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By special request here is a retrospective Member Bike Build.
Axeric requested some more details and has suggested that others may be interested in my Speed Twin (also known as a 5T) so I thought I would post a short summary about how I got it from a few pieces in to a complete bike.
But first though a brief summary of the history of Triumph for those on here not familiar with the marque. My apologies to those of you who already know this, if you do please skip past it.
1887. Triumph Cycle Company Ltd registered and were selling imported bicycles.
1889 Bicycle manufacturing started. Company moves headquarters from London to Coventry.
1902 first motorcycle made using a clip on Belgian Minerva engine.
1905 First all-Triumph machine produced this was also the first 100% British motorcycle.
1915 to 1918, production became focused on the Allied war effort. More than 30,000 Model H bikes were supplied to Allied forces in World War I.
November 1940. The Coventry factory was destroyed by German bombers so production was moved to Meriden about 8 miles away and production resumed in 1942. Note, when this happened all of the factory records relating to individual machines before November 1940 were destroyed so there are minimal records in existence for before this date. (note this fact as it is relevant to my bike)
1983 when Triumph went into receivership John Bloor bought the name and manufacturing rights and set up what we know as the modern Triumph company based in Hinkley (about 16 miles from Meriden). This means that Triumph has produced motorcycles since 1902, making it the world's longest continuous production motorcycle manufacturer.
A note about British bike model years. Manufacturers showcased their new models for the coming year at the Earls Court Motorcycle show. This show is in autumn so the next years model is actually introduced in the previous year.
My bike was originally registered in October 1938 but it is a 1939 model.
My Bike
I acquired the first parts for my bike in the very early 90's. I got a frame, forks, wheels, brakes, seats and a small number of small parts. The main items missing were engine, carb, magneto, transmission, oil & petrol tanks, mudguards, toolbox, headlamp, handlebars and controls. Also there were no fasteners.
Its worth noting that in the UK a registration (title) is based on the frame number.
Quite a few people told me that an incomplete pre-war Speed Twin (pre WWII) was as hard as a basket case gets. They were probably right at the time. In very recent years there are some very good quality reproduction parts available so some items are not so hard now. There are still some very hard bits though even now.
At the time I got the bike it was pre-internet so I put some ads in magazines looking for parts as well as looking at autojumbles/swap meets. I ended up getting a 5T engine and a T100 engine, 2 gearboxes and primary drive plus a speedometer, all for what would now be considered bargain prices.
Fast foreward to the last few years and there is a guy who used to have a website dedicated to these pre-war Triumphs. He is considered to be something of an expert on Triumphs of this era and he has a database of frame and engine numbers, dates of registration etc. This is useful because, if you remember the text above, the original Triumph records were destroyed in 1940. These bikes did not have matching frame and engine numbers when they came out of the factory. Engines were taken off the pile in whatever order they happened to be in and put in the next frame on the production line. As it turns out there is a known original machine with a frame number 27 away from mine and an engine number 33 away. Amazingly, by total chance, I have got an engine that is exactly the right number for my frame.
Whilst I now had an engine and transmission I was still missing lots of stuff, lots of it 1 or 2 year only parts so I kept looking whenever I had a bit of spare cash (note its only in the last few years that I have a bit more spare cash). I turned up a couple of the items, most memorably an oil tank at a local autojumble (swap meet), the oil tank is a 2 year only item and as rare as hens teeth.
Around 2009 I decided to get stuck in and get the bike finished. I took some pictures and so here are a few.
First are some of the very few "before" pictures that I have.
This next one was taken in 2006 when I did a bit to get the frame painted and the wheels built but not much more.
Then the pictures pick things up in 2009
This rocker box needed replacing
I used this one but got the extra breather hole welded up that someone has added before I got it.
Axeric requested some more details and has suggested that others may be interested in my Speed Twin (also known as a 5T) so I thought I would post a short summary about how I got it from a few pieces in to a complete bike.
But first though a brief summary of the history of Triumph for those on here not familiar with the marque. My apologies to those of you who already know this, if you do please skip past it.
1887. Triumph Cycle Company Ltd registered and were selling imported bicycles.
1889 Bicycle manufacturing started. Company moves headquarters from London to Coventry.
1902 first motorcycle made using a clip on Belgian Minerva engine.
1905 First all-Triumph machine produced this was also the first 100% British motorcycle.
1915 to 1918, production became focused on the Allied war effort. More than 30,000 Model H bikes were supplied to Allied forces in World War I.
November 1940. The Coventry factory was destroyed by German bombers so production was moved to Meriden about 8 miles away and production resumed in 1942. Note, when this happened all of the factory records relating to individual machines before November 1940 were destroyed so there are minimal records in existence for before this date. (note this fact as it is relevant to my bike)
1983 when Triumph went into receivership John Bloor bought the name and manufacturing rights and set up what we know as the modern Triumph company based in Hinkley (about 16 miles from Meriden). This means that Triumph has produced motorcycles since 1902, making it the world's longest continuous production motorcycle manufacturer.
A note about British bike model years. Manufacturers showcased their new models for the coming year at the Earls Court Motorcycle show. This show is in autumn so the next years model is actually introduced in the previous year.
My bike was originally registered in October 1938 but it is a 1939 model.
My Bike
I acquired the first parts for my bike in the very early 90's. I got a frame, forks, wheels, brakes, seats and a small number of small parts. The main items missing were engine, carb, magneto, transmission, oil & petrol tanks, mudguards, toolbox, headlamp, handlebars and controls. Also there were no fasteners.
Its worth noting that in the UK a registration (title) is based on the frame number.
Quite a few people told me that an incomplete pre-war Speed Twin (pre WWII) was as hard as a basket case gets. They were probably right at the time. In very recent years there are some very good quality reproduction parts available so some items are not so hard now. There are still some very hard bits though even now.
At the time I got the bike it was pre-internet so I put some ads in magazines looking for parts as well as looking at autojumbles/swap meets. I ended up getting a 5T engine and a T100 engine, 2 gearboxes and primary drive plus a speedometer, all for what would now be considered bargain prices.
Fast foreward to the last few years and there is a guy who used to have a website dedicated to these pre-war Triumphs. He is considered to be something of an expert on Triumphs of this era and he has a database of frame and engine numbers, dates of registration etc. This is useful because, if you remember the text above, the original Triumph records were destroyed in 1940. These bikes did not have matching frame and engine numbers when they came out of the factory. Engines were taken off the pile in whatever order they happened to be in and put in the next frame on the production line. As it turns out there is a known original machine with a frame number 27 away from mine and an engine number 33 away. Amazingly, by total chance, I have got an engine that is exactly the right number for my frame.
Whilst I now had an engine and transmission I was still missing lots of stuff, lots of it 1 or 2 year only parts so I kept looking whenever I had a bit of spare cash (note its only in the last few years that I have a bit more spare cash). I turned up a couple of the items, most memorably an oil tank at a local autojumble (swap meet), the oil tank is a 2 year only item and as rare as hens teeth.
Around 2009 I decided to get stuck in and get the bike finished. I took some pictures and so here are a few.
First are some of the very few "before" pictures that I have.
This next one was taken in 2006 when I did a bit to get the frame painted and the wheels built but not much more.
Then the pictures pick things up in 2009
This rocker box needed replacing
I used this one but got the extra breather hole welded up that someone has added before I got it.
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