The Meriden Years
From 1949 through to 1966, Triumph Thunderbird motorcycles were built with a 649cc. twin engine, right through the three major updates made to the bike during this time. Many owners took these early Thunderbirds and turned them into long-distance machines in order to tackle the vast countryside of North America and Europe. As they were built to be comfortable and stable, this fit the Thunderbird motorcycles’ purpose very well. The only exception to the original design concept came in the waning years of Triumph’s first ownership; it was called the Thunderbird TR65 and it was simply a more economical version of the T-140 Bonneville. This model only lasted 3 years and soon after, Triumph closed its Meriden factory for good.
2 Comments »
Ron Davis said :
January 31, 2011 at 5:11 am
I owned one of the first 1963 models identical to the one in the picture and the same colour scheme too. I used it in the UK both as a solo, and with various sidecars for winter use. This was a competent machine and less troublesome with the new unit-construction engine, it was also less vibration prone than earlier models, in fact I would say it was “smooth”. I’m 71 years young now and only wish I could find one in good condition. The Thunderbird name and that bike have always been with me, and if you have one – envy, envy, envy!
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