Triumph stories...

[Voltaire]

I was living in London in the late 80's early 90's and was big into the Classic Scene....swap meets, shows, magazines, museums etc.
I really wanted a British bike.....
My neighbour who had a AJS told me of a mate with some 'projects' for sale...500 quid later I was the proud owner of a 1959 T110 basket case!!!
It was great...all those rusty worn out bits scattered over the conservatory floor like some 3 d jigsaw puzzle. The flatmates looked in horror and went to he pub.
I bought polishing kits, diy plating kits, tapping and dieing kits, stainless nuts and bolt kits, model bike kits.....you name it I bought it.
I had stuff powder coated, bead blasted, sand blasted, plated, painted, pin striped and polished.
Eigheen months later I had the bike finished and it looked awesome in the T100 blue/silver option.
The DVLC even gave me an age related plate after I got a letter of authentification from the Triumph Owners Club.
My friend and I went to the 1993 TT , me on the Triumph and him on my R75/5, the Triumph ran beautifully....the whiring of the timing gears....the rasp of the twin exhausts...
Old guys would cross roads on their zimmer frames just to talk about Triumphs they had owned. The 'b' roads in England are perfect for these bikes, not too slow and not too fast, and narrow to give the sensation of speed....not that the Triumph was slow, it was easilly as fast if not faster than the BMW.
After the TT we soon left the UK and the Triumph was stored in the garage and the reality of kids, mortgage and one income set in.
The Triumph seized on me following a probably too long a high speed run up the motorway after a day at the Puke races......and was pushed into the back of my Mothers garage where it sits partially dismantled 12 years later....in tea chests.
I have since bought a 51 Thunderbird project to keep it company.
I visit them from time to time...they look at me...
I mused back when I bought it that it had spent more time off the road than on it....what a crime I thought.....

Moto of the story: Don't ever get married have kids and buy a house...

link to piccy.
http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/at...5&d=1229062691

[zadok]

Great story. Pity about the bike seizing. It would probably be cheaper to buy one of the new retro Triumphs than the rebuild you did! Any pics?

[Voltaire]

Great story. Pity about the bike seizing. It would probably be cheaper to buy one of the new retro Triumphs than the rebuild you did! Any pics?

Thats why I bought a rubber band Ducati 900 and not a full resto of my 900 bevel....it runs so I just ride it.


As admirable of Triumph to make retro looking bikes from the past.....I really don't want one....they probably even have metric fastenings..pfft.

[Motu]

1959 T110? - was it a duplex frame? Supposedly made for flattrack when the bikes had to have a stock frame,so a steeper rake.Not loved,and I never liked those I rode either.

Triumph stories? Maybe I should tell a duplex frame story.

A mate of mine got a chopped 5T Speedtwin,but took the long forks off,and got rid of the silly peanut tank for a stocker.The seat rails had been lowered for a sort of rigid frame look,which gave a nice low seat height.After working all night I remember the first ride we took on it at 3.00am.However,with a baby in the house he now needed a car.

At that time of my life my license was in the care of other people,and I was working with a mate,and we lived next door and went to work together.We co owned an EIP Vauxhall....I fitted the motor and took half share.So we swapped the EIP for the 5T...now I went to work as a pillion instead of passenger.After a punch up 4 stories up on scaffolding,we were not so matey for awhile,but still good friends who didn't work together anymore.He sold the bike.....but drank the proceeds before I got a chance to get drunk.

Another mate bought a 5T a couple of years later,which he then stripped for parts,I saw the frame and knew what it was immediately - ''Hey,that's my bike!!'' Next enter a girl into my life....who had a duplex Speedtwin with a grafted on rigid rear end.Which broke.So my good friend gives her the low seat duplex frame.....and so it enters my possession again.

A few years later I decided that I would put the Speedtwin together as a sidecar bike (it was on my Norton).The duplex frame was perfect with the steeper rake,then some later model forks in raked yokes,with a 7in TLS front brake from a Daytona - I worked the trail out at around 2.5 inches,perfect.I made it a rolling frame,but never finished the bike when we had to trim the junk.Marriage,kids and houses never stopped me from owning and riding bikes,but sure trimmed the options.

