Classic Dirt Bike — Autumn 2017

Withamultitudeofcams,valves,

pistons, gearsandcarburettorsavailable

toselectfrom,Triumph’sunit5 00 could

bebuiltinanyspecfromhotracerto

flexibleoff-roader.

Asstandard,

theTrophyTrail

wouldcomewith

indicatorsbut

alotofowners

wouldremove

themasthey’re

quitevulnerable.

supposebythentheindustrywaspeopled

withthosewhofoundconceptmeetings,

focusgroupsandthink-tankstobeimportant

ratherthanjustaskingthosewhomightknow.

Onepersonwhomighthaveknownwas

BillBairdthemulti-endurochampioninthe

USAwhofavouredTr iumphstotheendofhis

career.Bill’sfameasanenduroriderandthe

facthewasseenonremarkablystandard

lookingTr iumphsprobablyhelpednoendin

thetaskofsellingdirtbikes.Inthosedays,

Tr iumph’s500ccrangewasbasedontheunit

constructionpackageandwhiletheremight

havebeenafewdetaildifferences,theframe,

forks,yokesandenginewerethesame.

Insidetheenginespecificationcouldand

didvarydependingonwhatusethemodel

wouldbeputto,butasidefromthataroad-

going 500 andacompetition 500 arenota

mileapart. Thenit allendedasthesmaller

rangewasdiscontinuedorreducedand

effectivelybecametheDaytonaroadbike.

Bytheearly Seventies,theBritishindustry

hadtoallintentsandpurposesgone,there

werenovastworkssupportedcompetition

teams–evenif therehadbeenfortheoff-

roadersatleasttherewaslittleforthemto

ride.Buttherewasstillinterestinselling

motorcyclesandmoreimportantlymaybethe

realisationtheBritishbikeshadhadtheir

highperformanceday, somaybeagentle

dualpurposemachinewouldbeofinterest.

WithTr iumph’sflexibleengine,BSA’schassis

designavailable,theredidn’tseemany

reasonnottoputthetwotogetherandseeif

afewcouldn’tbeshifted.

ThoughthenewTrophyTrailandlater

Adventurerwereunlikelytobehugesellersat

thatstageintheindustry, anysaleswouldbe

welcome.BSA’sremainingworksriderswere

draftedintotesttheprototype,eventhe

ArmyintheguiseofSergeantGeorgeWebb,

didtheirbitandtheresultwasadecent

machine.JohnNuttinggotholdofonefora

Trophy

trail

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