TRIUMPH TEARAWAY

As RealClassic is delivered to New Zealand by Steam Packet, I have only just bought and avidly read your December publication. Great article on the T100R and T100C bikes. I consulted my workshop manuals and you were right, the T100C is a single carb Daytona. The ‘softer’T100S was the one with ‘lesser internals’.

For the last eleven years I have been living with a 1970 T100T Daytona. One thing you soon find is they suffer from‘cammitus’, a condition the Daytona suffers from below 4000rpm. My research suggests that the E3134 high lift cams have two power steps; one at 4000rpm, the next one at 6000rpm. The motor delivers maximum bhp at 6800rpm. I can attest to this.

The motor has been described as ‘powerful but peaky’. In tackling uphill sections of my favourite country ride, drop below 4000rpm in any gear and there is nothing. You become adept at keeping the revs up and using the gearbox adroitly. The Daytona sounds like a busy motor over 4000rpm, when you wind up to 5 or 6000rpm it gets even busier. And when the motor hits 6000rpm, hang on! The term ‘demented bee’ springs to mind. Even in its earlier, clapped-out days before an engine rebuild, the bike would easily exceed the ton.

The 500cc Triumphs are light, agile, easy to start, great for tearing around streets and country lanes, preferably on your own. Bob Dylan and Steve McQueen thought so as well! Andre Jenkin Thanks. Every time I ride a decent unit 500 Triumph I’m pleasantly surprised by how much fun it is. It’s too easy to forget that there’s a lot of classic performance from bikes with less than 650cc.. Frank W