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Elvis Triumph mystery
(October 11, 2023)
Hunting the machines Elvis
Presley bought for the 'Memphis Mafia'
Triumph Motorcycles has uncovered the truth
behind a famous motorcycle myth: Elvis Presley gave an
extraordinary biker gift to every member of his Memphis
Mafia in 1965.
With the discovery of the original cheques
in the Graceland archives, signed by the man himself, as
well as recollections from Jerry Shilling, Elvis’ close
friend, it can be confirmed that Elvis bought nine
Triumph motorcycles as gifts, so he and his closest
friends could ride together in the hills of Los Angeles.
In June 1965, Elvis had been on the set of
the musical Frankie
and Johnny at
Samuel Goldwyn Studios, Hollywood. Taking a break from
filming, Elvis spent his down time with his closest
friends, known as ‘The Memphis Mafia’ at his Bel Air
home.
Jerry Schilling, Elvis’ friend and member
of his famous ‘Memphis Mafia’, put a down payment on a
new Triumph T120 650 Bonneville at Robertson & Sons
on Santa Monica Boulevard. When he brought the bike
home, Elvis asked to take it for a ride around the Bel
Air neighbourhood. Jerry, of course, obliged and Elvis
jumped on the bike. He was impressed, in fact when he
returned, he told his transportation manager, Alan
Fortis, to “order one for all the guys, but… it has to
be tonight!”
Robertson & Sons managed to deliver seven Triumphs
that night, a combination of 650 TR6s and
high-performance, twin-carburetted 650 T120s. They rode
together around Bel Air, riding late into the evening,
only stopping when neighbours called the police to
complain. The remaining bikes arrived two days
later, and the nine of them made sure they made the most
of down time from filming, riding the Pacific Coast
Highway together on Sundays.
Jerry Shilling, a close friend of Elvis
recalls: “Elvis loved to ride, and I knew that when he
saw my new Bonneville he’d want to try it ... and when
he did, he wanted all the guys to have one so we could
ride them together!”
The bikes that Elvis bought are considered
most likely to be 1964 models of Triumph’s game-changing
performance roadster, the 650 TR6 (above) and 650
Bonneville T120 – essentially the same bike with one or
two carburettors and different states of tune. The ’64
Bonneville came in the sophisticated Gold and Alaskan
White and the TR6 in the distinctive ‘Hifi Scarlet and
Silver Sheen’ with gold pinstriping, black frame and
forks.
Named after Triumph’s multiple land speed
records at the Bonneville salt flats, the Bonneville
T120 is recognised across the motorcycling world as a
genuine design icon, responsible for establishing
Triumph as number one in the ’60s for performance,
handling and style and the 1964 US-spec ‘Bonnie’, with
its higher bars is considered a classic.
All nine of the original
bikes are currently lost to time, with no formal record
of where they went after the summer of ’65. Triumph is
now launching an appeal to fans around the world to help
track down or uncover the fate of these bikes.
If you have any information related to the
whereabouts of one of these historic bikes, please
contact Triumph at elvistriumph@triumphmotorcycles.com.
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