologies, should’ve read Lucas Joyner as the builder.

  18. 18 burnout Mar 13th, 2012 at 9:59 am

    All of the above comments…..Wow…………..Super Clean!! peace

  19. 19 Brenda Fox Mar 13th, 2012 at 2:36 pm

    DAMN Nice! Cool, Clean and First Class Custom!

    Great collaboration of great artists and the coolest thing about Butch is I know I’ll see him riding this!
    Let’s roll!
    Brenda

  20. 20 MK Moto Mar 13th, 2012 at 3:56 pm

    wow that bike looks absolutely awesome…

  21. 21 Martin Twofeather Mar 13th, 2012 at 8:27 pm

    Looks great,well done…

  22. 22 chopperick Mar 14th, 2012 at 1:28 am

    Truley a work of art, great job guys, Rick

  23. 23 Kirkland Mar 15th, 2012 at 12:26 am

    Summary of my 1957 V-Twin Panhead. The problems were:
    1. Points (loose action eccentric screw). I tightened the eccentric screw by inserting a dull-ended nail set into the 1/16″ rivet and pounding the hollow at the bottom. The backbone of the points is no supported by a stiff eccentric screw and the points now stay set in position. The points set-screw washer’s margin is now over-sized for security, but the screw hole is a tight 8/32.
    2. Having only half-a-ground circuit to the horn button (one wire going to terminal #22 (good) and the other connecting to #9 (an ungrounded terminal screw on the fork panel). Cured the horn problem by running the #9 wire to the top fillister screw on the fork panel instead.
    3. A dirty carburetor (dissolved black paint) were the “lingering” problems with this Panhead. Those problems are cured. The bike will start cold on the 2nd or 3rd kick. Idles smoothly with the low-speed needle turned back (C.C.W) 1-1/4 turns and the hi-speed needle turned back 3/4 of one turn.
    It’s a rider and I plan on making some noise with it.

  24. 24 Steve Hog Radio Producer Johann Mar 16th, 2012 at 12:54 pm

    You could do the same with late 70’s Yamaha 650’s. They had electronic igintions but same look could be had using them as starting platform. Nice job guys.

    My only comment would be to use more modern tires like those used on the Arlen bikes featured here. But then again you wouldn’t get the whole vintage vibe as you do here.

    Cool stuff

    Thanks Cyril

  25. 25 Bud Miller Mar 20th, 2012 at 10:07 pm

    Damn man, that thing is simply gorgeous.

Comments are currently closed.
Cyril Huze