1950 Triumph Thunderbird 1950 TRIUMPH THUNDERBIRD – BIRTH OF THE THUNDERBIRD The 1950 Triumph Thunderbird was not only the first...
1952 BSA A7 Pre-Unit 500 Twin 1952 BSA A7 BACKGROUND Like everyone else in the British motorcycle industry, BSA was...
1958 Triumph T110 Tiger 1958 TRIUMPH T110 TIGER – WHAT’S IN A NAME? Triumph’s naming convention followed a couple paths. But the one the Tiger was on always starts with a “T” for Triumph, then the next set of digits were supposed to reflect the bike’s top speed. The first...
1969 Triumph Trident T150 1969 TRIUMPH TRIDENT: BRITAIN’S SUPERBIKE! At a time when Honda started building 50,000 750s a year,...
1969 BSA Rocket 3 1969 BSA ROCKET 3 BREAKS NEW GROUND The irony here is that the mad scientists in...
1970 Triumph Trident T150 1970 TRIUMPH TRIDENT – A NEW LOOK After the horrible styling experiment of the 1969 Triumph Trident in it’s introductory year, Triumph wisely decided to bring its big 750 Triple in line with the look people had come to expect from a Triumph, as typified by...
1972 Triumph Trident T150 1972 TRIUMPH TRIDENT BACKGROUND The Trident benefitted majorly from the 1971-and-later redux of the Oil-in-Frame 650...
1975 Triumph Trident T160 1975 TRIUMPH TRIDENT AIMS HIGH It’s amazing to think about how much of a leap the...
1970 Rickman-Triumph 1970 Rickman-Triumph Background This 1970 Rickman-Triumph is typical of many of the Rickman desert racers of the era, and represents years of development of an excellent design. After years of racing motocross in the 1950s in England and Europe, brothers Don and Derek Rickman decided to design their...
1963 Triumph Thunderbird 1963 TRIUMPH THUNDERBIRD GOES UNIT CONSTRUCTION Along with the rest of the Triumph 650 line, the 1963...
2010 Triumph Bonneville 2010 TRIUMPH BONNEVILLE BACKGROUND Of course, the original Triumph Bonneville was introduced to the world in 1959,...
1955 Triumph Thunderbird ABOVE: The 1955 Triumph Thunderbird 6T is very similar to this 1956 Triumph Thunderbird. They share essentially the same frame, suspension, cycle gear and body work. Only paint colors & minor trim differences vary in the general appearance. Although many mechanical changes were made on an ongoing...
1973 Triumph Trident 1973 Triumph Trident T150V THE 1973 TRIUMPH TRIDENT IS A TURNING POINT 1973 was a very important...
1958 Ariel Cyclone 650 OHV Vertical Twin 1958 ARIEL CYCLONE A VERY RARE BIRD Ariel was early to the vertical...
1968 BSA A65 1968 BSA A65 Spitfire Royal Star ABOVE: Starting with the 1968 BSA A65, the Spitfire Royal Star joined the lineup, as BSA’s premium offering, at least until the arrival of the Rocket 3 a year later. 1968 BSA A65 Firebird Scrambler BSA’S DESERT SLED The A65 Firebird...
1939 Ariel Square Four 1939 ARIEL SQUARE FOUR BACKGROUND The original Square Four was conceived by legendary motorcycle designer, Edward...
1964 BSA A65 NEW MODELS The 1964 BSA A65 was, of course, the third model year of the new unit...
1951 Vincent Rapide Series B 1951 VINCENT RAPIDE BACKGROUND Vincent built its reputation on it’s robust 499cc Comet single. Prior to the war, they figured out that if they doubled it, they could create a 998cc V-twin and the series A Vincent Rapide was born. Few were built prior to...
1957 BSA A10 Pre-Unit 650 Twin 1957 BSA A10 BACKGROUND BSA’s A10 was the 650 version in it’s twin cylinder...
1955 Vincent Black Prince 1955 VINCENT BLACK PRINCE BACKGROUND By the early 1950s, Vincent the company was struggling. Founder Phil...
