1925 Triumph P

I’m Adrian Lockrey, also known as Skippy, originally from Australia but a UK resident for more than 20 years.

I’ve always been interested in anything mechanical, ever since an early age when I replaced a head gasket on my Mums car at around the age of 12 years old. All my own work with the help of a Haynes Manual!!

I trained In Australia as a fitter and machinist on the railways. I attended night school to train in industrial electronics, tool making, and even got my motor mechanics certificate.

As a 20 year old apprentice, I won a scholarship to the UK for 6 months. This was where I met my pen friend of 10 years and subsequently married her! Once settled in the UK, I started working in the Machine Tool Industry.

20 years, 4 sons and many grey hairs later, I now own my own CNC machine tool repair company. Skippy’s Machine Tools Ltd is a popular Machine repair and maintenance company that works throughout the UK and occasionally further afield in countries such as Lebanon, India and America.

I also own about 14 triumph Motorcycles from 1903 to 1929, in various stages of refurbishment and several cars also.

I started to make parts to repair my first Triumph bike about 16 years ago. This hobby quickly escalated and soon became a small business, making and machining various parts for vintage Triumph motorbikes. We now make over 700 items for Triumphs dating from 1903 through to 1928. Veteran Triumph Spares has a great customer base and is online. We now sell all over the world and offer advice where possible to fellow Triumph enthusiasts.

This is how I met Arrie (70) and Paul (90) at Beaulieu Auto International Jumble last year.

The guys asked me to come and ride with them in The Cannonball Run 2018 and it barely took a couple of minutes for me to say yes – don’t tell the wife though, she thought it was her idea to let me go!!

We will be riding as a team, proudly called The Coventry T3.

I will be riding my trusty 1925 Model P which has just been finished from a full rebuild.

The bike currently has just 10 miles on the clock so is perfectly suited for the run, as it’s a 500cc, 4.99hp single cylinder. This was also known as the Budget model for Triumph as it is limited to a small amount of nickel plating and lots of black stove enamel paint.

It was still a reliable bike with a 3 speed box and chain driven rear end, with brake pulley rear brakes and expanding front shoe brakes.

I can’t wait to meet you all and admire your bikes at the end of the run, when we all hopefully finish on 2 wheels each!