The Triple Nickel is More Than a Motorcycle

In the latest from Petrolicious, founder of female motorcycle club East Side Moto Babes Stacie B London gives us her account of what it means to be a vintage motorcycle racer.

When you think of girls and motorcycles, a spandex covered lady sprawled over a bike is probably the first thing to come to mind. Well, not London. She not only rides, she works on her bike herself. Hot, right?

London’s passion for riding started when she attended the closest vintage race to her, in Willow Springs, in 2010. She fell in love, saying it “blew her mind,” and she knew she “needed” to race. What she didn’t know was that it entailed going in the shop every night from three to four hours and every single weekend, to work on her bike.

London’s choice of bike was a Honda CB160 (due to the centre of gravity), and she even built the engine herself with help from her mentor, Ralph Hudson. The CB160 was supposed to be finished for Willow, but London was in a serious car accident, resulting in a broken collarbone, whiplash and a large hematoma on her shin the size of a papaya.

Nevertheless, she describes the drive to ride as what pulled her through – that possibility of riding again helped her in the healing process as something to look forward to.

Source: Petrolicious

The Triple Nickel is More Than a Motorcycle

“I just knew I wanted to ride,” says Stacie B. London. “I had a picture of the bike that I wanted in my head…and it was coincidence and luck that I managed to find it.”

London isn’t your typical vintage motorcycle racer, and her steed, a Honda CB160, is not a typical vintage motorcycle. Sold for just one year, the tiny, jewel-like Japanese bike isn’t the easiest to find parts for…but that matters little to London.

“Going to that first race is when I realized I needed to race. There was nothing more clear to me that I needed to experience what it felt like to do that,” London says. “I didn’t really know what that meant, that I’d been in the shop every night for hours…and on weekends…”

With a Master’s in Industrial Design and, until a few years ago, little interest in motorcycles, London’s introduction and approach to racing have since encouraged many more to don leathers and live life on two wheels.

London maintains Triple Nickel herself, with the help of a mentor, Ralph Hudson.

Through many obstacles—including a broken collarbone and finding parts for such a rare motorcycle—London’s first season of vintage riding has been both challenging and thrilling.

“What I get out of it is this incredibly rich experience… In some ways, I got swooped up into this process that I wasn’t expecting,” London says. “Now it’s about discipline, focus, staying calm, adapting…”

“It kinda went from girls posing on bikes, and being pinups…now the pinups are riding.”