I always keep a lookout at classic bike gatherings for a duplex frame with lowered seat rails.....

[Voltaire]

duplex frame is 1960 I think.... I read that they vibrate badly due to the 'tuning' fork effect of the twin downtubes.....but mine is a single downtube with the virtually unsupported swingarm.

[Motu]

I'm pretty sure the duplex was 1959,as the last pre unit Speedtwin was in the duplex frame.It was the turn in that felt wrong with them,like those 16in front wheeled bikes that was a fad for a while.The Triumph swing arm mount on the seat tube was an idea that shouldn't have worked - and it didn't.

[Voltaire]

I'm pretty sure the duplex was 1959,as the last pre unit Speedtwin was in the duplex frame.It was the turn in that felt wrong with them,like those 16in front wheeled bikes that was a fad for a while.The Triumph swing arm mount on the seat tube was an idea that shouldn't have worked - and it didn't.

I checked my books...1960.
I have only ever ridden mine, but I gather 50's triumphs were more about looks and power than handling and braking....the front forks are rubbish...my boys mountain bike has better forks....and brakes.
My memory of the T110 is keep the power on for as long as possible and the front end is just for steering.

They only got it sorted in the late 60's.
The Norton featherbed and roadholders were probably best...
I missed the 16" wheel era....was it not good?

[Ixion]

I rather liked the 16 inch wheel triumphs. But that's just me.

[xwhatsit]

I rather liked the 16 inch wheel triumphs. But that's just me.

Are you talking about Hinckley? Or did Meriden do something weird with 16"? Would've been pretty out of place back then wouldn't it?

[eelracing]

[QUOTE=Voltaire
The Norton featherbed and roadholders were probably best...
[/QUOTE]

Probably???...No Question they were the best.Its a bloody Norton.
Although i've never ridden a featherbed.One day tho,oh glorious one day.

[Motu]

Are you talking about Hinckley? Or did Meriden do something weird with 16"? Would've been pretty out of place back then wouldn't it?

The 3TA had 17 and sometimes 16in wheels.I had some good fun on a Tiger 90 with 16in wheels,it handled pretty good....but not what I was used to.

[Voltaire]

Probably???...No Question they were the best.Its a bloody Norton.
Although i've never ridden a featherbed.One day tho,oh glorious one day.

Yes they did well with their Irish frame and war booty tele forks.
Joe Craig hot footed it to Munich at the end of the war to see what 'reparations' were there and he probably was involved in banning superchargers.
Yes it would be nice to have a spin on a Manx.....anyone watching wanna lend us one????

[PeteJ]

Well, as someone who has actually raced Manxes (Garden Gate and Featherbed), I can assure you that they're stable but not particularly good handling.

As one mate of mine says, "Manxes handle only because they have such little suspension travel". Another adversely compares them with early Honda 500/4s.

Back on task: my first Triumph was a 1960 6T, in 1971. It was ghastly: even the guy at the then Dunedin Triumph agents - Crightons of everlasting infamy - said, "That always was a lumpy one". Showing great understanding of matters mechanical, in the next breath he went on to say that the 750/4s would never outlast good old British iron. What a clown.

[Voltaire]

Well, as someone who has actually raced Manxes (Garden Gate and Featherbed), I can assure you that they're stable but not particularly good handling.

As one mate of mine says, "Manxes handle only because they have such little suspension travel". Another adversely compares them with early Honda 500/4s.
.

You can't say that!!!! its blasphemy. Next thing you'll be saying is the only reason Honda and Ducati won at the IOM was because of Mike Hailwoods riding ability

[Dodgyiti]

You can't say that!!!! its blasphemy. Next thing you'll be saying is the only reason Honda and Ducati won at the IOM was because of Mike Hailwoods riding ability

Hmmmmmm.......


Putting it in the shed and buying it a friend is not going to make it work again mate. Bring them over to my place and I will try and make something out of the two.

My Triumph Story:

I bought a Triumph, it never dropped any oil and started first time every time. Thank you Mr Hinkley, your Thruxton is a damn fine product.