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16 April 2014

T.W.O. - Triumph T110 'Long Peace' by Heiwa Motorcycle


The Triumph Tiger 110 was a British sports bike that Triumph first made at their Coventry factory between 1953 and 1961. The T110 was developed from the Triumph Thunderbird and first appeared in 1954. The Triumph Tiger 110 650 cc OHV Twin was Triumph's fastest production motorcycle to date because it was developed for the American market, which wanted more power. The originally cast iron cylinder block and head soon were replaced with a light alloy cylinder head with special airways to improve cooling and austenitic iron valve seat inserts. The external oil feed pipes were also replaced with internal oilways via the pushrod tubes.
The Triumph Tiger 100 was named because it was capable of 100 mph (160 km/h), so it was an obvious marketing idea to call the new bike the Tiger 110 - although technically the best one way speed obtained by The Motor Cycle magazine in tests was 109 mph  - but the speedometer was reading 114 mph, so there was a margin of error.
On 6 September 1956, at Bonneville Salt Flats American racer Johnny Allen secured the motorcycle land-speed record on a heavily modified Triumph T110 with a top speed of 214.17 mph. This success led to the development of the Tiger T110's successor - the Triumph Bonneville.
Although it was supposed to be the sports model of the Triumph range the Tiger 110 was no longer Triumph's fastest model, the dual carburettor Bonneville T120 having taken that title. The Tiger 110 was later fitted with the rear paneling that was introduced with Triumph's 350cc 3TA twin in 1959; this rear cowling earned it the nickname 'bathtub' from its shape and made the T110 look somewhat staid. Before the introduction of Edward Turner's unit construction 650cc twin in 1962, the T110 was dropped from Triumph's range.
Although this T110 'only' has the most important part - the engine- that hasn't stopped Heiwa Motorcycle in Japan creating a bike worth of taking that legendary engine.
More here.

- Mr Fabulous






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