1939 Triumph 498cc Tiger 100

• Fitted with the desirable bronze cylinder head
• Triumph's top-of-the-range sports roadster of the pre-war era
• An older restoration
• Last run in 2012
• Requires recommissioning

Although Edward Turner's Triumph Speed Twin caused a sensation when it appeared at the 1937 Motorcycle Show, few of its admirers can have guessed how influential the design would prove to be. True, there had been vertical twins before; indeed, Turner's predecessor at Triumph - Val Page - had designed one a few years previously, but the Coventry firm's newcomer established a formula that would be adopted by all of Britain's major motorcycle manufacturers in the succeeding decade. And whereas previous vertical twins had suffered from excess bulk, Turner's was lighter and narrower across the crankcase than the contemporary single-cylinder Tiger 90, whose cycle parts it shared, and from certain angles looked just like a twin-port single. This was just what the conservatively minded motorcycling public wanted and the Speed Twin proved an enormous success for Triumph, lifting the company out of the economic doldrums and setting it on the road to future prosperity. Performance proved exemplary for a road-going 500, around 85mph being attainable by the Speed Twin while the Tiger 100 sports version was even faster.

The Tiger 100 was launched in 1938. Performance was boosted by the use of high-compression forged pistons and polished ports and internals, the result being a machine that could touch 100mph in road trim and exceed it with the silencer end-caps removed. When production resumed in 1946, the T100 reappeared with telescopic forks in place of the original girders, and separate dynamo and magneto instead of the pre-war version's magdyno.

Restored in 2004, the speedometer being replaced in the process, this pre-war Tiger 100 has belonged to the current owner since 2015 having been in the preceding owner's possession since 2007. The motorcycle is described as in generally good condition; however, we are advised that it has not run since 2012. Recommissioning to a greater or lesser extent will be required before the Tiger returns to the road and thus the machine is sold strictly as viewed. Accompanying documentation consists of DVLA correspondence, copies of old registration documents, and a current V5C.