1955 Triumph Tiger

04133

Clear

Up for auction is a very unique 1955 Triumph T110 Tiger with great history. This bike is owned and built by legendary sidecar racer Bob Bakker. Bob purchased the Triumph off the showroom floor, new in 1955, from Bill Graves dealership in Pasadena. He immediately stripped it down and set it up for racing! He raced this bike at Western Desert races, Big Bear races, and on Catalina Island. In 1958, at the Catalina Island's last race year, Bob blew a rod through the stock motor, thus retiring him from further racing that day! The folks in downtown Avalon were not pleased at the oil that spilled all over their beautiful street! Bob still has the original blown cases that will go with the sale. At this point, Bob put in a motor from one of his sidecar racers. This motor brought Bob, and sidecar buddy, Bob Bender several victories at Orange County Raceway, Riverside Raceway and Sear Point Raceway back in the late 1960's. The bottom end I believe is from a 1958 or 1959 650cc Bonneville...big bearing model. ( T120-D7704) The engine has a drop in Chantland 750cc special alloy cylinder using 11:1 high compression racing pistons. The crankshaft has been rebalanced for the 750cc kit. The cams are JoMo (Johnson Motors) racing cams. The transmission is a stock Triumph pre-unit trans, using a Barnett racing clutch. The counter shaft sprocket is custom made, raising the overall gearing by 2 teeth...this is possible due to the extra power provided by the 750cc kit. The Lucas Magneto is a very special John Cooper racing Magneto. in 1970, Bob took it to the Lucas factory when he was racing sidecars in the UK and they rebuilt it for him there. Due to the high compression of the engine, a custom dial control was added to adjust the ignition timing on the fly!! By turning the dial, the timing can be retarded or advanced. Today's fuels can sometimes cause a "pinging" sound...to solve this problem, you simply reach down and adjust the dial till the noise goes away!! Genius! Bob estimates less than 1,000 miles on the rebuild! The bike has a new rear tire and spokes, and new Barnett control cables. The front wheel was replaced with a later model dual leading shoe brake set up and Ceriani Racing front forks. The handlebars are solid aluminum...a great old racing trick that cuts down dramatically on vibration to the hands and arms! It also has a custom front "roll off" stand to make it easier to kick over...built by Bob himself, of course! Due to the engine being a race unit, the crankshaft is not equipped to mount the alternator. So even though the bike comes with lighting equipment there is no battery charging system You can install a battery, but the set up would be a "total loss" set up. The buyer will get the stator/alternator assembly with the sale. The exhaust is a special 2 into 1 unit...the stock exhaust is included in the sale. The bike has 2 solo seats...one for the driver and passenger. (passenger not pictured)...it attaches to the rear rack. The white/blue paint scheme was done in 1958 and looks very good for its age. This bike runs great!! No smoke!...very tight engine. It takes me about 1-3 kicks to start it up....idles very nicely after you allow 1-2 minutes for the alloy head to warm up. This is a very nice piece of race history and Bob is still around to answer questions and tell you the stories about racing with Steve McQueen...repairing his bikes for him...etc!! Very cool. Google search .."Bob Bakker Sidecar racer".. and you'll see what i mean! This bike has a clear 1955 title in Bob's name...we finally got it registered after 57 years!! Please feel free to ask any questions...I'll put you in touch with the man himself. I will try to post video of me starting it asap and i can send pics of anything specific you'd like to see. Barber Museum is looking at purchasing one of Bob's other bikes this week...grab this on before they do! Good luck and happy bidding. Cheers! On Oct-17-12 at 23:17:20 PDT, seller added the following information: I don't know how to post video to Ebay...so highlight and copy this link, go to YouTube and paste it there. Then you can see video of me starting the bike, letting it warm up and idle. http://youtu.be/U895numvny4 On Oct-18-12 at 08:58:54 PDT, seller added the following information: I don't think my YouTube link is working...i can't figure it out! If you would like to see the video, send me your email address and i will forward it to you.