Triumph Tiger 110 1954 – Build Project ‘RustBucket’
RustBucket no longer Yes it has been a while since I posted something about the Triumph Tiger that my Dad and I found at the local Long Beach motorcycle Swap Meet. It was brilliant looking 1954 Triumph Tiger that had […]
RustBucket no longer
Yes it has been a while since I posted something about the Triumph Tiger that my Dad and I found at the local Long Beach motorcycle Swap Meet. It was brilliant looking 1954 Triumph Tiger that had water in the engine and had been left outside for over 30years. Anyway we’ve been hard at work, well in fact, I’ve done very little and my Dad (PJ) has done all the work.
Before the re-build started all cases and other bits and pieces went over to Sport Chrome for a bit of fine sand blasting and clean up. What came back was beautiful work that had been carefully handled, each part undamaged but clean, very clean, like new in fact.
From there on up it’s been PJ hard at work in my garage. It’s totally awesome, he pop’s over for a few weeks, works non-stop in my garage, only coming up for air at feeding time and it’s just incredible what progress is made day by day, week by week.Over time the engine and gearbox has had a complete re-build and is now back in the chassis, the engine went together quite well, no major problems, just PJ learning his way around a Triumph (He’s a BSA man) but the gear box was a different story.
Many of the gears were a mess, either from being submerged in water for decades or from a few and harsh missed gear changes, leaving teeth bent or badly chipped. Three gearboxes later and one sweet set of gears now sit in the Triumph Tiger.Most of the work has been done for my Dad reading the manual, trying to remember how it all goes back together and finding the right nut and bolts for the huge pile.
Our local help for some parts has been the classic and brilliant Century Motorcycles in San Pedro, California. A place that feels like you’ve stepped back in time and all the motorcycles around you make you want to ride.They deal in Triumph, BSA and many, many more, helpful when you are working on a motorcycle that was made in the 50’s.
Anyway, PJ is back in town, the Triumph Tiger is coming along nicely, the engine needs a magneto then can be fired into life, so now the attention is being turned to the wheels, rims, spokes, hubs, seat, tank and brakes.
Wow, what a machine this going to be, I can’t wait to here it fire into life and go take it for a ride!
The Purchase of my first classic bike!! Ahhh – 1954 Triumph
Growing up as a kid and having a father (Phil) who had a well equipped motorcycle workshop and consistently worked on classic motorcycles meant it was very normal to see him take hours tinkering on every single part of a machine, constantly working on with rebuilds and every spare minute spent in the workshop. Many months or sometimes many years later emerged a noisy motorcycle with lots of character that took a stiff boot or determined run and bump to get her going.
I think because I was surrounded by so much classic stuff, I personally found the more modern motorcycles more interesting, they didn’t take long to fix, started easily, went faster and once I started riding them I never really looked back.
As years have gone by I have found myself becoming more and more attracted to all types of motorcycles including classics and one of my all time favourite motorcycling images of all time is of Steve McQueen in the Great Escape.
Earlier in the year my Dad came over to get away from the UK winter months and spend a bit of time helping me get my garage set-up into a motorcycle workshop and assist with the ‘Rainey’ build project.
While Phil was here we popped into the Long Beach motorcycle swap meet to pick up a few tools and came back with a 1954 Triumph Tiger 110.
It all started when I caught a glimpse of it from 100 paces when it looked very classic and ever so Steve McQueen. As we walked closer the classic gem quickly turned to a rusty, old and battered mass of metal and it was no surprise to hear that it had been left outside for 30 years and the guy who was selling it knew nothing about the machine.
Anyway, with my Dad being so excited that I had taken an interest in something classic means that Build #2 is now also on, it’s in my newly equipped garage, it’s already been stripped down and already in boxes.
Now my Dad’s long gone, armed with a long list of parts he needs to find and giving me a much shorter list of things I need to sort before his return. Oh sh*t, whatever am I getting myself into?
