[dominator]

Originally Posted by fazalaliadil

Dear Sanjay,

Your engine number starting with 5T confirms it is not a thunder bird but a Speed Twin or Tiger.

There is no way you can say by the engine number or frame number which year it was manufactured in.

Most Tiger's came with a small grille under the headlamp and Speed Twin's came with a parking lamp in the same place. Yours looks like it was fitted with a lamp which is now missing.

You have the triangular brass plate (red arrow in pic.) still intact on the timing cover, and if it has speed twin embossed on it under the Triumph logo, you have your answer.

It should have a AMAL Mono block carburetor, but in pics it shows otherwise.

The horn button and dipper switch are original, but the tail lamp is Royal Enfield.

Your (too rounded) bend pipes and silencer domes are not original.

Spring hub drum (like on your bike) came on bikes until late 1940's, then came plunger shocks followed by swing arm type.

Your seat should be a saddle seat and not a full length one (like on later models) .

Finally the rear 'cycle type' stand did not come on the 50's bikes.

I may more right than wrong in assuming that yours is a late 40's model. maybe 1946-48.

Mine is a 1956 Speed Twin.

Regards,

Picture taken in 1998.
Attachment 211056

5T means it is a Speed twin.
You can surely find out from the Engine/Frame number - the year of manufacture. There are other ways also to identify the year of manufacture.
The nacelle parking lamp continued till 1955, from 1956 the horn grille replaced the parking lamp.The other noticeable change from 1956 was that the parcel grid had 2 bars with the centre petrol tank strip on the ridge.
The Amal Monoblocs were from 1955.
Mind you, they never came in plungers.
The Hub shocks/drum were made till 1952/1953 and the cycle stand continued. The centre stands came on the swing arms.

Coming back to your motorcycle, is it a 1956 ? How come you have the tank badges from 1957 ? You have full width hubs in front, which was again from 1957 ? Speed Twin painted silver ???? What happened to amaranth red ? Probably you have the right seat plate, but the seat construction at the rear ??

I remember seeing your bike in 1996. Is it still maintained the same way ?

[karlosdeville]

Originally Posted by fazalaliadil

Karlosdeville,

Earlier models,until late 40's came with the round cylindrical tail lamp manufactured by Butlers and Lucas (first pic.)

later ones like Sanjay' s bike came with the wide and angular tail lamp like on my Triumph, which complimented the shape of the top end of the number plate and the mounting bracket. But the one on his bike was not used on any model of Triumph.

Like you said, yes these tail lamps were used by other bike manufacturers as well.

I was not referring to tail lamps, but the front parking lamp. The correct tail lamp for this bike I should think is a Lucas 525, subject to correction. Unfortunately I don't have one for my bike.

[fazalaliadil]

Originally Posted by dominator

5T means it is a Speed twin.
You can surely find out from the Engine/Frame number - the year of manufacture. There are other ways also to identify the year of manufacture.
The nacelle parking lamp continued till 1955, from 1956 the horn grille replaced the parking lamp.The other noticeable change from 1956 was that the parcel grid had 2 bars with the centre petrol tank strip on the ridge.
The Amal Monoblocs were from 1955.
Mind you, they never came in plungers.
The Hub shocks/drum were made till 1952/1953 and the cycle stand continued. The centre stands came on the swing arms.
Coming back to your motorcycle, is it a 1956 ? How come you have the tank badges from 1957 ? You have full width hubs in front, which was again from 1957 ? Speed Twin painted silver ???? What happened to amaranth red ? Probably you have the right seat plate, but the seat construction at the rear ??
I remember seeing your bike in 1996. Is it still maintained the same way ?

dominator,
5T refers to 500cc, Speed Twin and Tiger both will have 5T on their chassis/ engine., 6 T was for 650cc, Thunderbird/ Bonneville.
You cannot directly correlate the model by reading the engine number, as there is no kind of year code on it , of course the factory had its coding and could tell the year of manufacture by the engine number.
Yes, you are right MONO BLOCK was from 55 onwards, prior to that it was AMAL but with a two part construction.
I was referring to the evolution of motorcycle suspension reg. the plunger shocks, Triumph came in three kinds of suspension... rigid frame, spring hub and then directly to swing arm, as It was Triumph which introduced swing arm in 1955 and other manufacturers followed.
My bike is in the same condition as the last time I rode it was in 2002, due to by back pain. It was painted silver when I bought it in 1992, I like it and will do the same full silver again, instead of two tone black and silver, which was also a stock bike colour in 50's. Like you rightly pointed out the seat also will be done up accordingly black with white piping. Let me check the RC, I too beleive it is a 57.

Originally Posted by karlosdeville

Actually

Incidentally that Lucas lamp was fitted to many British bikes of the era, and even some cars like the Daimler fintail roadster.

