1961 Matchless G12 650 Twin 1961 MATCHLESS G12 BACKGROUND Just prior to World War II, Triumph rocked the world with...
1947 Triumph Speed Twin 1947 TRIUMPH SPEED TWIN LEADS THE WAY At the end of World War II, civilian production...
1960 Matchless G12 650 Twin 1960 MATCHLESS G12 BACKGROUND Just prior to World War II, Triumph rocked the world with their seminal 500 Speed Twin, but the world had to wait for the war to end before the rest of the industry would have a chance to catch up. At...
1965 Matchless G12CSR 650 Twin 1965 MATCHLESS G12CSR – A BRIEF HISTORY Matchless built their first vertical twin in 1949,...
1964 Matchless G12 650 Monarch Twin 1964 MATCHLESS G12 BACKGROUND Just prior to World War II, Triumph rocked the world...
1963 Matchless G12CS 1963 MATCHLESS G12CS – A BRIEF HISTORY In 1963 there were four models offered of the G12. There was the Standard, De Lux, the CS (Competition Sport) and the CSR (Competition Sport, Road). They all were 646cc vertical twins with the 4-speed AMC gear box, Lucas magneto...
1966 Matchless G12 1966 MATCHLESS G12 BACKGROND In the 1950s, Matchless and AJS were the diamonds in AMC’s (Associated Motor...
1953 Matchless G9 500 Twin 1953 MATCHLESS G9 BACKGROUND Like everyone else in the British motorcycle industry at the time,...
1955 Matchless G9B 1955 MATCHLESS G9B BACK STORY The 1955 Matchless G9B has an interesting history, that is also very telling about the British motorcycle industry at the time. Frank Cooper was the US distributor for AMC (Associated Motor Cycles) who produced Matchless, AJS and Francis-Barnett motorcycles. In the late...
1956 Matchless G9 500 Twin 1956 MATCHLESS G9 BACKGROUND Matchless Motorcycles cut their teeth on the depressed British home market,...
1958 Ariel Huntmaster 1958 ARIEL HUNTMASTER BACKGROUND Ariel was owned by the Sangster family, failed a few times, then ended...
1961 Triumph Speed Twin 1961 TRIUMPH SPEED TWIN HAS A “BATHTUB” The British home market had been hungry for cheap transportation after WWII, and commuter motorcycles helped fill that role. But England being…well, England, was wet and rainy and to prevent rust an owner needed to wipe his bike down...
1949 Triumph T100 Tiger 1949 TRIUMPH T100 TIGER LEADS THE PACK At the end of World War II, civilian production...
1956 Triumph Blackbird ABOVE: The 1956 Triumph Blackbird was essentially a 6T Thunderbird painted black. This earned it the name...
1971 BSA A70 Lightning 1971 BSA A70 LIGHTNING IS BORN BSA wanted to enlarge their 650 twin to a 750 to compete in the open class in AMA Class C racing. But the rules required that the races bikes be based on an actual production bike that the public could...
1968 Triumph Daytona 500 1968 TRIUMPH DAYTONA – WHAT’S IN A NAME? Triumph derived the name of this bike from...
1963 Royal Enfield Interceptor 1963 ROYAL ENFIELD INTERCEPTOR BACKGROUND Royal Enfield hopped up its 692cc Constellation and created a new...
1962 BSA A65 1962 BSA A65 – NEW UNIT TWIN After 15 years of great success with their pre-unit twins, the 500cc A7 and the 650cc A10, BSA had a real challenge ahead of them. How do you follow up a ‘home run’ like the A7 & A10? They had...
1959 Norton Dominator 1959 NORTON DOMINATOR BACKGROUND Norton designed the legendary “Featherbed Frame” for the single-cylinder Manx racer in 1950....
1964 Triumph Thunderbird 1964 TRIUMPH THUNDERBIRD AS A COMMUTER? When the 6T Thunderbird launched in 1950, it was the first...
1958 BSA A10 Pre-Unit 650 Twin 1958 BSA A10 BACKGROUND BSA’s A10 was the 650 version in it’s twin cylinder heavyweight line. The 500cc version was called the A7. Following Triumph‘s success with its seminal 500 Speed Twin, after the war, BSA and most of the rest of the British...
