Hello Either it is yet another midlife crisis or my Steve McQueen fantasies are taking over - I am very close to buying a Triumph TR5 / TR6 after drooling over it for months. A friend who I share workshop with is selling it, but I am a little unsure about the model. He says that it is a 500cc 1957 model, but from the frame number (number 640XX) I think it should be from 1955 according to online/book sources. It is currently fitted with a T110 650cc engine, but the original engine block (matching numbers) is included in the sale. The bike is a US model and is without ignition key. The seller says that this particular model was for competition use and therefore needed no key. I have to retrofit that to get number plates on it here in Norway, but that is OK. My friend bought the bike from a Bugatti collector in Sweden who had restored it before his back played up. It looks absolutely stunning (sorry for the crap photos - it is cramped at our workshop): http://s600.photobucket.com/user/morini/media/MC/IMG_0649_zpsao8msugf.jpg.html][/URL] http://s600.photobucket.com/user/morini/media/MC/IMG_0648_zpsemjumveh.jpg.html][/URL] http://s600.photobucket.com/user/morini/media/MC/IMG_0656_zpshbn58cmf.jpg.html][/URL] Are there any of you knowledgeable forum member who can identify the correct model year / type from these pictures? Where there special models delivered without ignition key back then? Is this a collectible model? (not important really - I buy bikes because I like them) Is this the correct color scheme for this bike? (from my sources it should be light blue metallic in ´55, but it is a nice colour. Eternally grateful for any input about the bike. Greeting from Norway where the roads are getting slippery!
That's a T110 8 stud alloy head - has someone painted the barrels silver? Only the T100 had alloy barrels, and they were fine pitch. The magneto doesn't need an ignition switch, but if it was a road bike then it would have one, incorporated in the lighting switch.
Thank you for your reply, @motu. It is correct that the barrels are silver, but i guess the PO changed to aftermarket alloy barrels as part of the restoration. They do not look painted. Actually they look brand new. According to my friend the PO never even started it up after restoration. Even the forks are dry, so I expect some adjustments has to be made to get it running OK. If it is correct that the road bikes did not have an ignition switch, then my friend could be right about this being a competition bike.
It's hard to fit an ignition switch on a bike with a magneto. A company called feridax made a replacement twist grip that locked with a key https://www.popscreen.com/prod/MTgx...rcycle-Throttle-Twist-Grip-Triumph-BSA-Norton
80s era Hondas, with CDI ignitions(the ignition ran independent from the battery), used a main switch that grounded a wire from the ignition to shut things down. Should be an easy retrofit to a magneto equipped bike. Google a wiring diagram for a CM400/450.
It should have a kill switch or button, I imagine a switch could be connected to that, or inline with it.
Alternator and mag would I think make it about 1960, not sure when they dropped the mag. My T110 had a button on the end of the mag housing, they also had a plastic cover option with a cut out that was on the nacelle. Tank and badges are correct for 57 onwards. Last one of these that came up here was snapped up at 10K NZ, which I thought was good buying. Still looking for a "Hole in Frame" Thunderbird frame for my Thunderbird project To PO, nice bike
T'Bird and Speedtwin had alts when they first came out ('53 I think, with the stator in the primary case) but T100, TR5. T110 and T120 had a mag. But yeah, at some stage went to alt, I'm lost on that one too. The push button kill on the mag was a Matchless/AJS thing, but was an easy retro fit, I think I may have done it once too. Most had the wire, but there was another endcap option....it's Sunday morning, I might remember once my brain warms up a bit.
That's an alternator engine judging from the primary case. For a key switch, you'll have to source a switch that grounds the magneto when it's in a position where the key can be removed. If there's no kill wire terminal on the magneto end cover, you'll have to replace it with one that does have a terminal. The mag is a manual advance model that uses a lever on the handlebar. That's a very nice bike. Wish I had it.
