Triumph TR6P Saint 649cc 1970 – PDF Download

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Triumph TR6P Saint 649cc 1970

Description

Triumph TR6P Saint 649cc 1970

For years Triumph have built ยทa machine which is known (occasionally, rather too well) to motor cyclists the world over – yet which never appears in the factory’s published range. It is, of course, the Saint six-fifty, currently escorting Highly Important Personages or other wide loads, or chasing baddies, in the hands of constables in about 250 police forces from Argentina to Zanzibar.

So what’s a Saint? Originally it was a kind of hotted-up 6T Thunderbird, but the specification has changed gradually over the years and the present-day version is (as the TR6P designation implies) a slightly cooled TR6 Trophy.

Different forces may want different things and soยท one can’t be hard-and-fast about the Saint’s make-up. But in Britain at any rate, it usually has a 7.5-to-1 compression ratio (as compared with 9-to-1 on the Trophy) and an alternator specially modified to produce a high output at lowish rpm so taking care of two-way radio and other electrical extras.

There are a number of reasons for a low compression ratio. In many countries, especially in the Middle East, the octane rating of petrol is well down and anything higher than 7.5-to-l would cause detonation; in Britain, it enables a force to use commercial-grade petrol and so save the taxpayer the odd copper or two.

However, the main point is that police bikes spend very little time haring up the M1 after a Jag-load of jewel thieves; the rest is a matter of chuntering round city streets at 30 mph -or less if there is a slow-moving lorry -to be shepherded throu1,”h. For that, you need something soft and woolly.

The Saint is that, all right; just about the woolliest bike since side-valvers went out. On test, it ran smoothly and happily at 20 to 25 mph in top gear, and recorded the incredibly low minimum non-snatch speed of 15 mph in top gear. Still in top, it would accelerate steadily from 25mph, although if a really rapid take-off was required it paid to drop down a couple of cogs’.

The test model was kitted out with virtually everything except a radio set – Avon fairing complete with flashing blue lamp in the middle of the screen.


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