Classic Dirt Bike — Autumn 2017

Prettymuchalastgasp

forTriumph,certainlyfor

the 500 satleast,but

whatagreatlookingbike.

On the

Onthefaceofit, therearesomebikeswhichshouldn’t work–

wrongbits, toooldfashioned–yetdespitesuchoddstheydowork.

Wordsandpics

Tim Britton

T

hose of us who were youngsters

in the early Seventies and reading

the motorcyclepress of the day

had absorbed everythingabout

the ISDT, the long distance trials where

Triumphhad exceeded all expectations and

produced winners. We had focussed on such

motorcyclesasthe TR5, the Trophy500, we

knewall about the wartimelegendofthe

squarebarrel over the later roundbarrel,how

couldwe not, it waswritten downin front of us.

We knewthe ISDT wasthe ultimate

test of motorcycleand rider and that the

competitiondepartmentsof not only Meriden

were focussedon successin this demanding

theatreof skill and determination.We knew

the motorcyclesneededfor this ultimatetest

wouldbe superbin everyrespect...if only

theywould producethemin hugenumbers

then the industrywould rise again.

Someof us aspired to theskillsthe ISDT

riders demonstrated, from their calmriding

styleskeepingthemontime, to tyrechanges

in less than fourminutes –this, we thought,

wasthe wayforward. We achedtobethere

on Triumphtwins,couldn’twait to be involved;

but perhaps we were naiveastheseteam

motorcycleswere never production bikes in

the true sense. Yes, theywere bikes thathad

begunasproduction-basedmachines but

afterbeing hauledfrom the productionline

theywere lookedover verycarefully.Then a

few modshere and there to make themmore

suitable forpurpose and so it went on. At

leastitwent on untilthe industryall but died

and costcutting camein, gone were the base

modelsthese machines were culled from.

Yousee what we dirtmad youngsters

didn’tappreciatewassuch off-roadbikes

were smallpotatoescomparedto the road

marketand what the factoryhierarchyin

placedidn’trealisewasmotorcycleshad

becomeleisure.Gonewasthe needfor

daily transportasanecessity,thosewho

rode amotorcycleto workdid so because

theychoseto do so, not becausethey

couldn’tafford acar.Perhapsthat wasthe

realisationwhichdawnedon the factory

hierarchyafter endingproductionof the high

pipedT100;maybe, maybe not, but it is a

plausibleexplanation.

Arguably,consideringthe dual purpose

backgroundboth Triumphand their owners

BSA had, it is inconceivableboth endedup

at apoint in the Seventieswith no machine

in the rangeto service the growingtrail bike

needin the USA.However,Iwasn’tthere

in thoseboardroomswherethingswere

discussedand to me it seemsthe obvious

thingis to spot aneed and fulfili tbut I

Trophy trail

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