HISTORY OF BIG D CYCLE

Big D Cycle opened for business at 3600 W. Davis street in 1963 with Jack Wilson as owner and operator. Previously Jack had worked at Dalio’s cycle, the Triumph dealer in Ft. Worth. While working at Dalio’s Cycle, Jack had great results building and tuning Triumph motorcycles for competition. The Dalio’s crew were successful preparing Triumph motorcycles for competition in drag racing, dirt track, road racing, and land speed racing.  

Jack gained notoriety in 1955 when he and a team of Texans built a Triumph powered streamliner named the Devil’s Arrow. Jack built and tuned the naturally aspirated 650cc Triumph Thunderbird motor. The stock iron cylinder head was retained with oversize valves, and dual Amal GP carburetors were fitted.  The chassis was designed and constructed by Stormy Mangham. With local racer Johnny Allen as the pilot, the Devil’s Arrow achieved a speed of 193MPH in 1955. Their ambitious project was a success. They were able to secure backdoor sponsorship from parts suppliers and interested parties to continue the project. The team kept developing the streamliner. In 1956 they returned with an improved design now named the Texas Ceegar. They went 214MPH besting the outright record at the time. However, this record run was not certified by the FIM. Some have said that this controversy provided more attention and notoriety to the Texans. The AMA did certify their record run. A few years later in 1959, the first Triumph Bonneville models were available at dealers to commemorate the success of Triumph Motorcycles in land speed racing.

In 1963 Jack opened Big D Cycle in Dallas. Jack continued building, racing, and winning with Triumph Motorcycles. Big D Cycle supported successful Triumph racers such as Gary Nixon, Rusty Bradley, Buddy Elmore, Mike Kidd, and Virgil Davenport. Jack went to the Daytona 200 in 1966 and 1967 to support the factory Triumph effort with his tuning expertise. Both years a Triumph motorcycle won the 200 mile race. Buddy Elmore was victorious in 1966, and Gary Nixon in 1967.

In 1969, Rusty Bradley and Virgil Davenport rode a Big D Cycle prepared Triumph Trident to victory in the 12hr production race at Willow Springs. This was the second year of production for the new Triumph three cylinder design. Jack prepared a new Trident unit off the showroom floor, only modifying the exhaust so that the ray-gun mufflers swept higher up for ground clearance. Rusty and Virgil rode the stock Trident equipped with Dunlop K70 tires to victory in the 12hr race. Jack realized the potential of the 750cc three cylinder Triumph motor.

During the 1970’s, Jack continued to develop methods of extracting more power and speed out of the Triumph three cylinder. Jack created parts kits to increase the bore and stroke of the Triumph motor to various displacements up to 1000cc. He also pioneered turbo charging his motorcycles for maximum speed. His Big D Cycle built Triumph motorcycles achieved several records on the Bonneville salt flats during this time. In 1975, Jack rode a turbo charged 1000cc Trident to a record setting 192mph. He was 48 years old at the time, and this class record stood for 20 years.

Jon Minonno began working at Big D Cycle in the 1970’s. Jon started racing for Big D Cycle, and Jack and Jon were a winning combination. Together they accomplished many victories in road racing during the late 1970’s. At this time Triumph designs were considered outdated and no longer relevant in competition. Jack proved naysayers wrong and continued to develop race winning Triumph motorcycles. If the bike stayed together, Jon usually won. Jack’s Triumph motorcycles were victorious over Japanese multi-cylinders and exotic Ducati twins in WERA and AMA competition. Between 1976 and 1978, the Big D Cycle team won consecutive West-East Roadracing Association (WERRA) national championships in three different classes, 750 stock production, 750 superbike, and open superbike. Jack continued to conceive ways to keep winning races with Triumph motorcycles into the 1980’s. He fitted a 1000cc triple into an ex-factory Rob North chassis. The bike was fitted with updated wheels and suspension. Jon Minonno was clocked at 160mph on the bank of Texas World Speedway aboard the 1000cc machine.

