Recognised as one of the UK’s leading tuning specialists, Dave Degens started his racing career back in the 1960s, building Tritons for the café racer tribe, before successfully trying his hand at endurance racing in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s, winning the Barcelona 24 Hour Race in both 1965 and 1970 as a privateer against the big manufacturers. The bike which took top honours at Barcelona in 1970 was a unit Triumph engine in Degens’ own Dresda chassis.
Still building bikes, he uses what he calls ‘sound, sensible engineering’ to entice 80bhp from a Triumph twin engine. He can also tune for solid durability or economy, so if you don’t need 80bhp then Dave can give you 100mpg instead.
Those folk who’re interested in hearing more about Degens’ race or engineering history will be pleased to hear that he’ll be making a guest appearance at the South of England Classic Motorcycle Show and Bikejumble, on Sunday, March 29.
Held at the South of England Showground in Ardingly, West Sussex, the show opens at 10am, and entrance is £6.
There’ll not only be five halls of show and autojumble stands, but also a pre-1980 bike show, club stands and more, including some fantastic catering.
Autojumble and stand space can be booked by visiting www.elk-promotions.co.uk for more details, while bike show entrants gain free entry if they’ve applied before March 1, again via the website.
Read more News and Features in the February 2020 issue of Old Bike Mart – on sale now!