RealClassic – August 2019

Triumph triple withoutremindingmyself of this,
especially ifI’ve just clamberedfromaTriumph
paralleltwin, aswasthe case whenIrode this
particular,particularlyfine example.
TheTrident te am did several clever things,
too. Like the neatoil pump–nothi ng like the
ancienttwin-plunger deviceonall thetwins –or
the highvolume andeasily replaceablefilter for
the oil it pumped.Like the intelligentlocation
of the alternator, inside thetiming chest,away
from the boiling oil and chain thrash of the
primarychain case.Like the pair of shell-type
cent re mainbearings,clamped up in that centre
crankcase‘half’.
Andalthough itwas–for along time–easy
to sneerat the old-fashioned ohvdesignint he
first age of production ohc engines,inf actit’sa
neat, compactdesign, allows the enginetofit
into acompactframe,and removesthe needfor
ahigh-pressureoil feed to the engine’s topend.
Ilike the triple engine–does it show?
First –and possibly mostimportant–thing
first.It’seasy to start. There’salot of engineto
turnover, so I’malwaysnervous,but in fact
most of theresistanceiso il drag andinertia
–you’reonlybringin gasingle 250cccylinder
up to co mpressionat atime.Remindyourself
of this when puffing and pantingalittle.It
won’thelp,ofc ourse.Tickling is something of

aticklish subjectwith threeAmal ca rbs...and

many riders decideto replacethem, as seen

hereinfact, wherenotickling isrequiredto

coax those threeMikuni ca rbsintoprolonged

activ elife. Much morecivilised.Thatsaid,all of

my ownTridentsand Rockets have boasted the

originalAmals. That’s athing about‘enthusias t’

machinerylike the triples; there’saload of lore

out there–everyone knows best.

As wasrarely the case withmy ownTridents,

the Mikunisperform somekind of magic

trick andfire up alltogether.Back in those

farawaydistantdays, Iwouldtypically tickle

the easyto reach outer carbs,relying on the

choketo infuse thecentre Amal with ignition

enthusiasm.In practice,this meantthatfrom

cold th eT150stypically startedout asa500cc

twin. It only took afew minutes beforethe

coughingcent re pot chimed in, transforming a

hesitantstutteringtwin into aferocious triple,

withthatunique howlforwhich they should

be famous.Atl east alittle bit.

Clutches arerarely objects of interest.Except

here. Another under-praised item on the triple

fancier’s checklist should be the unusual clutch.

Neatand compactand usingboth apull-rod

and adiaphragmspring,withjust asingle

friction plate.Look them up: theywork very

well indeed.Noslip,nodrag, lightatt he le ver

Probablyofmore use thananoil gaugeist he la rgeoilfilter,which livesbehind the hex-headedcap

beneath the engine.Change it often; observe howmuch muck comes out with the old one,too

This isabig tank.Itc an carry4½gallons,

UK gallons,which sounds remarkableand

impressive. Except thatifthe engine’s usedtoi ts

potential that’sarange of 160 miles...maybe

and progressiveinoperation. Better than the

Commando,inmyview, althoughIshould

probably whisper that...

In use,the triple’s clutchfeels faintly

unfamiliaratfirst, with theodd over-centring

sensation commonto diaphragmsprings,but

withinfive mile syou’vesimplyforgotten about

it.Triumphintended to followthe 150 with the

T160, and then the 870ccT180, presumably

using the same clutch, so it should be decently

10 I AUGUST 2019 More old bikes online: Real-Classic.co.uk

An oil pressuregaugeisr ecommendedbymanytriple experts. However, severa lother sdislikethem, citing them aspointlessworrymeters...