The British Connection began in Reno, Nevada, around 1970. It was created by John Mulrean who decided working on British car engines and having them come down on him under a car was not that great, so switched to British motorcycles for which he had a long time love. He opened a repair shop near the Truckee River, and floored some of the first “new age” Triumph motorcycles. John and wife Donna moved to the San Diego area, Donna’s home, in 1987, where the business grew and John became a recognized guru in building and repairing Triumph motorcycles. John and his partner Chris attended one of the first Lake Cachuma British Motorcycle rallies originated by John Healy of Coventry Spares of Massachusetts in the late 1980’s. John Mulrean took a large pot of spaghetti for the potluck event, and seeing the challenges of putting on a rally in Santa Barbara from Massachusetts, John offered his help from the British Connection to Coventry Spares. West Coast John enlarged the rally to include sidecars and teardrop trailers, and over the next eleven years, the rally became, according to Eddie Mulder, one of the best kept secrets in California. The rally ended in 2007 when cancer took John in 2008. The fame of the rally continued with a revival seven years later by Eddie Mulder, but the pandemic put a halt to such events.

The British Connection is primarily a wholesale supplier. Since John’s death from cancer and Donna’s retiring from teaching, Donna has kept the British Connection solvent by the continued sales of parts books, shop manuals, and their own manufacture of Finned Primary Covers. Any questions can be sent to our email donnamulrean@att.net.