Yes the number of the tail lamp is 525, you can see it in the pic. as well.
My mistake in writing 'Triumph Commando' instead of Norton Commando 750cc, some of those models had the same tail lamp assembly as on my BSA, by Lucas.

Regards,

[kylohere]

Hi Fazal!
Your bike looks splendid, so what if it's not in original spec. I was reading through these posts with great interest and there has been a lot of information being shared on the Speed Twin. But what I noticed were two things that, to my knowledge, aren't entirely true.
Firstly, Triumph 5Ts were never produced with Plunger rear suspensions. And secondly, it was Royal Enfield that could be credited with introducing the swingarm suspension to the other Brit companies on production models in the late forties. I think the year is precisely 1948, if I remember correctly. Besides, later, you were incorrect about Triumphs solely being sold with rigid rears, then sprung hubs and ultimately with swingarm rear ends. Triumphs were also sold with the Plunger setup, just that the 5T wasn't. The Terrier, which later became the Tiger Cub, was sold with a Plunger rear end that eventually progressed to the swinging arm.

[fazalaliadil]

Thanks for your appreciation of my bike.
I was not aware that the Tiger cub came with plunger set up, Triumph was the pioneer in swing arm suspension and not Royal Enfield is what I have read in many forums.
regards,

[President]

Originally Posted by karlosdeville

The correct tail lamp for this bike I should think is a Lucas 525, subject to correction. Unfortunately I don't have one for my bike.

Repros made by MATEX were still available in Mumbai some time ago.
Last time, I bought was in 2007 for a friends AJS.

[san9jay]

Originally Posted by President

Repros made by MATEX were still available in Mumbai some time ago.
Last time, I bought was in 2007 for a friends AJS.

If you ever do see one in a shop please let me know. I would like to get one to replace the enfield light that is currently being used.

[karlosdeville]

Add me to the list too

FYI, the Bullet taillight is very very similar to the original, and the base is probably identical in design. The lens is a tad slimmer in the original.

[fazalaliadil]

The 1952 Tiger, I was wrong about the s*ring hub mechanism, the rear stand etc. not being there in 1952. HOwever the tail lam* is the butler ty*e.

[san9jay]

Its been awhile since I posted any updates.

The bike has been completely stripped down. Amazingly there was still water sloshing around inside the engine!

The bad news is that the Tank is completely destroyed. We will have to fabricate a new one from scratch. Same story with the exhausts.

Good news is that the engine seems to be in reasonable shape.
Would need new bearings all around, regrinding of valves or new ones.
Pistons seem ok would need new rings.
Carburetor seems fine

Havent opened the gearbox as yet but I am hopeful after seeing the inside of the engine that the gearbox should also be in reasonable shape.

/sanjay

[san9jay]

The Smiths chronometric Speedometer Gauge is completely messed up.

Does anybody have a source where I can get it repaired at a reasonable cost or buy an equivalent gauge?

/sanjay

[deutscheafrikar]

San9jay,
Are you restoring the bike yourself? Nice to see a brit bike being restored
regards

[chanu]

There is one gentlemen named Pandhari at Ramkote in Hyderabad who I think can fix the meter problem. You should be finding a good meter with some one as few are kept as spare by many collectors. Someone here in the fourm might help you. Good luck.

[san9jay]

Originally Posted by deutscheafrikar

San9jay,
Are you restoring the bike yourself? Nice to see a brit bike being restored
regards

I have a very good mechanic and a good friend who is an expert on bikes who are restoring the bike. I am only helping getting the parts and giving moral support.

So far it has been going well. We have the frame and parts stripped down and sandblasted. The frame has also been sent for painting now.

Next step is rebuild of the engine. Crankshaft needs some machining so that is being done now and new bearings and maybe new pistons fitted.

The cylinders will also probably need a rebore.

The tank has to be remade from scratch so that will take some time.

I have ordered a few of the rubber parts and tank badges from a supplier in the U.K. That should come in a few weeks.

Its great to see the rebirth of the bike. Every week we make some progress. A couple more months and we should be able to start reassembling.

/sanjay

Originally Posted by chanu

There is one gentlemen named Pandhari at Ramkote in Hyderabad who I think can fix the meter problem. You should be finding a good meter with some one as few are kept as spare by many collectors. Someone here in the fourm might help you. Good luck.

If you have an address/email or contact number I would appreciate it.

[deutscheafrikar]

Originally Posted by san9jay

Crankshaft needs some machining so that is being done now and new bearings and maybe new pistons fitted.

The cylinders will also probably need a rebore.
/sanjay

Sanjay so where will you be getting new pistons and bearings from? Are these easily available?
Regards