A blast from the past

Back in Covid lockdown, I set about digitizing our vast collection of photo prints, slides and negatives.  At best guess,well over 2500 images with a few still waiting to be done.  There are also 2 boxes of slides featuring the 1969 Isle of Man TT and the 1971 Transatlantic Match Race from Mallory Park.  The house elves have hidden these somewhere and I've been unable to find them which is a major irritation.  That aside, a fair number of the motorcycle digital images have appeared in this blog.  As it's a cold winter day in NZ, I thought that it was a good opportunity to showcase the story of my first "big" bike which briefly appeared in the history of bikes I've owned HERE .

Back in 1967 (58 years ago for the mathematically challenged), most readers of this blog weren't even a twinkle in their parent's eyes. I'd just seen an advert for a 1955 Triumph Tiger 100 which had been fully restored by the owner.  He worked for the Reliant car company and had access to professional paint spray facilities, chromium plating baths and so on. Although the bike was 12 years old, I thought it was worth a look.  I'm really glad I did - almost a case of serendipity.

He'd done a flawless job of restoring it but wasn't asking the earth.  I was more interested in sport-oriented bikes at that time but he had gone down the Marlon Brando "Wild One" route with US style raised bars, tall mirrors, crashbars and a white vinyl covered seat to complement the royal blue and white paintwork.  He had also chrome plated the engine mounting plates.  The engine had also received some attention with 10.5:1 pistons, E3134 performance cams, a gas-flowed cylinder head and a tuned exhaust.  I wasn't so keen on the US style treatment but it was such a lovely bike that the deal was done. Incidentally, I still have the Triumph service manual and official Triumph tuning sheet somewhere.  Maybe the house elves are looking after these too. Here we are in 1967, a slimmer and fitter version of me with a full head of hair.

Wearing the approved safety gear of that era

The Tiger was a lot of fun to ride and at that time, was more than a match for most cars on the road, particularly on twisty UK roads.  The major downside was the upright riding position which caused substantial drag at higher speeds and above 70mph or thereabouts, the long stalk mirrors would fold back and trap me between them!  I think that the photo below was taken in early 1968.  The mirrors have clearly been removed and I'm wearing a Belstaff waxed cotton jacket, much favoured today by the chinless horsey set.  Mine was undoubtedly a health hazard thanks to accumulated road dirt, dead insects and god knows what else sticking to the greasy outer layer but it kept the rain out. It didn't smell particularly fragrant either.  It also appears that I'd grown more hair, styled in the "rocker" mode of that era.  A near-neighbour was a "mod" who owned a Lambretta scooter festooned with lights and a fur-trimmed parka for weather protection and a Beatles haircut.  Mickey-taking was good-natured in both directions as we got on really well, unlike the brawls which broke out between the two factions at coastal locations, particularly Brighton.  

The "rocker" image of the 60's (yeah, right....)

I still wasn't happy with the upright riding position and acquired an aftermarket sport fairing. I also fitted dropped "Ace" handlebars to give a forward lean.  These two items made a considerable improvement to rider comfort with the reduced wind blast.  Given that the Tiger 100 only produced about 34 bhp or so, it gave a bit more performance at the top end too.  However, the big drawback was that the fairing was just a fibreglass shell with no infill panels. It magnified engine noise considerably to the point of distraction so it was dispensed with after a few months.  The photo below shows me negotiating a tricky bend near home in Northamptonshire.  There was a humpback stream bridge immediately followed by a 90 degree left-handed corner where it was easy for the incautious motorist or rider to come to grief. Glad to report that I was never a casualty at that spot.

The Tiger with its full fairing

From 1968 onwards, the Tiger was getting less use as I was building a supercharged drag bike and had a Wolseley 6/110 car to tow it when I started competing. However, during a maintenance strip-down of the Tiger, I noticed that one of the cylinder liners had a crack propagating from a conrod cut-out.  I didn't know how long it had been there but decided to replace both liners. Without going into tedious detail, the person who did the job made a hash of fitting them and over a period of a few weeks, they rotated slightly in the alloy barrel.  The first thing I knew about it was on the open road when the engine started misfiring and when I looked behind, there was a wall of white smoke.  The liners have cutouts to provide clearance for the conrods when they are halfway up and down the stroke.  With them rotating, they neatly machined grooves in the conrods as can be seen from the photo below. All that fine aluminium powder has to go somewhere, the "somewhere" in this case being all the oil galleries which starved the engine of oil, wrecking the pistons too. Bugger......

A ruined Triumph engine

Rebuilding the engine was considered very briefly but with all the expensive performance parts, plus the extreme difficulty in getting all the aluminium swarf out of the oil galleries, the decision was made to scrap it.  However, the good luck fairy must have been looking over my shoulder as a chap at work had just written off his Tiger 100 and I was able to buy the engine at a very reasonable price. The engine was in really good nick and ran reliably until I finally sold it to a mate in 1971.  Although it didn't get a lot of use in the 2 years leading up to its sale, I had some great adventures on it with my best mate Rick and his 650 Triumph Trophy. The most memorable one was attending the 1969 Isle of Man TT.  Numerous trips round the 37.73 mile circuit were made, including one at dawn with just Rick and I on the course. I'll leave that ride to your imagination but it will never be forgotten.  The young lady, Anne McGregor whom I met there was from Scotland and arrived on holiday with a mate, not knowing that the TT was being held!  I still have the 80-odd page programme for the princely sum of 3 shillings and sixpence which also helps with the memories. 

At Braddan Bridge on a non-race day, 1969 IOM TT.  Rick's Trophy on the right

I guess this tale goes to show that it's not just the bike, but the memories which go with it which ensures that it's permanently locked inside the skull.

1969 IOM TT race programme