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Where Are All The Triumph Twins?


laird387
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Hi,

Another offroadarchive image, this time showing John Gaskell from Cumbria, riding his very tidy Triumph twin special. John was a regular rider in classic and pre-65 trials and a difficult man to beat.

The event? The 1999 Manx Classic Two-day trial.

Enjoy.

post-19290-0-94104000-1388929037_thumb.jpg

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Hi,

An historical image, Roy Peplow riding his unit-twin Triumph, one of only three models using the unit construction motors at the time. Seen here in the 1963 Cotswold Cups trial, the bike was later sold and subsequently restored by Don Morley, a regular contributor to ORR.

Enjoy.

post-19290-0-90261500-1388929553_thumb.jpg

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Steven Hand from Gillingham has recently started using a bike he and his brother Roger have built from scratch.Its based on a pre unit all alloy 500 twin,mated to an Ariel Arrow gearbox.Sounds great and apparently goes very well,there are a couple of pictures of it on the Somerton Classic results page for the Gordon Francis trial on the 27th Dec.John Pym and Clive Causer was also out on a unit Triumph twins.In the Bath Classic trials you will also see John Adams and John Griffen on their unit twins,and there are also some regulars at the Golden valley trials.So thankfully a few are still being used.

I don't know who it is,but there is a side valve rigid twin based,I presume on a Triumph TRW that is sometimes used at Golden Valley trials,looks to ride very well and sounds fabulous.

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They are riding in our trial championship in Leicestershire.

here is Mark Wills on his 1951 500 Triumph

mark.jpg

Which he tried to use as a Submarine on the Arbuthnot trial 2 years ago. Every one was warned not to go through the puddles. But he chose it ignore this and ended up with just his handlebars above water. His Lad then followed him in on his James.

Here is Pete Monk on his 50 ish 500cc trophy.

pete.jpg

This broke its frame a couple of trials ago and had to have major welding under the front of the engine area

here is Roger Gagg on his on his 1949 500CC . With a generator engine fitted

roger.jpg

here is Micky Allen who occasionally rides in our events on his 1962 350cc Triumph

micky.jpg

All these bikes look and sound great

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Hi,

Another historical Triumph twin from the offroadarchive, showing works rider Peter Hammond in the Cheltenham Home Guard trial, March 1954. Photographed by Bill Cole.

Looks like one of the 'so-called' generator motors (Triumph had a wartime contract to supply man portable water pumps for use by Fire Brigade and Home Guard personnel during bombing raids when the normal vehicle mounted pumps couldn't get through because of piles of rubble, etc. They also had an existing contract for generator units, so they built a lightweight motor in alloy and used it for both jobs.)

Enjoy.

post-19290-0-80449400-1389024010_thumb.jpg

Edited by laird387
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Hi,

To add potential spice to the discussions, here is an image from my offroadarchive showing Tony Smith on his Triumph twin in the Yeo Vale's 1962 Crown Trial, where he claimed the 500 Cup with a score of 32 lost. This was actually fourth best performance from a total of 76 riders - no mean feat.

Enjoy.

post-19290-0-75536200-1389462413_thumb.jpg

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Hi,

Another of those Triumph twins from the offroadarchive, seen at the Old Codgers trial in 2000 is Roy Groves with his very interesting Wasp special - a very tidy looking bike that was going well. The Old Codgers was definitely a reunion event for old mates - just a quiet day of fun offroad - and Roy had ridden in all nine of the events when this photograph was taken.

Enjoy.

post-19290-0-74500800-1389608528_thumb.jpg

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  • 2 weeks later...
 
 
 
 

Hi,

A couple of days ago 'metisse' asked whether I had any photographs of John Kendall, well, in the format of the TV chefs, here is one I took earlier!!

John is riding his Triumph twin in the Three Musketeers trial, I think in 2000. Based on a 3TA power unit - an ideal choice, the 3TA was the so-called 'bathtub' model, with a heavy steel enclosure round the rear wheel, so Meriden fitted wide ratio cogs in the gearbox to cope with the extra weight.

I was often asked why I allowed John to ride in the standard pre-65 class, rather than the specials - but if you looked carefully, the only deviation was in the nicely sculpted petrol tank-cum-saddle unit, and both petrol tanks and saddles were always in the 'replaceable' parts category anyway. One fascinating thought - how about the 'silhouette' - or is that a truly daft question?

Enjoy.

post-19290-0-13165800-1390731365_thumb.jpg

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