Hi all. I'm new to the forum. I'm Matt from Lincolnshire UK. Not new to triumph, but new to Steamers! Recently purchased a 97 tiger...looking to gain as much info as I can to service, love and care for her myself as much as possible! I look forward to picking the artisans brains!
Hello and welcome. It's really nice to see another early T300 Tiger - colloquially known as "The Steamer" for obvious reasons. I have one almost the same but an even earlier example - same colour (Caspian Blue) but mine has the engine case outers, and the sump guard frame finished in the same shade (but non-metallic) blue. Yours looks like it may have had the side panels repainted/repaired/replaced as they should have a decal on there - a sort of 'ripped edge' black and white stripe matching the fairing's Tiger decal. You'll no doubt be highly aware of the difficulty of getting parts for pretty much all early Hinckley bikes but perhaps even more so for the Tigers which didn't sell in anything like the numbers that Tridents and Trophys sold. As you're in Lincolnshire you'll have the inestimable benefit of being (relatively) close to Clive WOOD should you want or need any major repair or service work to be carried out on the bike - he is THE MAN. Hope to hear and see some more of your adventures with your Tiger!
Hi. Thanks for the welcome. New to the steamer scene, I assumed all carb tigers were T400? That's not the case. What's the difference? Yes have noticed parts are as scarce as the bikes are! Which is a shame.. I already have a shopping list Would be interested in seeing the how the panels should be if you have a picture please? Is Clive Wood a member here? How do I get in contact with this legend!
Hi Matthew. Sorry, I tend to use "T300" as a generic identifier for any/all of the early range of carburettor'd machines - as do most observers https://www.crowood.com/products/first-generation-hinckley-triumph-t300-motorcycles-by-david-clarke There may well be a T400 range but the first of the FI machines were, I think, generally known as T5 (as in T509; T595) and I'm not aware of any intermediate range. Anyway, who cares? Not I - if you've got a Steamer/Tiger ... ya dun gud! The scarcity of parts for all the carb'd range of Triumphs is a pain that's only very slightly eased by their overall reliability and a level of interchangeability, though the Tiger is very different from the rest of the range in many respects and modularity is limited pretty much to engine and frame. I don't, unfortunately, have a picture of my bike but I found this one ...... and this is how the very earliest machines looked - you can see the side panel decal I mentioned. As a decal I strongly suspect it will be 'no longer available' from Triumph but, if you're into completeness, then at some point I might be able to provide close up photo's and measurements, though the bike's in storage so it won't be an immediate task. I'm sure there'll be a signwriter company - or the like - that could reproduce a reasonable facsimile. Clive WOOD - yes, he is indeed a legend, though I don't think he has time for forums so I strongly doubt that he's on here! He has his own business at his home near Swineshead from where, apart from doing service and repair work on Triumphs, he runs courses on T300 repair (think sprag clutch!!), maintenance, tuning and modifying. He's a successful ex-racer and race team manager (Jack LILLEY Racing) and is probably easiest to find on Facebook. If you get to meet him and get very lucky you might even get a glimpse of the racing Speed Triples he keeps in the house. Now THAT is a legend!
Thankyou, I like yo don't care about T300/T400 status, was wondering if it makes a difference when ordering spares for fitment..but that's that cleared up!! Don't worry too much about the decal, dare I say it...but I'm not that concerned about getting her back to out of factory standard/completeness, but appreciate the kind offer! As for Clive Wood. I will teack him down since I'm literally 20mins away! How exciting!! Thanks again.
@Matthew Grayston Is Clive Wood a member here? How do I get in contact with this legend! Here you go https://www.mk1speedtriple.co.uk/clive-wood-independant-triumph-specialist/