Old Triumph Tiger?? Neat Bike???

[lendaddy]

Anyone have one of these? It's gotta be a late 60'sish twin with a single carb. It looks like a neat bike, and I can have it if I reassemble it. Worth my time?

[tdatk]

Had a Triumph Daytona 500cc twin with an Amal carb(prime then kick). Really fun bike with less than high performance. It sounded great and never let me down. Rider position is verry unconfortable on long rides and unstable over 90 mph. Worth taking for free, man I would jump on it really, just "Beware the Prince of Darkness".
Tim

[lendaddy]

This one is a 650. It originally had low pipes (still there) but has brand new high pipes (still wrapped in paper) which go with it. I know it is complete as my brother took it apart when he got home from Somalia years ago and lost interest. Needs some polishing, painting, and plating, etc.. But ran well before disassembly. Would I be correct that restoring this to nice(not concours) condition would be a fairly cheap exorcise?

Oh yea, my friend Lucas I know him well from my MG days. I imagine this would be much simpler.

[tdatk]

My best friend had a Tiger 650. It sounded awesome with oversized pipes and had a Harley lope sound at idle, but Triumphs have a very sweet exaust note when you throttle up. They are really easy to work on and pretty streight foward as well, my only concern would be sourceing parts...If you needed them. There is actually a Triumph dealer 5 miles from me and I was there checking the newer models out around a month ago. Seems they still make nostalgic and "ricer" models. Like I said ,I would jump on it just for the shock value...know what I mean?
Tim

[tdatk]

Oh ya Bass ackwards shifter and brake too.

[lendaddy]

Thanks for the info Tim, I'll give the bike another look this weekend.

[SteveStromberg]

I used to ride a Tirumph 500 single carb. Set up in desert trim. 5 inches of travel in the front 4 inches in the back.

I perfferd my 441 victor as it was much lighter.

[Nader]

An editor for Autoweek nearly got himself killed on one recently. Sorry, that doesn't really help, does it?

[lendaddy]

Originally posted by Nader
An editor for Autoweek nearly got himself killed on one recently. Sorry, that doesn't really help, does it?

No, not really Since the idea here was to have a nostalgic head turner/conversation piece I could ride but would be too slow to get me into "stupid adreneline land".

[hardflex]

My son in law has a 500 he just restored. It's not a bike I would take on a long ride, as it vibrates like heck. But, it's interesting if only because it was near the top of the most desired bikes back then. If you have all the pieces, IMHO a worthwhile project.

I think you'll need some "Whitworth" tools.....

Interesting, too, in that the "big bikes" of the 60's are small compared to today.....

[RickM]

Easy to get parts for the restoration?

Sounds like an interesting project.

[Jared at Pelican Parts]

They are cool bikes, but they do require quite a bit of upkeep. My dad used to have a Bonneville back in the day.. Wish he still had that bike...

They vibrate like hell.....

[Rot 911]

The Tiger, while not as collectible as the Bonneville is still a collectors bike. Parts are easily available and not that expensive. It was a good road bike in its time. Easy to work on and fun to ride. Like any old bike, if not maintained, will be unreliable. But restored properly this bike is a fun daily rider. Here is a good link for Baxter Cycles. They are in Iowa, but have a world wide following. The home page also has plenty of links for you to browse the world of British Bikes. http://www.baxtercycle.com/

And here is what a 1967 Tiger looks like the windshield is not stock and not something I particularly like:

[lendaddy]

Kurt, thanks! That's her, same colors and everything Neat, kinda cool I say.

[creaturecat]

remember to never count on the brakes (or the headlight) to work. brakelights have been known to be intermittent as well.do not park on anything that does not look good with oil stains upon it.remember not to use good shoes near the bike (aforementioned oil stains).always ensure that you have a cell phone/cab fare before travelling outside of "walking" distance to your home.

[audi2.7t]

and turn the petcock to OFF when parked, even for a minute...