1954 Triumph Tiger T110

52995

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1954 TRIUMPH TIGER T110 with 9-BOLT UNIT 650 TOP END UPGRADE, mostly original sheet metal, STRONG RUNNING ENGINE, clutch & gearbox in good working order. Needs TIRES, attention to ELECTRICS and general FETTLING, not that far from being roadworthy... A nice example of a RARE Pre-Unit Triumph - the FIRST of the HIGH PERFORMANCE 650 twins! Matching frame & engine numbers, clean Califirnia title, current registration. PLEASE READ ENTIRE DESCRIPTION and LOOK CLOSELY AT ALL PHOTOS! 1954 Triumph Tiger T110 650 PRE UNIT Hot Rod 1st Year of Triumph's Sporting 650! Click images to enlarge Description Offered here on behalf of a friend is this VERY RARE 1954 TRIUMPH TIGER T110 650cc TWIN with UPGRADED 9-BOLT UNIT 650 TOP END, in VERY GOOD RUNNING condition.  1954 was a watershed year for Triumph - the Tiger T110 was introduced at the Paris Motorcycle show in October 1953 as the new "top of the line" model and was thus the very first of the "sporting" 650 twins for which Triumph would soon become world famous.  Based on the staid and civilized 650 6T Thunderbird, the new 1954 Tiger T110 had high compression pistons, hot cams and a bigger carb, all of which combined to give a claimed 42bhp, and the T110 was also equipped with a brand new 8" front brake with race-inspired air scoops to cope with all this new-found power!  And - a first for Triumph twins - the new model came with a swing arm frame!  WOW!  Hard to see it now, but at the time this really was a quantum leap forward in motorcycle design and performance... The evolution of the hot rod Triumph 650 continued with the famous alloy "Delta" head a couple years later in 1956, and then with the launch of the legendary Bonneville - the name that became synonomous with high-performance motorcycling the world over - in 1959.  But the '54 Tiger T110 is THE bike that STARTED IT ALL, making this a truly historically significant bike for pre-unit Triumph enthusiasts and collectors! This particular T110 spent most of its life in Southern California and was owned and ridden for many years by a well-known Triumph dealer in Hawthorne.  It has been modded here and there over the years, most significantly with a later 9-bolt unit top end with alloy cylinder head, which - if you're looking for a collectable pre-unit Triumph that you can actually RIDE - is a very useful upgrade.  Even so, this bike survived the "custom" trends of the 50s, 60s & 70s largely intact and still has the original one-year-only "pie-crust" front wheel with ventilated 8" brake, along with the front forks & nacelle, original/correct gas tank with parcel grid, 1" handlebars, seat, headers, oil tank, battery box, footpegs, chainguard, centerstand, kickstand, rear fender (I'm 99.9% certain the fender still has the original shell blue factory paint with black center line and white pinstriping) & fender stays still on the bike!  Very good bones overall - matching frame & engine numbers 52995, frame & swing arm are straight & uncut, all lugs, tabs & brackets intact, only flaw I can find is the usual hole drilled through the steering head to mount a "peanut" tank.  The engine crankcases are original and intact with NO weld repairs, and 1954 was also the first year for the "big bearing" engine, giving the timing side crankshaft a beefier caged ball bearing and making for a much more robust lower end.  The unit 650 9-bolt top end completes the package, NO bent or broken fins on head or cylinder barrel, but both rocker boxes have had the top two fins on the timing side removed.  Primary cover, timing cover & gearbox cover all have a nice polished finish, NO nasty dings, gouges or weld repairs.  Original Dunlop 19" rims are straight, chrome good but not perfect, some surface rust on spokes, both front & rear hubs have older custom chrome plating that has seen better days...  All in all, even with it's patina, the missing front fender and aftermarket mufflers, this bike looks PRETTY DARN GOOD and definitely projects that mid-50s pre-unit Triumph attitude!   Said "attitude" having been immortalized - at exactly the same time that Triumph was launching the T110 - by Johnny in The Wild One: What are you rebelling against - YouTube   Video will open in a new window [isdntekvideo]   Yes, some work will be required to get this bike back on the road - mainly new tires and a suspension refresh (worn shocks, loose steering head bearings, some stiction in forks) - but the overall mechanical condition of the engine, primary transmission and gearbox appears to be VERY GOOD.  Compression is healthy, the Lucas K2F magneto produces a fat blue spark, and once the 376/40 Monobloc (correct OEM carb for 1955 & later T110 models) is properly "tickled", it is a reliable one-kick starter even when cold. The engine fires right up and produces a nice crisp snarl, returns oil to the tank under good pressure, revs freely and pulls HARD, NO smoke, NO knocks or other funny noises. I went for a short test ride around the neighborhood (given the old, hard, cracked tires), but I did manage to run it up through the gears fully on the main jet, and this engine is STRONG!  NO hesitation or flat spots, NO clutch slip, clean shifts up and down the 4-speed, everything checks out fine as far this engine getting power to the rear wheel - and lots of it!  Along with new rubber and some suspension work, the electrics will need some attention - won't stop you from riding the bike and putting voice to your own inner rebellion, but if you want working lights, the harness (still mostly original) will need to be gone through and cleaned up, the dyno will need to be looked at, and it will need a new battery.  Beyond that, it will want an air filter, and I would replace all the cables as a matter of course, including the speedo cable which is currently missing - the drive at the gearbox has been blanked off, the Smiths "Revulator" chronometric speedometer is in great shape cosmetically, working condition unknown, odometer mileage shows 28,950.  It would not take that much to make this bike a truly enjoyable & unique rider, and - with readily available decent quality reproduction correct front fenders and silencers - you could ride it while restoring it back to original!   As with any 64 year-old motorcycle, there will be other flaws and/or things that could use attention that I may be overlooking, but be advised that I am NOT a pre-unit Triumph expert!  Please try your best to make it all the way through my overly verbose description (if you've made it this far you're almost home!), look VERY CLOSELY at all 24 photos, and send ANY and ALL questions my way.  I will do my very best to get answers back to you promptly...   And in the meatime, here for your viewing pleasure is a short video of this 1954 T110 RUNNING! 1954 Triumph Tiger T110 - YouTube   Video will open in a new window [isdntekvideo] Track Page Views WithAuctiva's FREE Counter