Triumph Trophy TR5R

Pic from Show and Go Cycle Shop 

This motorcycle is the reason I bought the book below ............ bought yasself a copy yet? ..........

Last time we were up Toddy's a mate of his came in and said " I've got my TR5R in the back of the van, if you want a look" TR5...WHAT!!!! never heard of 'em at the time, and of course had to have a look, sure enough in the back of the van sat yer man's bike, had to find out more after that.

A search on the all seeing Google revealed very little, Paul at Show £ Go had posted a write up and then there was Jonnie Green's unrestored '56.

That's the way to find 'em.

It's no wonder that few people here in the UK had heard of them, certainly in the dark days before the interweb. Originally produced as a response to a request from the US distributors for a bike that was ready to race at Daytona straight out of the crate. Up until then a road going Tiger 100 or 500 Trophy had to be prepared using the fabled "T100 Race Kit" which was a fair bit of work.

The Gospel according to Harry states that 112 were built in 1956, (some sources say it was 104 complete bikes and 8 spare motors,) 17 in '57 and a further 49 the next year. That's a total of 170 or 178 bikes built in the space of 3 years, so a rare bird nowadays, even in the US.

Generally in appearance and running gear it was the same as a regular 500 Trophy, but as can be imagined the motor was where it counted. Each engine was hand built and these were known as Red Seal Engines, each one supplied with a test report giving the power figures and build details.The general motor spec was as follows;

• Compression Ratio.............................................. 9:1
• Cam Followers..................................................... 1 1/8" radius "R" Type
• Valve Guides ........................................................ Bronze
• Camshafts.............................................................. E3134
• Valve Springs........................................................ White Spot interference type
• Magneto................................................................. Lucas K2FC Racing Type
• Magneto Pinion.................................................... Steel
• Carburettors.......................................................... 2 off Amal type 276 with remote float
• Approximate BHP............................................... 40

A hot twin carb roadgoing Triumph a couple of years before the introduction of the Bonnie. No doubt this would have been a TR6R had it not been for the AMA's xenophobic rules that limited o.h.v. engine (foreign) bikes to 500 to give the old 750 home built flatties a chance,