1956 Triumph Thunderbird ABOVE: This 1956 Triumph Thunderbird wearing black livery was nicknamed “Blackbird” by the public and it stuck....
ABOVE: 1956 Triumph TR6 Trophy w/2-into-1 “siamesed” high exhaust running along the left side. TR6 BY THE NUMBERS 1956 Engine/Frame...
1957 Ariel Square Four 1957 ARIEL SQUARE FOUR – GETTING LONG IN THE TOOTH Alas, the world was changing, and with it the motorcycle market. The Ariel Square 4 designed decades before, was keyed to another age, one where acceleration and all-out top speed weren’t as important as smoothness and...
1957 BSA A10 Pre-Unit 650 Twin 1957 BSA A10 BACKGROUND BSA’s A10 was the 650 version in it’s twin cylinder...
1957 MATCHLESS G11 BACKGROUND Matchless entered the vertical twin race in 1949 with the 500cc G9 and its sister-bike, the...
1957 Triumph Thunderbird 1957 TRIUMPH THUNDERBIRD IS THE COOKING VERSION The 1957 Triumph Thunderbird was fast becoming the ‘ugly sister’ to the hot new Triumph TR6 and the already red-hot Triumph Tiger T110. With its full fenders, headlight nacelle and milder tuning, the 6T was really the basic commuter of...
Thunderbird 6T, 649cc 4-speed gearbox, single Amal Monobloc carburettor, rated at 34hp ex-South Australian Police motorcycle was used for general...
NEW LOOK The 1957 Triumph TR6 debuted with a new tank badge that was prominent across the entire 1957 Triumph...
1958 Ariel Cyclone 650 OHV Vertical Twin 1958 ARIEL CYCLONE A VERY RARE BIRD Ariel was early to the vertical twin party started by Triumph with the 1938 500cc Speed Twin. Their first entry was the model KH 500cc parallel twin launched in the first year of civilian production following...
1958 Ariel Huntmaster 1958 ARIEL HUNTMASTER BACKGROUND Ariel was owned by the Sangster family, failed a few times, then ended...
1958 Ariel Square Four 1958 ARIEL SQUARE FOUR – GETTING LONG IN THE TOOTH Alas, the world was changing, and...
1958 BSA A10 Pre-Unit 650 Twin 1958 BSA A10 BACKGROUND BSA’s A10 was the 650 version in it’s twin cylinder heavyweight line. The 500cc version was called the A7. Following Triumph‘s success with its seminal 500 Speed Twin, after the war, BSA and most of the rest of the British...
1958 Triumph T110 Tiger 1958 TRIUMPH T110 TIGER – WHAT’S IN A NAME? Triumph’s naming convention followed a couple paths....
1958 Triumph Thunderbird ABOVE: The 1958 Triumph Thunderbird 6T looked very similar to this 1958 Triumph T110 Tiger, with headlight...
ABOVE: This 1958 Triumph TR6 Trophy features the optional twin high pipes, very popular in the US Market, which could replace the 2-into-1 side exhaust. 1958 TRIUMPH TR6 BY THE NUMBERS 1958 Engine/Frame Numbers: 011861 to 019244 Production Dates: October 10, 1957 to June 25, 1958 ENGINE CHANGES Early Delta...
1959 AJS MODEL 31 BACKGROUND AJS and sister-brand Matchless were late to the vertical twin party. Triumph started it all...
1959 Ariel Huntmaster 1959 AREIL HUNTMASTER BACKGROUND Ariel was owned by the Sangster family, failed a few times, then ended...
1959 Ariel Square Four 1959 ARIEL SQUARE FOUR- IT’S FINAL YEAR Alas, the world was changing, and with it the motorcycle market. The Ariel Square Four designed decades before, was keyed to another age, one where acceleration and all-out top speed weren’t as important as smoothness and reliability. Hence the...
1959 BSA A10 Pre-Unit 650 Twin 1959 BSA A10 Rocket 1959 BSA A10 ROCKET By 1959, both of BSA‘s big...
ABOVE: The 1959 Triumph Bonneville had the big fenders and nacelle of the Triumph Thunderbird. Not a popular move with...
