1969 Triumph Tiger 650 - 4-Page Vintage Motorcycle Road Test Article

Description

1969 Triumph Tiger 650 - 4-Page Vintage Motorcycle Road Test Article
Original, vintage magazine article
Page Size: Approx. 8" x 11" (21 cm x 28 cm) each page
Condition: Good
TRIUMPH TIGER 650
To 100 mph, With Love
EACH BRAND of British machine always has had a
definitive model that seems to represent and identify
the sum total of a company’s production through the
years.
Norton is epitomized in its cammer—the Manx. Vincent
achieved its zenith with its famous V-twin. The mention of
BSA will evoke images, not of its Twins, but of the Gold
Star—that venerable 500-cc pushrod Single.
Then there’s Triumph’s definitive number, the vertical
Twin. It's still going strong. The identification, established in
racing, came first for Triumph’s 500-cc Twin. In 1950,
however, the 500 gave way to the 650-cc Thunderbird, a
bearish vertical Twin that, while heavy and even more
capricious than the 500, overcame the deficiencies of torque
delivered by 30 cu. in.
A year before the 650s emerged, in 1949, Triumph had
instituted a no racing policy. To introduce the new “Thunder-
bird” to the public, however, the company elected to perform
one nicely concerted bit of racing puffery. The stunt was to
take three 650s to Montlhery, the road racing course outside
Paris, France, and to run them for one hour, at an average
speed just over 100 mph. All three machines were successful.
The 650 Triumph needed nothing else. Overnight, the
Thunderbird became the darling of the Ton-Up set. It was big,
but neither too big, nor too costly. Its rather curious
displacement, hardly oriented to racing class limits, gave it as
much, or more, power than a racing Single. Furthermore, the
machine was served up with excellent reliability.
Now, almost 20 years later, nothing seems to have changed
much. Triumph’s 650 still is on the motorcycle market, a little
bit better each year, handling sweetened by a robust swinging
arm frame and an excellent fork, engine a bit more modern
with unit construction, alloy cylinder and head, and, saints be
praised, a set of genuine brakes that at last perform the
required task. The name Thunderbird has disappeared from
Triumph catalogs, to be replaced by Bonneville, Tiger and
Trophy.
Both Bonneville and Tiger have a pleasing tautness that
separates them from other pushrod Twins. The subject of this
report, the Tiger, is an easier bike to get along with, compared...
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