By Dean Sprague
Awhile back we went on a car club venture to see a gentleman’s collection of restored Indian motorcycles. They ranged from a 1930 national champion Indian 4 to a mint 1953 80 cu in Indian Chief and most in between. He had nine restored Indians in all plus a myriad of very rare parts. He is one of the most knowledgeable “Indian-wise” people I ever met. I learned that for a brief period Indian motorcycles were British built and owned. This spawned several discussions about our motorcycles; remembered, current and forgotten.
When I was in High School I acquired my first motorcycle. This was accomplished despite my Mother’s objections by keeping it at a friend’s house until she got used to the idea. Actually that didn’t happen but she did finally surrender. The motorcycle was a 1951 thru 55? Triumph Thunderbird. It was actually titled 1953 but housed components from multiple years. When I first got the bike it needed some work. OK, so it needed a lot of work.
My friend Dennis’ father owned a machine shop and he promised to help so we took the engine all apart. When young boys are left to their own resources fixing usually becomes modifying. He bored the cylinders (jugs) from 650 to 710 cc. I found a performance supplier in England called Dunstall. They provided a set of 12/1 pistons, an upgraded mag ignition, a nasty cam, etc. The cam was labeled EXP 1. We didn’t know what that meant but it sure sounded bad. This is where the phrase “in for a penny in for a pound” must have come from. Now we had to increase the valve sizes, port and polish the head just to take advantage of the increased fuel flow and compression. When we finished all the machining and assembled the engine we discovered the timing must be retarded before it would start. We made a slotted plate under the magneto with a “T” bar and a wing nut; retard to start, advance to run. It finally started with the help of some starting fluid but it ran poorly. It seems we were now starving for fuel. The stock Amal carbs were way too small. I found a pair of SU carbs off an MGA in local junkyard. I cleaned them up, we modified the intake manifold and with some fiddling we finally got it running but the cam was so radical it wouldn’t idle below 1500 RPM. When you throttled it and the cam came in the engine didn’t rev it exploded! It was brutally fast but not practical. Starting it took a special procedure. First you rolled the engine up on the compression stroke by slipping the clutch a bit. Then you sprayed the carbs with starting fluid. Then you stood to the side and jumped on the kick-starter while “gently” cracking the throttle. Your timing had to be perfect. If you straddled the bike to start it and it backfired, the kick-starter could break your ankle (don’t ask me how I know this, ask Dennis). You got about three tries at this but if on the third attempt it still didn’t start, walk to the bus stop. It wasn’t happening today.
The bike wasn’t pretty either. The wire wheels were rusty the fuel tank was covered in grey primer and rust, the side covers were painted with zinc chromate primer the rear fender was dented aluminum and the front fender was non-existent.
On the positive side it was so fast that I had to put a wider Avon racing tire on the rear just to keep it on the ground. One day a friend of Dennis who raced motorcycles wanted to ride it. I finally acquiesced after some discussion and he took off for a quick run around the block but he never came back. Finally I got a call from his father that evening. His son was in the hospital. It seems he planted my Triumph in the side of a ladies’ car. He wasn’t hurt too badly thank goodness but my old Thunderbird was history. Somehow his kid managed to blow a piston into powder and bend the frame into a new shape. It was over. Actually, in some ways I was relieved. That bike was more than a handful.
His father felt so bad that he gave me $500 to fix it. After a good night’s sleep I saw this as an opportunity so with broken Triumph in tow I headed for the Triumph dealer. Surprise, they wouldn’t trade it and wouldn’t discount a new Bonneville appreciatively. So I went down the street to the BSA dealership. I got a great deal on a new candy apple red and chrome 1966 650 Lightning and they actually took my Triumph in trade, probably for parts (what parts?). I can’t remember how much the BSA cost me but by adding my savings I had enough money to cash it out. My mother was still not thrilled but glad to see that old Triumph disappear.
