My 1973 Hurricane is pretty much as it came out of the factory. The Craig Vetter inspired styling has stood the test of time well; so well that it's not really on to change any of the cosmetic components, as it would ruin the whole look. With the clock reading 39000 miles, in the six years I've owned the beast, mileage has largely been pleasurable, though mostly only done on reasonable summer days.
Despite the name on the petrol tank, it's really a BSA Rocket 3 under the skin, instantly recognizable from the way the top end of the motor is canted forward. The most obvious addition is the combined seat/tank unit, a masterstroke of the stylist's pen whose only fault is the mere two gallon's worth of petrol it holds. Longer front forks combined with a slightly modified Rocket 3 frame complete the package.
High bars, high gearing and a surprising willingness of the 740cc OHV triple to rev make the Hurricane a far different motorcycling experience to the average British hack. This is a fun bike to thrash through country lanes. Weighing 450lbs meant that the bars provided more than enough leverage for hurling the twenty year old machine through bends, keeping up even in the company of some quite hot modern middleweights.
The motor revs with ease to the 8000rpm red line, developing 58 horses at 7300rpm, at its best between 3500 and 7000rpm. Beyond 6500rpm vibes breeze in and only those with a wrecker's instinct will tolerate 9000 revs for more than an instant. What must be one of the most beautiful sounding and looking exhausts in the world really reverberates out of its three silencers when the power is wound on. Music to my ears.
Despite an oil cooler, hard charging for a couple of hours makes the engine run incredibly hot, a sudden rainstorm, for instance, causing great clouds of steam as the water hits the engine whilst stationary at a junction. Hitting town after a hard afternoon's riding turns the clutch, a single plate diaphragm job, decidedly temperamental. Which, in turn makes the five speed gearbox, which normally has a pleasantly precise feel, become as awkward as a screaming baby deprived of its mother's attention. Finding neutral's almost impossible and missed changes become the norm.
That all gets much worse if the oil isn't changed every 750 miles, sometimes less as it seems to live a hard life - I'm sure I can hear it frothing away as it overheats. That seems a good enough point at which to set all six valves, balance the three Amal carbs and set the points, the latter being especially tedious as there are three sets. I usually do a spark plug change as well as they don't last long and the last thing I want to do is nurse home a reluctant Hurricane that thinks it's fun to imitate a twin or even a single.
Feted thus, the Triumph usually provides on the road reliability, with none of the old British habits of destroying or shedding components. I'm more than happy to put in the maintenance effort so that I can enjoy the fun aspect. The Hurricane usually keeps up with rival bikes all the way up to its 120mph top speed, although to be truthful the riding position limits cruising speed to no more than 75mph.
Comfort is another doubtful area, the thin seat padding compressing out after a couple of hours. 200 miles in a day is more than enough, the vibes also start becoming intrusive and a couple of times I ended up with dead feet and tingling fingers. With a safe range of less than 70 miles, breaks for fuel refills were frequent, even though fuel hovered around a not unreasonable 45mpg. Triumph triples need the fuel feed from having both the main and reserve taps fully open, if they are to avoid getting so hot the valves melt, so there's no back-up.
The weakest parts of the engine are the chain primary drive, clutch and valvegear. The amount of effort put in on maintenance determines engine life, mine's still on most of its original components with the exception of a new primary chain at 22000 miles. The top end has become rather rattly and the motor no longer fires into life first kick (it takes three or four) after tickling the carbs. That may just be worn Amals or the engine in need of a rebore - oil consumption now runs to about a pint every 125 miles.
The chassis hasn't been quite so easy to solve. The most chronic hassle has been the conical TLS front drum, which if it looked very neat was as unpredictable as the clutch. Part of that was down to the need for 250 mile adjustments to keep the shoes working together rather than fighting each other; neglecting that meant it was time to wrench wrist muscles to avoid denting the Borrani alloy wheel rim. Fade was, even when they were set up properly, usually an issue after a couple of desperate stops.
Another annoyance is varying quality in brake shoes, I once had to chuck a set after just 200 miles because they turned the front end jerky, vile and vicious. The brakes work okay in the wet despite the huge air scoop on the front drum. The manoeuvrability of the bike helps out the dodgy brakes but sometimes I can only look wistfully at the double discs on friend's bikes. The shoes last about 12500 front and 16000 miles rear.
The big 19 inch front wheel, shod with Avon's finest, gives a nice feeling of security and I've yet to experience any of the sudden slides that many Jap bikes, with much smaller wheels, seem to suffer - not that I do much wet weather riding, I'm too concerned with keeping the chrome up to its natural shine.
On that score the neatly polished alloy bottom yoke developed a couple of hairline cracks that I only noticed when buffeting them up with some Solvol. It proved impossible to buy a replacement and I ended up having a new one machined from solid alloy. Shortly after that the U-shaped headlamp bracket fractured, the huge headlamp turning into a high speed missile when it richochetted off an oncoming car. I took the opportunity to upgrade the headlamp to something more useful for illuminating unlit country roads.
The electrics were another marginal area, with the 140W alternator hard pressed to keep the battery fully charged with the uprated headlamp. This may have had something to do with the way the batteries started losing their ability to hold a charge after a mere three months. A period of time that could easily have the Zener Diode melting down. As well as handle bar switches that fell apart, wiring connectors yielded to either age or vibration and the rear light spent as much time blown as it did illuminating the back end. The more minor of these problems were solved by rewiring and better (usually, I have to admit, Japanese) components; the more serious tolerated as they were at least predictable.
Less sustainable was trying to run the engine on unleaded fuel. The motor sounded rough, wouldn't rev out in the gears and was turning in about 30mpg. The engine had always demanded four star, under certain atmospheric conditions even five star. The latest unleaded petrol is tolerable but fuel is only 40mpg, so I usually stick with four star.
The time the oil tank cracked wasn't very amusing, but the slithering back wheel caused me to pull over before the engine ran out of lubricant. A two mile push home, followed half the way by a jam sandwich to ensure I kept my helmet on (thus defining the meaning of bloody-minded), didn't exactly turn me lyrical.
The other failure of note was the back wheel bearings, after I took a twenty stone mate on the pillion (made the normally stiff springs go ever so soft). The wobble that preceded the rumbling noises convinced me that I was about to die, as did the need to use a couple of lanes to survive probably bring similar thoughts to the panic stricken minds of cagers coming towards me. Riding home, much shaken, at 20mph for four miles was even more frightening as it was along the A1 for most of the way.
Most bits have been cheap and the bike is generally very easy to work on.
The Hurricane's as neat a looking bike as any on the road, is bags of fun to ride short distances and can even be pushed into use as a mild tourer. It fits my motorcycling needs perfectly and has even appreciated in a value by about a thousand pounds. They are so rare, all I can say is snap one up if you get the opportunity.
K.M.