1966 BSA A65 1966 BSA A65 Spitfire Special 1966 BSA A65 SPITFIRE SPECIAL This was the hot rod version of the A65, just behind the A65 Lightning. Like the Lightning, the Spitfire had twin Amal carbs (Amal Monoblocs would be standard for 1966; Amal Concentrics didn’t arrive until 1967.) A65...
Thunderbird 6T, 649cc 4-speed gearbox, single Amal Monobloc carburettor, rated at 34hp ex-South Australian Police motorcycle was used for general...
ABOVE & BELOW: 1977 Triumph Bonneville T140V was essentially carried over from ’76, as would be the practice from now...
SHORT MODEL YEAR The 1974 Triumph Bonneville was built in very low numbers. It was a very odd year in Triumph Bonneville history. Angry workers hearing of the impending shutdown of the Triumph Motorcycles plant at Meriden, shut it down themselves in protest, in October 1973 just as production was...
ABOVE: The 1976 Triumph Bonneville is the first to adopt left-side shift. Note shifter coming out of primary case. SPANISH...
1969 Norton Commando Fastback ABOVE: 1969 Norton Commando Fastback MODEL DESIGNATIONS The 1969 Norton Commando came in one additional model...
1954 VINCENT BLACK SHADOW-ONE OF THE LAST The Vincent Motorcycle Co. closed its doors in 1955, so this 1954-model was built one year before the end. Vincent was a low-volume producer of high-quality motorcycles, and high-priced for the time. From the end of WWII until their demise in 1955, they...
1952 VINCENT BLACK SHADOW BACKGROUND Brilliantly designed by doubling up the 499cc Vincent Comet single-cylinder engine into a 50-degree V-twin,...
1953 VINCENT BLACK SHADOW BACKGROUND Brilliantly designed by doubling up the 499cc Vincent Comet single-cylinder engine into a 50-degree V-twin,...
1950 VINCENT BLACK SHADOW BACKGROUND Brilliantly designed by doubling up the 499cc Vincent Comet single-cylinder engine into a 50-degree V-twin, the Vincent Black Shadow was introduced in 1949. It followed on the heals of the Vincent Rapide, which was more of a touring bike. The buying public wanted more power,...
BSA A65: THE MOVE TO UNIT CONSTRUCTION The BSA A65-A50 twins, the A65 being a 650 twin & it’s smaller...
Les Harris Bonnevilles Rise from the Ashes The story of the Les Harris Bonnevilles is one of the more fascinating...
EVOLUTION OF THE ATLAS The Norton Atlas evolved from the Norton Dominator line, which had grown since its inception in 1949 from 500 cc to 600cc then again to 650cc with the fire-breathing twin-carb Dominator 650SS. The Norton Atlas was the next logical step. The venerable Bert Hopwood-designed vertical twin...
VINCENT RAPIDE BACKGROUND Vincent head engineer Phil Irving was working on some tracings of the firm’s 499cc single cylinder engine...
THE 1973 TRIUMPH X75 HURRICANE As an interesting aside to the Triumph Trident / BSA Rocket 3 story is the...
1959 AJS MODEL 31 BACKGROUND AJS and sister-brand Matchless were late to the vertical twin party. Triumph started it all with the 1938 Speed Twin, the world’s first ‘modern’ vertical twin (aka: parallel twin). It took the world by storm, and suddenly every other British brand had to have one...
ROYAL ENFIELD INTERCEPTOR BACKGROUND Royal Enfield hopped up its 692cc Constellation and created a new model, the 700 Interceptor in...
MY 1979 TRIUMPH T140D BONNEVILLE SPECIAL I own a ’79 T140D myself. It’s pictured above, on display at the Quail...
Sweet 1970 Triumph TR6 Trophy, with high pipes (on the other side). THE ORIGINS OF THE TR6 The story of the Triumph TR6 starts, as does virtually every British vertical twin, with the seminal 1938 Triumph Speed Twin. This 500cc cast iron twin started it all & after WWII when...
1961 AJS MODEL 31 BACKGROUND AJS and sister-brand Matchless were late to the vertical twin party. Triumph started it all...