Circulates throughout the world Established 1903

Glamour puss

We all know one thing tends to lead to another, and that was certainly the case when Rod Hann took over the late Jeff Clew’s motorcycling column in a local free magazine. As chairman of the Dorset section of the vintage club, and the VMCC’s
south western area representative, Rod was already well-known in active classic motorcycling circles, but his writing brought him into contact with a wider sector of the public and led to some interesting contacts. One lady, for instance, wrote to say she had her own leathers and would welcome a ride on his pillion... and perhaps more!

Happily married to Carol, Rod declined that offer, but was much more interested in the chap who phoned up asking for help in disposing of his old Triumph.

“Unfortunately, I had a room full of local enthusiasts at the time, and they all wanted to buy it,” he grimaces, “so, to avoid any arguments I decided to do it up myself. The seller had dismantled the bike years before, but had then run out of enthusiasm. Fortunately everything was there in ‘large lumps’ and it turned out to be a very straightforward restoration.”

I guess it was, compared with some of the obscure relics Rod has resuscitated, but he didn’t stint on the effort or attention to detail. Most of us are happy with a powder coated frame for instance, but Rod uses that as an undercoat, and then fills and smoothes it before having a professional top coat applied. Well-known local specialist JBS (tel 01935 863676) gave the tinware its lustrous silver and black finish.

The motorcycle in question is a Tiger 100, which in the early 1950s vied with the similarly priced Thunderbird – larger, but less highly tuned – for top slot in the Meriden range. Of the two it had the longer heritage, having been developed from the touring 500cc Speed Twin before the war, and was undoubtedly the more glamorous. Most noticeably it had the close-finned aluminium cylinder barrel which had recently replaced the famous square-finned ‘generator’ barrel on the sporty Trophy model. Equally importantly, Motor Cycling magazine noted that it was marketed as ‘a fast roadster that may, at moderate cost, be converted into a racing mount’. Few riders actually wanted to go racing, but the implication that they could if they wished undoubtedly helped sales.

Differences between the T100 and the Speed Twin included the former’s specially polished engine internals, and there was a higher compression ratio plus a slightly larger carburettor. The race kit included even higher compression pistons, high lift camshafts, megaphones and twin carburettors, all of which had been developed for the recently discontinued Grand Prix variant, and which would be reintroduced in 1953 on the factory-built T100C (Tiger 100 Competition). Rod points out that the frame was common to all the variants, and the lugs needed for the rear set footrests in the tuning kit can also be seen behind the gearbox on his roadster.

In fact, no extra tuning was required to make the standard Tiger into a sparkling performer that was significantly faster than most of the contemporary opposition. Its title’s implication that it could manage 100mph was an unblushing exaggeration, with contemporary road tests showing a top speed in the mid-90s, but I dare say optimistic speedometers occasionally flickered past the magic ton, and that would have been enough for club room bragging.

As can be clearly seen from Rod’s restoration, the T100 was also an exceptionally handsome motorcycle. Everything is nicely in proportion, and the glossy but restrained silver paintwork is nicely enhanced by the elegant black striping on the mudguards and wheel rims. It seems slightly anomalous now, however, that a machine marketed as a clubman’s sportster should have such conservative styling with the nacelle headlight and tank-top luggage rack seen on the cooking models in the range. The non-sporting impression is amplified by Triumph’s typically pulled back handlebars which fall comfortably to hand, but limit the available steering lock and give you no option other than to sit bolt upright.

But we have to remember that the T100 was designed and produced in the days when a motorcycle had to be all things to all men. If we ignore the racing option – as most owners did – a bike like this could take you to work and back in comfort, and still cut a dash on a weekend trip to a sporting event or the coast. In practical terms the non-snatch speed of 25mph in top gear was just as important as a theoretical top whack nearly four times as great. And if you carried a passenger, you wouldn’t be able to get into a racing crouch anyway, as the surprisingly compact relationship between the seat and handlebars reinforces the sit-up-and-beg riding position.

The early-1950s T100, like all its stablemates, was made with a rigid frame, a dated feature that Triumph tried to disguise with its patented Sprung Wheel; a bolt-on modification where the wheel slid up and down on a shaped block within the hub.

Presumably in an effort to encourage take up of this stopgap idea Meriden promoted it as the standard specification, but the rigid rear end continued to be available and was preferred by many traditionalists, and by buyers who simply couldn’t afford the sprung option. Triumph and its customers would soon have to bow to the inevitable, however, and a conventional swinging arm was introduced in 1954.

Rod’s 1952 Tiger came to him in the typical current trim with a dual seat and a sprung hub, but as you’ll have noticed he’s chosen to rebuild it in the traditional style with a single saddle and rigid rear end. I don’t blame him at all, as the sprung hub offers very limited travel, weighs a ton, and degrades handling unless impeccably maintained. Also – and perhaps just as importantly on a classic bike that won’t be ridden day in and day out – the saddle looks rather more attractive than Triumph’s early dual seat which had ungainly flat strip brackets linking it to the old spring mountings. Naturally Rod – keenly aware of the T100’s authenticity – has kept the original hub and seat in case any future owner wishes to revert to delivery trim.

Elsewhere, that style has been faithfully retained and includes several trademark Meriden/Turner features such as a cutout button on the trend-setting nacelle, a choke control that looks like an afterthought with its logical mounting on a rear frame member, an oil pressure pop-out button on the timing cover, and a speedometer with a welter of markings that allows you to read the engine rpm in each gear (provided you have perfect eyesight and instant reactions!). One of the few other changes Rod has made to the appearance, although it could again be reversed if desired, is to switch from painted number plates to smart pressed aluminium ones.

Naturally the wheel rims had to be replaced, and Rod rebuilt the wheels himself.
Besides its appearance, there’s a lot to enjoy about using the T100. For instance the handling is fine at sensible speeds, with no need to use the steering damper, and the brakes are quite adequate. The clutch is light and positive while the gears engage cleanly and quietly apart from a typical Triumph scrunch into first. But perhaps the best thing is the spirited acceleration. All right, it wouldn’t seem very impressive to a modern superbike rider, but the ability to get from 0 to 60mph in about seven seconds using only the first two gears, means that even with considerate use there’s enough poke to feel a kick up the backside when you open the throttle. There’s very little vibration at reasonable revs, and the minimal engine noise is overwhelmed by a sonorous drone from pattern silencers supplied by Britbits (01202 483675).

Rod really prefers older bikes that are not too shiny, and proves it by frequently riding his extremely rare and unrestored 1921 V-twin Sunbeam (featured in TCM February 2002). As he’s already started his next vintage restoration project I can’t see him keeping the Triumph long enough to give it his preferred patina, but I wouldn’t be surprised if one of the clubmates who unsuccessfully tried to buy the T100 in bits gives it the life it deserves now it’s in perfect cosmetic and mechanical order.