1959 Triumph Thunderbird ABOVE: This 1959 Triumph Thunderbird has more than a healthy amount of patina. In fact, if it wasn’t all in one piece, it might be a basket case. Sorry I couldn’t do better on a photo, but it was the only one I could find that I...
1959 Triumph TR6 1959 TRIUMPH TR6 NOMENCLATURE 1959 was the last year that the TR6 did not carry a letter...
1960 Matchless G12 650 Twin 1960 MATCHLESS G12 BACKGROUND Just prior to World War II, Triumph rocked the world with...
ABOVE: 1960 Triumph Bonneville TR7/A Roadster w/down pipes. MODEL DESIGNATIONS The 1960 Triumph Bonneville was designated TR7 by Triumph Motorcycles in the US, to differentiate it from all the unsold 1959 T120s still in inventory (even though engine numbers still had the T120 prefix), and the TR6 Trophy-Bird, the Bonneville...
1960 Triumph Thunderbird The 1960 Triumph Thunderbird was similar in appearance to this 1960 Triumph T110 Tiger. Both had ‘bathtub’...
1960 TRIUMPH TR6 NOMENCLATURE 1960 is the first year when Triumph TR6’s received -“A” or -“B” suffixes. The TR6A became...
1961 AJS MODEL 31 BACKGROUND AJS and sister-brand Matchless were late to the vertical twin party. Triumph started it all with the 1938 Speed Twin, the world’s first ‘modern’ vertical twin (aka: parallel twin). It took the world by storm, and suddenly every other British brand had to have one...
1961 Matchless G12 650 Twin 1961 MATCHLESS G12 BACKGROUND Just prior to World War II, Triumph rocked the world with...
NEW MODEL DESIGNATIONS Starting with the 1961 Triumph Bonneville, the T120 model designation was followed by either an “R” for...
1961 TRIUMPH TR6 BY THE NUMBERS Gone was the previous “A” & “B” designations introduced in 1960. The new nomenclature was TR6R for ‘Roadster’ with low pipes & TR6C for ‘Competition’, the enduro version with high pipes. All went by the model name “Triumph Trophy”. 1961 Triumph TR6 engine &...
1962 BSA A10 Pre-Unit 650 Twin 1962 BSA A10 – NEARING END OF NON-UNIT CONSTRUCTION In 1962 BSA was in...
1962 BSA A65 1962 BSA A65 – NEW UNIT TWIN After 15 years of great success with their pre-unit twins,...
1962 Norton Dominator 650SS 1962 NORTON DOMINATOR 650SS BACKGROUND The story starts not with a Norton, but with the 1938 Triumph 500 Speed Twin, the world’s first “modern” vertical twin. The rest of the British motorcycle industry went nuts and rushed to field their own 500 twins. But WWII got...
1962 Triumph 650 Thunderbird 1962 TRIUMPH 650 THUNDERBIRD-A COMMUTER BIKE The Thunderbird was introduced in 1950 it was Triumph’s first...
1962 TRIUMPH BONNEVILLE -MODEL DESIGNATIONS The 1962 Triumph Bonneville again came in two basic model designations: T120R was the Road...
1962 Triumph TR6 1962 TRIUMPH TR6 NOMENCLATURE Of course, this is tFor the 1962 model year the only Triumph TR6 produced was the Triumph TR6 S/S Trophy. Gone were the “C” & “R” designations, leaving the TR6 to become very much a Triumph Bonneville without the second carb. 1962 Triumph...
1963 BSA A10 Pre-Unit 650 Twin 1963 BSA A10 SUPER ROCKET 1963 BSA A10 SUPER ROCKET The Super Rocket was...
1963 BSA A65 NEW MODELS The 1963 BSA A65 was, of course, the second model year of the new unit...
Check out these BSA BOOKS BSA Motorcycles: The Final Evolution The BSA Gold Star: Motorcycle History Illustrated Bsa Buyer’s Guide (Motorbooks International Illustrated Buyer’s Guide) Bsa Twin Restoration BSA Unit Singles: The Complete Story including the Triumph Derivatives Bsa Motor Cycles: Since 1950 (British Motor cycles since 1950) BSA Unit...
1963 Matchless G12CS 1963 MATCHLESS G12CS – A BRIEF HISTORY In 1963 there were four models offered of the G12....