1939-1940 Front Numberplate

Here's a really rare item. This is the front numberplate introduced for the 1939 model year, and also used for 1940 models. This one differed from the 1938 one in that it gained a chrome surround. Post-war, Triumph used a similar one, although it won't correctly fit a pre-war bike.

Pre-war revulator speedometer

This is the first of many items that came with my 1940 that really made the project worth purchasing. The pre-war chronometric speedometers differ from the post-war versions in the cable assembly. The pre-war version has a drive blade that sticks out the back of the speedo.

This speedo has the rev counter added to the face, which was called a revulator sometime after the war. If that marketing name was used before the war, I haven't seen it in any literature so far. This one is in very nice condition, and seems to work fine. Considering the date on the tag, I figure it is likely to be original to the bike. I'm not 100 percent sure, but I believe this was the standard speedo on the Tiger 100, optional on the Speed Twin.

1940 Girder Forks - reaming bushings

So somewhere around two years after the Tiger 100 reached my house I got around to checking the various components for proper fit, etc. When I took a look at the girders, I decided that the bushings were a bit too tight for my preference (all new bushings and spindles).

I contacted ICS Cutting Tools in Casco, WI to see if they might have a hand ream to fit my application. They did not stock a ream that met my needs, but were happy to manufacture one to my specifications. I received the ream in about 10 days, and it worked like a charm.

October 2006 - 1940 T100s New Home!

Well it took an entire year to actually finish the deal and go get the bike, but here it is at my house four and half years ago. A lot of restoration work had already been done, and I contemplated putting it together immediately as I got it, but we had a five-month-old baby at the house at the time, and there were a few things I wanted to change before building the bike. More details on that to come...

1940 T100 - September 2005

It's hard to believe it's been over 5 years, but here are a few of the pics that Mike Whitney sent me when we were talking over the possibility of me purchasing the project from him. Needless to say I was excited about what I saw, especially after all of the parts hunting I had gone through for the 38!

April 2003 - Looking more like a Speed Twin

It's amazing what just a few items will do for a project. Now sporting a front guard from a Tiger 100, a set of original handlebars, a rear guard, and a rear numberplate.

A couple more pieces, and you can start to see the gracefull lines of the 1938-1939 Speed Twins. I do love the pre-war T100 bikes, and the 1940 5Ts, but the big tank takes away something for me. I really prefer the smaller tank.

January 2003 - Speed Twin with a girder fork!

One thing you have to learn when you try to build a pre-war Triumph is patience. The post-war bikes aren't the easiest bikes when it comes to finding parts, but they are a walk-though-the-park compared to the pre-war bikes. These pics were taken almost a year after the ones from last post. Major improvement here is, of course, the girder front forks. Usually the main item missing from pre-war projects, the correct girder is made from pure unobtainum. Also seen in these pics is the Lucas D142 headlamp, and a real pre-war rear hub & brake.

February 2002 - Correct tank and engine plates

It's two months after its trip to the USA, and we see the first real improvement. During the year that the shipping process took, I managed to make a few friends who were also pre-war enthusiasts, and learned quite a bit about the bikes. Gone is the large fuel tank and the 1940-later steel tank panel, replaced by the correct items. The tank was a major find, as the correct one is very hard to aquire. Triumph made similar tanks, both pre and post-war, but the shape is not quite right. If you look carefully, you can also see the correct, bakelite tank panel sitting on the tank. The pre-war front engine plates are also difficult to find, as the post-war ones will not fit. Nowadays both the tank and the engine plates are available in reasonable quality reproductions.

Happy Birthday Edward Turner

The father of the Triumph Twin would be 110-years-old today!

December 2001 - Welcome to the USA

Turns out that shipping a 1938 5T project from Northern Germany to Northern Virginia is not the simplest thing to accomplish. A lot of time, and a good deal of back and forth communication, ended up getting the job done. Neither Peter, nor I had ever shipping something like this, and it literally took months to figure out how to get it done. After a crate was built, it was a ground trip to France, and from there, a plane trip to Dulles Airport in Virginia. A friend of mine and I went with his truck during our lunch break to customs, picked it up and brought it home.

December 2000 - Not much to look at...

There has to be a first post, and this might as well be it. Here is my Speed Twin as I first saw it, December 2000 in Vahlbruch, Germany. This is at Peter Long's Cornucopia Enterprises. Not a whole lot there, but a good start: Engine, unmodified frame, front wheel, toolbox, and some odds and ends were correct. Big petol tank, postwar oil tank, postwar gearbox, and some additional bits were a bonus. I had no idea what I was getting myself into at that point in time!