Today in motorcycle history, October 31, 1969
The Triumph X75 Hurricane prototype was sent to England on October 31, 1969 and sat collecting dust until mid-June, 1970, when it was shipped directly to Cycle World magazine in the US.
The 'factory custom’ is an oxymoron that Harley-Davidson should have a trademark on. They've almost made it an art form for Crissakes. And nearly all other manufacturers have followed suit.
But, it was BSA that pioneered this now-successful formula, with Craig Vetter’s strikingly styled X75 Hurricane in 1973. Not only was the X75 the world’s first 'factory custom', it also influenced later mainstream motorcycle design.
The Hurricane grew out of the lukewarm response to the original BSA Rocket Three in the US. It was considered the ugly girl in the back row so, in 1969, BSA in the US approached a young designer, Craig Vetter, to produce a prototype custom Rocket Three.
Vetter’s own philosophy was to contrast the age-old traditions of the British motorcycle industry with the American underground youth culture.
He set to work on a stock 750cc BSA Rocket Three, creating a single curvaceous molded gas tank, seat and side panels. The 750cc three-cylinder engine was left basically stock, Vetter modified the cylinder head by enlarging the fin area. This was done purely for aesthetic reasons, as were the black-painted cylinder barrels.
The distinctive triple mufflers sweeping to the right were derived from those of the Team BSA flat tracker. These may have worked well on left-turns but they severely limited right-hand-side ground clearance. Oops.
Going for a leaner look, Vetter installed separate instruments and a traditional chromed headlamp. The gaitered forks also made way for what was considered cleaner Ceriani-style ones, these were later lengthened 50mm by Pete Coleman at BSA in the UK for a slight 'chopper' look. Painting the prototype in ‘Camaro Hugger Red’, Vetter had this up and running by September, 1969.
BSA executives approved a limited-production run of the Vetter Rocket during 1971 to test the market which, at the time, was a huge surprise considering the company was walking on eggshells financially. However, piss-poor management saw the entire Triumph and BSA line-up miss the 1971 US season and it wasn’t until late 1971 that the pre-production Vetter Rocket appeared.
When production ended in January 1973, only 1172 were built.
Little known fact - BSA in the UK initially knew nothing of the Hurricane project. It was conceived by Don Brown, director of the BSA Group’s eastern facility, BSA INC., in Nutley, New Jersey. The project was financed from office petty cash and kept secret from BSA Group management in England until it was completed. Brown resigned from BSA in 1970.