In the early 1980s, Jack and Jon contested the new Battle of the Twins series.  Jack built a series of 750 cc, 860 cc, and even 975 cc twin-cylinder racers featuring Triumph’s new eight-valve TSS cylinder head. The updated eight valve motor was the end of the line for the Triumph parallel twin design that was now more than forty years old. The Triumph company was in decline and would soon close down. Undeterred, Jack continued to develop the Triumph twin, and Jon continued riding it to victory. They were the last effort showcasing the ability of the Triumph motorcycle in American racing. In 1981, the 750 cc racer was timed at 153 miles per hour through the Daytona speed traps. Faster than the Ducati 900s and scored a fourth overall at Talladega.  In 1982, Jon Minonno and the 340-pound machine scored three firsts, three seconds, one fourth, and two DNFs out of nine races entered. At Laguna Seca, he came second to Jimmy Adamo’s class-leading Ducati 900-still with only 750 cc.

Jack continued to have success selling, servicing, and racing Triumph motorcycles after Triumph ceased production in 1983. He bought the inventories of other Triumph dealers, and strengthened Big D Cycle’s presence in the parts mail order business. In a time before the internet, customers would purchase spares and accessories via a catalog that came in the mail. Big D Cycle had a strong catalog offering quality spares and go fast parts to Triumph enthusiasts from all over. Big D Cycle was still the place to go for all things Triumph, and Jack catered to the local scene of British bike enthusiasts in Texas. One young Triumph enthusiast named Keith Martin began kicking around Big D Cycle in the 1980’s.  Keith bought parts, swept floors, and sought knowledge. Eventually, Jack hired Keith on as a mechanic at Big D Cycle. Soon Keith too was racing Triumph motorcycles in CMRA and AHRMA competition. Keith kept at it, and eventually began to take over day to day operation of Big D Cycle in the 1990’s as an aging Jack Wilson began to take a step back from the business. Big D Cycle was among the first dealers to sign up with the new Triumph company that was then gearing up to relaunch the brand in America. Keith and Jack took delivery of the first new Hinckley produced model sent stateside. Big D Cycle once again showcased the Triumph brand and were successful in promoting and selling the new models.   

When Jack ready to fully retire from the business, Keith negotiated to purchase rights to the new Triumph dealership and established RPM Cycle in 1997. At RPM Cycle, Keith created a strong following of customers selling and supporting the new Triumph line-up. He was still servicing, restoring, and racing vintage Triumphs alongside the new business. There was still a demand for the old bikes, and they were ever-present at RPM Cycle. Eventually, Keith was able to purchase a lot of parts, supplies, and equipment at auction from the original Big D Cycle location. The new owner’s had failed at carrying on the business. Keith purchased the rights to the Big D Cycle brand name and phone number. The legacy was in safe hands, and Keith kept the Big D Cycle name in his pocket.

In 2003, a tragic fire at the National Motorcycle Museum in England presented Keith the opportunity to restore the Texas Ceegar. The streamliner had been heavily damaged, not leaving much to work with. Keith was hired to restore his mentor’s machine back to its former glory. Keith and his team at RPM Cycle worked diligently to reconstruct the streamliner. They faithfully repaired and restored the Ceegar back to the way it was on the salt in 1956. The restored Ceegar was shipped back to the National Motorcycle Museum, where it still presides today. RPM Cycle’s success attracted an interested investor who wished to purchase the business. Keith thought the timing was right to transition to a shop catering exclusively to vintage bikes. He sold RPM Cycle and re-opened as Big D Cycle at a larger location a few blocks away.

The new Big D Cycle has been successful in gaining notoriety for exquisite restorations of British machinery. Keith and his team have restored countless Triumph, Norton, and Vincent motorcycles. Big D Cycle has excelled in Vincent motorcycle restoration and repair. Keith takes a lot of pride in repairing Vincent motorcycles. Customers are provided with machines that have been expertly repaired and are ready to be ridden long distances at high speed; just as they were originally intended to do. Vincents are a large part of the Big D Cycle operation, but Triumph motorcycles are still sold, serviced, and raced at Big D Cycle.