1956 Triumph Thunderbird

This is an original california bobber as you see it, It came out of the san francisco area, I bought this bike about 10 years ago as a almost complete bike in a basket along with 2 other pre units bikes with the intention of keeping this one and selling the rest. It has sat in my office for the last 5 years about 90% finished and collecting dust, This past winter I decided to find the remaining pieces, mostly the charging system, wiring, carb, cables, etc. finish it up and sell it. The frame is an original 56, vin number 75957, uncut and unmolested, It has been media blasted and professionally refinished, The front end is an earlier 50's triumph pre unit, new style tapered neck bearings, new bushings and completely chromed, the fork shrouds are original custom stuff, rechromed, not repro, The front wheel is a new 19"dunlop, with stainless spokes to a nos drum and hub, trued and balanced to a new dunlop gold seal tire and tube. It has the early 50's triumph 1/2 drum brake with the air scoop, The handlebars are nos 1" hellings and stellings correct for a preunit triumph, that I've had these bars for years, there are a few scratches near where they mount, The hellings decal is still on the handlebars. The headlamp is a original lucas, im not sure what it came off of, but its cool with a pointed tear drop in the back and looks right on this bike, It was with the bike when i bought it. The engine numbers 74453, dont match the frame, But are the cases that were with the bike when i bought it. They are 1956 and match left to right. There are the big bearing cases and were perfect. the bottom end is fresh, bearings bushings etc. with a .060 overbore, new pistons and rings, The head was rebuilt, valve job, with new stainless valves. The cams are a set of hotter than stock triumph cams that were in the motor when i got it. The original lucas magneto was polished and refurbished, It has an automatic advance unit. I used one of the new jrc amal/ kehin alternative carbs on the bike, It Idles and runs good. The pipes are a new set of custom TT pipes for a pre unit. I made a bracket that holds the pipes under the bike where the orig center stand mounted. The tube you see coming from the front of the case is a breather, as recommended by Britech of new england, It goes under the tank and has a filter on the end to keep dirt from going back into the engine, It makes a big difference in getting the pressure out of the engine. The engine has been broken in and will get another oil change before it leaves here to its new owner. The trans, clutch, primary has all been gone thru, new bearings where needed, new primary chain and drive chain, It uses a later 12v stator and rotor with a 60-62 preunit adapter for the stator, all triumph stuff, also is a sparx regulator rectifier capacitor, which is relaible and eliminates the battery, The bike is wired using cloth covered wire and looks cool. All the chrome is fresh except for the 2 front side motor mount plates and the rear wheel, the rear wheel is nice but not show, The chrome on the hub has some pitting, Rear tire is new dunlop gold seal and matches the front. The front motor plates were missing from the project and I didnt have time to get them plated once I found a set, The rear shocks are new as is the seat [repro] They were missing also. The tank is original preunit it has been cleaned and sealed before paint. The original rear fender has been bobbed. Take a good look at this bike, These iron head pre unit triumphs are getting harder and harder to find, as are the parts. They are easy to handle, fun bikes to ride, still look as cool as anything and you dont need back surgery when you get off it. I put this bike together to be simple dependable and easy to maintain, there are 2 switches on the battery box-tool box, headlamp hi-lo, and magneto-off, thats it, there is no battery to worry about or mess with, lights are on when the bike starts, although you could easily wire a light switch in if you wanted. The bike will start with 1 or 2 kicks eveytime. It runs good and sounds better. Like i said its been sitting around for awhile and there are a few nicks on the frame here and there, but its super clean and a nice vintage preunit triumph bobber and will turn heads where ever you take it. I will help with shipping if needed, I have contact information of a company in phoenix that moves bikes countrywide, They seem to be pretty reasonable. Also if you are seriously interested in the bike I have a short video of the bike starting, running and moving that I can email if needed, It would take alot of time and energy to gather all the pieces and put this bike together, The reserve is very reasonable This bike is sold with a notarized bill of sale only, no title, If I missed anything or if you have questions, just ask, or call me at 520-2499462, thanks for looking Check spelling InsertsCreate an Insert...--------------------------------Seller's Other ItemsAdd to Favorites List On Apr-03-11 at 15:17:56 PDT, seller added the following information: Here is a short video, it will give you the general idea http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0xVxsqONV8