1956 Triumph Thunderbird ABOVE: This 1956 Triumph Thunderbird wearing black livery was nicknamed “Blackbird” by the public and it stuck....
1966 Norton Atlas 1966 NORTON ATLAS HISTORY The story starts not with a Norton at all, but with the 1938...
1954 Triumph Speed Twin 1954 TRIUMPH SPEED TWIN BACKGROUND In a few short years, the 5T Speed Twin went from being one of the world’s premium performance motorcycles to be Triumph’s entry-level twin. It had been surpassed by the T100 Tiger with its higher compression and hotter cams. And soon...
1970 Royal Enfield Interceptor 1970 ROYAL ENFIELD INTERCEPTOR BACKGROUND Royal Enfield hopped up its 692cc Constellation and created a new...
1957 Triumph Thunderbird 1957 TRIUMPH THUNDERBIRD IS THE COOKING VERSION The 1957 Triumph Thunderbird was fast becoming the ‘ugly sister’...
1962 Triumph TR6 1962 TRIUMPH TR6 NOMENCLATURE Of course, this is tFor the 1962 model year the only Triumph TR6 produced was the Triumph TR6 S/S Trophy. Gone were the “C” & “R” designations, leaving the TR6 to become very much a Triumph Bonneville without the second carb. 1962 Triumph...
1969 Triumph Daytona 500 1969 TRIUMPH DAYTONA – WHAT’S IN A NAME? Triumph derived the name of this bike from...
1967 BSA A65 1967 BSA A65 LIGHTNING 1967 BSA A65 LIGHTNING The 650 Lightning was BSA’s top-line bike, and meant...
1966 Triumph TR6 1966 TRIUMPH TR6 BY THE NUMBERS For the 1966 model year, the model lineup were TR6, TR6R, TR6SR, TR6SS, TR6C & TR6SC, all called “Trophy”. Engine & Frame Numbers ran from DU24876 to DU43161, with build dates running from August 6, 1965 to July 8, 1966. The...
1976 Triumph TR7 1976 TRIUMPH TR7 IS A FIRST The 1976 model year was the first full model year under...
1960 Triumph T100 Tiger “Bathtub” 1960 TRIUMPH T100 TIGER BATHTUB STYLING Bathtub styling was part of a brief flirtation with...
1955 Triumph T110 Tiger 1955 TRIUMPH T110 TIGER CONTINUALLY IMPROVES True to the British style at the time, steady, continuous improvements were applied to all their bikes. The 650cc T110 Tiger was their hottest bike in 1955 (the TR6 wouldn’t topple its top spot until 1956), so much attention was...
1959 Triumph TR6 1959 TRIUMPH TR6 NOMENCLATURE 1959 was the last year that the TR6 did not carry a letter...
1952 Triumph T100 Tiger 1952 TRIUMPH T100 TIGER LEADS THE PACK At the end of World War II, civilian production...
1971 Triumph TR6 The 1971 Triumph TR6 saw the introduction of the new oil-bearing frame & all new cycle gear. This photo is of a ’71 TR6 Tiger. The TR6 had a single carburetor while the Bonneville had two. ABOVE: Everything was all-new on the ’71 TR6 and Bonneville, except...
1963 Triumph TR6 1963 TRIUMPH TR6 BY THE NUMBERS The only model for 1963 was the Triumph TR6 S/S (Street...
1947 Triumph T100 Tiger 1947 TRIUMPH T100 TIGER LEADS THE PACK At the end of World War II, civilian production...
1963 BSA A65 NEW MODELS The 1963 BSA A65 was, of course, the second model year of the new unit construction BSA twins, the 500cc A50, and the 650cc A65, which had replaced the very successful pre-unit A7 (500) & A10 (650) in 1962. BSA was very conservative in the...
1970 Triumph TR6 1970 TRIUMPH TR6 BY THE NUMBERS For 1970, the Triumph TR6 was again known as “Tiger”, as...