Triumph Thunderbird
A survivor
To many enthusiasts the name of the Triumph Thunderbird will always be associated along with that of Marlon Brando and his character Johnny Strabler in the 1950’s film The Wild One. Based on Frank Rooney’s book ‘The Cyclist Raid’ which covered the sensational media coverage of the AMA’s rally that got out of hand on the 4th of July 1947 in Hollister California – the movie did little to enhance the image of motorcycling to the masses. In fact the Board of Censors considered it to be totally unsuitable for British cinema goers and from its initial release in 1953 it would take another fifteen years before it was eventually given an X certificate with the first public viewing at the 59 Club in Paddington in 1968.
Brando’s bike was his own slightly customised 1950 Thunderbird but if you happen to see his life size image in Madame Tussauds waxworks you will see he is stood next to a later 1957 model, a similar bike that I have tested here. This T Bird belongs to Dorset enthusiast Ron Axon – a man who has now been riding for over seventy years – and with more than one hundred thousand miles on the clock it’s a bike that has seen plenty of action from the day it rolled out the showrooms of Moors in Parkstone six decades ago. Amazingly Ron is only the third owner of the big Triumph and all of the work and servicing has been itemised in a well-thumbed log book. Ron told me a little about some of the bike’s history and the previous three T Birds he has owned.
“From my first bike – a 250cc BSA Blue Star in 1946 – I’ve owned all sorts of both British and Japanese machines but I’ve always had a soft spot for Triumph twins and this is my fourth Thunderbird. The first was a 1953 sprung hub model followed two years later by an early swinging arm bike – finished in blue – and number three in 1956 was a brand new machine which I recall cost me £253 on the road including number plates. I had to wait the best part of another fifty years before I got my latest T Bird; a bike that my old mate Ray Honeybun had bought from the first owner Mr Hawkins – who lived in nearby Bere Regis – for the princely sum of £140 in 1962. Ray was fastidious for keeping records and in a little oil stained notebook you can see everything that happened to the Triumph until he eventually took it off the road in 2001. The first entry shows that on the 16th July ’62 he treated it to an oil change and the last change of lubricant was on the 2nd of May in 2001.”
A new SU carburettor was fitted with 12,000 showing on the clock and the Shell 10/30w oil was changed regularly at 2,000 mile intervals. Other than regular servicing – including a couple of decokes – the bike reached 23,000 miles before any major work had to be done. This saw an engine strip with replacement main and big end bearings, primary and drive chains and new spindle and bushes in the swinging arm. Another twelve thousand miles saw the engine stripped again with a new cylinder block, pistons and valve guides; the same operation repeated in both May 1975, September ’78 January 1981, the latter which also included new clutch plates. The log book indicates that at 98,000 the cylinder block, pistons and oil pump were changed once more but this would be the last
major work carried out before it was bought by Ron Axon in May 2001. Since then Ron has used it on several club runs where the unrestored Thunderbird – with its wonderful patina of gold paint, dents and scrapes – always creates a lot of interest. Many enthusiasts regard the mid-fifties T Bird – a model which would appear in Triumph’s range for seventeen years – as one of the best ‘cooking twins’ to emerge from the Meriden production lines so before we fire Ron’s bike into action perhaps we should reflect a little on the launch of the first Thunderbird back in 1950.
To meet the demand from the Stateside market for more horsepower from the 500cc Speed Twin ►
engine, the concept of the name ‘Thunderbird’ and its bigger 650cc displacement was thought up by managing director Edward Turner on one of his regular trips to America. The standard 6T Thunderbird was launched publically at Montlhery autodrome near Paris in September 1949 where three standard-production bikes were ridden by a team of riders who between them averaged a speed of 92mph over a distance of 500 miles around the steeply banked circuit. This was of great importance to Triumph as their achievement not only made the BBC’s evening news but also the national dailies and on their return to the UK the three bikes and their riders were cheered into Coventry by a huge crowd.
In anticipation of their success at Montlhery Triumph had sent out publicity packs to both major British motorcycle magazines and already had 2,500 of their new bikes finished on their production lines. Most of these were destined for the huge USA market to help pay off the massive debts the UK had incurred during the Second World War and they were not to be disappointed as the T Bird was an immediate hit with the stateside enthusiasts. Not only were they impressed by its torquey 650cc single carb’ engine but also by its evocative name; one which had its origins in native American mythology and spotted by Turner on a motel sign board as he drove to Daytona earlier that year. Other than the fitting of an SU carb’ in ’52 – this gave excellent fuel consumption – the sprung hub 6T continued pretty much unaltered through to 1955 when the first swinging arm model of the bike appeared.
By now it had been surpassed in the sales and performance stakes by the latest twin-carb T110 but the Thunderbird, with its ‘paper dart’ logo embossed on the primary chain-case and eye catching new colours was still much loved by both sidecar riders and also by the Metropolitan police. Edward Turner had been quick to see that not all enthusiasts wanted their bikes in dull colours and our test bike is finished in the stunning gold paintwork and the striking chrome grill ‘mouth organ’ tank badge that first appeared in 1957. The running gear also had an update over the old bike with a new chain guard which offered better enclosure and a more solid mounting to the lower rear shock bolt, the lower exhaust bracket which was always prone to cracking from vibration was ►
beefed up and the new model was treated to an efficient air cleaner under the seat. Although the 7 inch brake shoes themselves remained the same – the T110 had grown another inch in diameter – they were greatly improved with the fitment of a fullwidth finned hub and a modified backing plate. In an effort to get over a problem with an oil leak in the gearbox Meriden introduced a new kick-start cotter along with new sleeve gears and bushes and those on the mainshaft high gear were now extended through the primary case oil retainer plate into the chain case itself. Sadly period reports would suggest that this was not particularly successful and most Thunderbirds could usually be found with a drip of lubricant under the gearbox housing.
The period road testers had plenty of praise on the T Bird’s ability to start from hot or cold and with ignition on and a good priming of the SU carb – followed by freeing the clutch before engaging first gear – just one kick saw the 650cc twin burble into life. Both the clutch operation and the gearbox were light and positive and once clear of the built up area the big four stroke really got into its stride and we were soon bowling along at ease at the national speed limit. At 60mph I was surprised how smooth the engine was with little of the vibration normally associated with Triumph twins. With a dry weight of 395lb – 15lb heavier than the original 6T – the bike was easy to flick from footrest to footrest through a series of S bends and the riding position of handlebars and footrests was spot on for my trip through the gorgeous Dorset lanes; a journey the 6T must have made many times in its former life. The single leading shoe brakes were – as reported at the time – not one of the Triumph’s high points and required a good squeeze on the front lever along with a steadying dab on the rear to bring the big twin and its fourteen stone rider to a controlled halt.
I was certainly relieved that I didn’t have the additional weight of a passenger or a sidecar to contend with and a reminder that brakes have come on a long way in the last sixty years.
Whilst the Thunderbird may not have the same pedigree and panache of its twin carb sibling it’s certainly a bike that loves to be ridden long and hard and one guaranteed to put a smile on any enthusiast’s face. Sadly my ride along those familiar West Country roads was soon over and it was time to return VLJ 528 to its enthusiastic owner. It really is a little gem and given the opportunity one I would be proud to own and ride another hundred thousand miles on. ■