Triumph TR5 Trophy
Encyclopedia
The TR5 Trophy is a motorcycle
Motorcycle
A motorcycle is a single-track, two-wheeled motor vehicle. Motorcycles vary considerably depending on the task for which they are designed, such as long distance travel, navigating congested urban traffic, cruising, sport and racing, or off-road conditions.Motorcycles are one of the most...

 that was made by Triumph at the Meriden
Meriden, West Midlands
-External links:*****...

 factory.
Based on the Triumph Speed Twin
Triumph Speed Twin
The Speed Twin 5T is a motorcycle that was made by Triumph at their Coventry factory. Edward Turner, Triumph’s Chief Designer and Managing Director, launched the Triumph Speed Twin at the 1937 National Motorcycle Show. It was a 500 cc OHV vertical twin in a lightweight frame and the first...

, the TR5 was a trials machine designed for off road use with a high level two into one exhaust and good handling on public roads.
The name 'Trophy' came from the three 'specials' that Triumph built for the Italian International Six Day Trials
International Six Days Enduro
The International Six Days Enduro is the oldest 'off road' motorcycle event on the FIM Calendar.The ISDE was first held in 1913 at Carlisle, England. It has occurred annually, apart from interruptions due to World War I and World War II, at various locations throughout the world. The early...

 in 1948, which went on to win three gold medals and the manufacturers team trophy.
Featuring prominently in the AMC "Class C" racing until 1969, the American export models included components from the Triumph Tiger 100
Triumph Tiger 100
The Triumph Tiger 100 was a British motorcycle first made by Triumph at their Coventry factory for 1939.With the runaway sales success of the Triumph Speed Twin, Edward Turner's mind turned to further developing the potential of his new parallel twin motor...

 to create a motorcycle for desert competition.

From 1951 the 498 cc engine (used as aircraft generators during World War II) was updated with a new alloy barrels and heads. The TR5 was replaced with a new range of unit construction
Unit construction
Unit construction is a term used to describe the design of larger motorcycles where the engine and gearbox components share a single casing. The term is sometimes applied to the design of automobile engines and was often loosely applied to motorcycles with rather different internal layouts such as...

 twins in 1959.

The Trophy name was resurrected for the TR6 Trophy
Triumph TR6 Trophy
The TR6 Trophy is a motorcycle that was made by Triumph, in Meriden, from 1956 to 1973, when it was replaced by the 750 cc Tiger Trail TR7. During this time it was a successful model, particularly in the US. The competition variant, popularly known as the "desert sled", won numerous...

 in 1970 and the Trophy 500 (T100C) in 1971, which in turn was replaced by the Trophy Trail (TR5T) in 1973.
The new Triumph Motorcycles
Triumph Motorcycles Ltd
Triumph Motorcycles Ltd is the largest surviving British motorcycle manufacturer, which was established in 1984 by John Bloor after the original manufacturer Triumph Engineering went into receivership...

 company also used the Trophy name for the Trophy 900 and Trophy 1200 models.

In the media

The Fonz , a character played by Henry Winkler
Henry Winkler
Henry Franklin Winkler, OBE is an American actor, director, producer, and author.Winkler is best known for his role as Fonzie on the 1970s American sitcom Happy Days...

 in the popular and long running American sit-com Happy Days
Happy Days
Happy Days is an American television sitcom that originally aired from January 15, 1974, to September 24, 1984, on ABC. Created by Garry Marshall, the series presents an idealized vision of life in mid-1950s to mid-1960s America....

, rode a 1949 Trophy TR5 Scrambler Custom. The motorcycle was provided by stuntman and Triumph dealer Bud Ekins
Bud Ekins
Bud Ekins was one of the foremost stuntmen of his generation. Born James Sherwin Ekins in Hollywood, California, he is known to most as the actor who jumped the fence on a disguised Triumph TR6 Trophy 650cc motorcycle in The Great Escape, and who drove the Ford Mustang 390 GT in Bullitt...

, who removed the front fender, painted the fuel tank silver and changed the handlebars. The bike used in the sitcom was put up for auction in October 2011.

Inspired by Marlon Brando
Marlon Brando
Marlon Brando, Jr. was an American movie star and political activist. "Unchallenged as the most important actor in modern American Cinema" according to the St...

's 6T Triumph Thunderbird
Triumph Thunderbird
The Triumph Thunderbird is a British motorcycle that was introduced by Triumph in 1949 and produced in its original form until 1966. The name was used three more times for new and distinct Triumph models.-Original model:...

 in The Wild One
The Wild One
The Wild One is a 1953 outlaw biker film directed by László Benedek and produced by Stanley Kramer. It is famed for Marlon Brando's iconic portrayal of the gang leader Johnny Strabler.-Basis:...

, James Dean
James Dean
James Byron Dean was an American film actor. He is a cultural icon, best embodied in the title of his most celebrated film, Rebel Without a Cause , in which he starred as troubled Los Angeles teenager Jim Stark...

 bought a Triumph TR5 Trophy. Phil Stern
Phil Stern
Phil "Snapdragon" Stern is an award-winning American photographer noted for his iconic portraits of Hollywood stars, as well as his war photography while serving as a U.S. Army Ranger in the "Darby's Rangers" unit in the North African and Italian campaigns during World War II. Settling in Los...

's series of photographs of Dean show him on this bike. It was sold after the actor's death, and then was restored and displayed at the James Dean Museum in Fairmount, Indiana
Fairmount, Indiana
Fairmount is a town in Fairmount Township, Grant County in the east central part of the U.S. state of Indiana. The population was 2,992 at the 2000 census. It is ninety kilometers northeast of Indianapolis...

.
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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