Cracked-up crankcase woes

I thought I would share a few memories of my customised

Triumph Tiger 110. I was about 17 years old; it was 1966 and one of my friends from school days was Geoff. Geoff liked to work on bikes but never passed his test or rode a bike at all. I think his parents put him off and so he tinkered to make up for it. His dad had a large wooden workshop down the bottom of their long garden and that is where Geoff did his thing. His project at that time was the Tiger 110 – I think it could have been a 1958 model, but I am not sure. He had spent lots of money on it – new bearings in the engine and oil seals, high compression pistons, polished the con rods, nice blue glass fibre tank, twin clocks and clip-on bars. It really looked the part.

When it was finished, Geoff said he was selling it to do another bike, so I asked how much and he said £80. He lived a short distance from the Atherstone Bypass so, the next evening, he let me try it with the view to buying it. At that time, if a bike did the ton it was pretty good.

It was a nice sunny evening and off I went up the bypass. I remember lots of vibration but it definitely left its mark. I bought it with no hesitation. Thinking about it, I had no tax or insurance but never gave it a thought.

The first decent journey was to the BMF Rally at Woburn Abbey with another friend on the back. The only thing is, we didn’t make it. Going down the M1, I noticed a plume of smoke from the nearside of the engine. We were only doing a steady 60mph. I tried to ignore it, hoping it would go away, but it didn’t. Stopping on the hard shoulder for a closer inspection, I found that the nearside crankcase half was cracked top and bottom by the main bearing housing. After a while we managed to contact through the motorway emergency phone another friend whose dad was a builder and he recovered us with his Bedford Dormobile. This was only the start of a few experiences – mostly bad – during my time owning that particular bike.

John Bellamy Do tell us more, John! And ignoring a plume of smoke and hoping it would go away, I think we’ve all done that!