I thought, as I rode home on the 1970 Trophy, that it would take a bit of getting used to. Brought up on a strict diet of Japanese commuters this was my first foray into British stuff. The Triumph was 20 years and 60,000 miles old, but had been recently rebuilt from the ground up. I had helped my cousin with the reconstruction effort so was pretty certain that all was well within the polished alloy engine cases.
Mind you, thumping along the motorway at 70mph in top, the mill gave out so much vibration that it felt like there was something terminally amiss. I reassured myself with my cousin's tales of losing his fillings, having watches fall apart and suffering from white fingers. They all do that, mate, were his parting words when I complained about the vibes after my test ride. I wouldn't have bought the Triumph had not 450 notes seemed ridiculously cheap for a working piece of British history.
About twenty miles into the forty mile trek home, there was a sudden flurry of car horns, screeching tyres. The mirrors were useless, so I had no idea how close I came to being the cause of a pile-up. I was about to let loose a volley of curses as the car crept past, along the lines of questioning the parentage of blind cagers, when the car driver got in something about my rear light not working. The tenor of the message was far too repulsive to repeat here.
Anyway, I pulled over to the hard shoulder. Sure enough, no rear light. No problem, tighten up the brake light switch until it was on permanently. Lasted for another five miles. Luckily, I soon found a service station and bought a replacement. The Trophy was sufficiently modern to have 12V electrics. My cousin reluctantly admitted that he had never had a rear light that lasted for more than a week. This despite copious quantities of extra rubber mounting.
The only other electrical peculiarity that I could find was a Zener Diode with a habit of going up in flames every six months or so. Both the front headlamp and horn were surprisingly effective. The battery was not stressed by an electric starter but my right leg was most certainly traumatised by the pressure needed to overcome the 10:1 compression ratio. Once I'd mastered the knack, starting was a third or fourth kick affair from cold.
With a hot engine it was easier, which was just as well as the Triumph showed a mild tendency to stall during low speed work in heavy traffic. The first time it happened caused me to panic a bit. Well, it was in front of a long line of irate cagers who were raring to go when the lights changed to green. In my haste to kick the bike back into life from the saddle I messed up the kick. Received a fierce kickback that nearly broke my leg. Screaming in agony, I toppled over. One cager took pity, pulled the bike off me and moved it into the gutter. Talk about being red-faced with shame.
In the 9000 miles I did on the bike the vibration never became any worse but I was never able to convince myself that it had faded into the background. Vibes were the bane of the machine, causing bits to fall off or actually break up. Amongst those that did a disappearing act were the rear numberplate, a sidepanel and the indicators. Superglue, Araldite and wire were all used to keep things in place, but not even a combination of all three was entirely successful in securing the more susceptible components.
Had the vibes been less intrusive then the Trophy would've been a big winner in the useability stakes. For a bike that weighs around 320lbs it feels much bigger and very secure on the road. The stiff suspension combined with the hefty frame made smooth, curvy roads a real pleasure. A surprising amount of muscle was needed to throw the thumper through tight corners but I could forgive that in exchange for the safe feel. However, the age of the bike's suspension was quickly revealed - no, it wasn't a soggy mess just so taut and lacking in travel that each and every road irregularity played a fearful tune on my battered spine.
Not helped any by the tall handlebars my cousin deemed necessary to his image. The seat perched me high above the bike, the bars leaving my arms splayed wide out in the wind. With such a narrow OHV thumper engine it seemed silly to have yard wide bars but I wasn't going to splurge out on the new set of cables that a narrower set would have needed.
The engine has been basically reliable, but only if you discount things like points that fall apart and duplex primary chains that do a self-destruct act. Triumph claimed 24 horses (for what is basically a BSA motor) but to obtain that 8500 revs are needed. This is certainly possible if the bike is caned in second and third before changing up to fourth..... giving a top speed of around 85mph. As might be guessed, vibes become so furious once past 6000rpm that anything other than once a year would mean such abuse would quickly blow the engine.
The motor is rather notorious for wrecking its valvegear and gearbox, but my machine was well put together and certainly not thrashed. My cousin reckons a new piston and rebore every 12000 miles with the crankshaft lasting around 20,000 miles before the bearings are shot. He's had to take the head off in less than 5000 miles in the past, but ended up making some mods to the rockers and doing some careful work on the valves, so I haven't had the pleasure yet. Don't know what he did to the gearbox but it is very smooth and precise. Much superior to old Hondas.
Despite being quite heavily tuned (by the standards of the day) power delivery is quite punchy in the lower rev range. Top gear won't pull less than 30mph without going all snatchy but acceleration from 40 to 70mph is quite adequate for passing traffic on the open road. First gear drags are a good way of upsetting fancy cages but the clutch is weak, prone to both slipping and dragging. Conversely, it took about two months for my left wrist to stop aching from the pressure at the lever. Not helped any by the length and complex route of the clutch cable. I recently had to buy some glasses, I'm sure the Triumph's vibes had something to do with this.
I can forgive a bike a lot if it is cheap to run. The Trophy has cost next to nothing. Still on the same chain, shoes and tyres that it came with. Plenty of wear left in them. Fuel hovers around the 60mpg mark, which is better than most Jap 250s. Really gentle riding will give better than 75mpg but the ever present danger of falling asleep from boredom at the controls usually rules this out. A wild blast will bring it down to a still acceptable 50mpg. My cousin used to get 35 to 40mpg until he replaced the Amal carb.
Wet weather riding would've been almost a pleasure did not water occasionally get to the electrics. It wasn't so bad that a dose of WD40 before an outing would preclude the engine stalling dead. Sometimes I forgot, once ending with a locked back wheel going into a vicious slide that threw us down the road. I was quite thankful that the chassis was so tough and the engine tucked out of harm's way. Nothing a few kicks couldn't sort out.
Actual crashes with other vehicles have been avoided. The TLS front brake is surprisingly effective whilst the sure-footed feel makes it relatively easy to avoid the more obvious machinations of blind cagers. Both the horn and almost straight through silencer means most car drivers are aware that a nasty bit of British engineering is about to cut them up.
The vibes do limit long rides to not much more than 150 miles in a day. With a three gallon tank and plush seat this is a pity but as most of my riding is commuting to work not that great a liability. My old Japanese commuters have had such wrecked suspension that they have not been able to better the Brit.
500 mile services have meant that the bike can't be ridden and neglected like an old CD175 but the Triumph is much more fun to ride out on the road. It all comes down to whether or not you can live with the vibes. I use the bike every day, admittedly for short distances, so my answer's pretty obvious.......anyone willing to part with 1500 sovs for the delight of my life, though, will be met by a very happy ex-owner.
Jerry