Triumph Tiger Trail
Encyclopedia
The Triumph Tiger Trail was a motorcycle model manufactured by Triumph Motorcycles at the Meriden
factory. The Tiger Trail was made from 1981 to 1982 in both 750 cc (TR7T) and 650 cc (TR65T) capacities, and under 180 models were built. Emission regulations precluded export to the USA but otherwise the model was available to all Triumph's other markets particularly in Australia, New Zealand and western Europe.
model. The importers had visited Meriden with a prototype based around the Triumph Bonneville T140 which the factory judged too powerful. Instead, Meriden's director of engineering Brian Jones
based the proposed model around the 750 cc TR7V Triumph Tiger with its single 30 mm Amal
carburettor and Lucas electronic ignition. Alterations included lowering the compression giving 42 bhp at 6,500 rpm and fitting Triumph Trident camshaft
profiles. The secondary gearing was also altered by fitting a 18-tooth gearbox sprocket and 47-tooth rear chain sprocket. Overall weight was down 25 lb (11.3 kg) from the road models to 375 lb (170.1 kg) dry. A factory decal advised not travelling beyond 80 mph (35.8 m/s) upon the standard tyres, although top speed was tested as reaching just over 100 mph (44.7 m/s).
The 750 cc model was first shown by the factory at the 1980 Paris motorcycle show and introduced for the 1981/1982 season. Bike magazine reported that the French importers were to have entered two 750 cc Tiger Trail bikes in the Paris-Dakar Rally
. Certainly, French magazine Moto Verte entered and reported upon a 750 cc Tiger Trail in the Paris-Tunis rally and whilst failing to finish, praised the engine and felt only adjustments rather a complete redesign was needed. Competition success soon came in June 1981 when Tony Beaumont of the Police Federation
team sponsored by British Petroleum beat BMW R80G/S and Japanese opposition to win the 750 cc and above class of the Ralleye Des Pyrenees/Circuit Des Pyrenees , a tough on/off road timed race. Triumph exploited this fact in a publicity poster featuring their sales manager Bob Haines leaping through the air upon a TR7T, describing it as The Bike For Adventure. An Englishman, Jez Billing, rode a suitably modified 750 cc Tiger Trail in his around-the-world attempt from 1986 to 1988. White Tiger Trails were also made for the Gulf Petroleum
sponsored Royal Military Police
display team. The frames of these white Tigers omitted the pillion
footrest brackets whilst the siamesed exhaust system was of a different design and their tanks sported metal badges instead of decals and being of later Italian manufacture, had 'flip-up' petrol caps. The front mudguard also had a perforated lower end.
Press reviews of the bike were generally favourable but with common criticism particularly of the Mudplugger tyres' road and wet weather performance as well as the overall weight, harsh suspension and a too short protective engine guard. In comparison with the BMW R80G/S and the Moto Morini
Camel, the Tiger Trail did well, German magazine Motorrad
judging the 750 cc engine superior and Superbike
placing the 650 cc version second to the Camel off-road (with the BMW R80G/S being third) and second to the BMW on-road. Testing the TR7T, Dutch publication, Motor, adjudged it very comfortable but functional, it's off-road performance 'surprisingly good'; particularly on sand being 'pure pleasure'.
Both models were deleted from general production at the end of 1982 due to lack of demand, popularity only ever having been gained in Germany and Switzerland. The last TR7T was completed as part of a Ministry of Defence order entering service on 9 August 1982 until 20 April 1989.
petrol taps for main and reserve. The 'semi-western' handlebars, braced and fitted with Dohertey rubber grips, together with the petrol filler cap, two-into-one exhaust system and silencer were black chromed. The tachometer was omitted, its pod being filled with a warning light panel and ignition switch. Braking was by the standard Automotive Products
Lockheed 10.25 inch front brake and a newly introduced 7 inch single-leading-shoe rear drum brake. The turn indicators, not featured in the 1981/1982 brochure photo, were black plastic ULO
items from Germany who also supplied the rear stoplamp. Also German were the rear view mirrors by Bumm. Rear suspension
were Marzocchi
units from Italy, 25 mm longer than the standard Girling units fitted to road models. The front suspension was the same as for road models albeit with gaitors fitted as standard and sharing the satin black finish for the range that season. The front wheel rim was 3.00 x 21 inches and like the rear, a 4.00 x 18 inch item, was a chromed item supplied by the Italian firm, Radaelli
, both featuring security bolts and both shod with Avon
Mudplugger dual purpose tyres. The headlamp
was smaller than on the road models in size, its bucket finished in satin black and sporting a separate chromed mesh stone guard. The seat was a 3/4 length item, unique to the model. A black-painted bash plate was fitted to the underside of the frame stopping just short of the sump plate. The silencer
was a cut-and-shut version of the standard roadster 'barrel' type. The centre stand was an optional item with only a sidestand originally supplied. Pillion footrests, too, were omitted, the high level silencer precluding passengers. Later production models cured this by fitting a wire guard to the silencer and a footrest extended out to clear the same. No passenger grabrail was ever fitted. Rider footrests were short, black-painted metal items that, unlike the roadster models, were not rubber mounted but could fold back against a spring.
engine albeit suitably altered for the trail and with electronic ignition. Whilst press road test versions were finished as per the 750 cc model, the 1982/1983 brochure shows the 650 cc version, again in 'Sunburst Yellow' (Bike reported a 'Lime Green' colour scheme for the TR65T although none appeared in the press), to have different stylised 'T' tank decals with longer tails, the engine completely finished in satin black, a flat rectangular silencer
with perforated sheet alloy guard, extended bash plate, 'dog leg' clutch and front brake levers, no headlamp stoneguard, centrestand as standard and the adoption of the roadster's instrumentation with centralised igniton /warning lamp panel and tachometer
. Passenger footpegs on the 1982 brochure TR65T (and like the example held by the London Motorcycle Museum
) were welded upon the swingarm
as on the 1973/4 TR5T Trophy Trail although TR65T press bikes supplied to Dirt Bike Rider , Motorcycling , The Biker and Superbike did not feature this or any cosmetic change from the TR7T. Ex-International Six Days Trials
Gold Medallist, Ken Heanes, reported on a TR65T for Dirt Bike Rider (which erroneously referred to it as a TR7T in their by-line to the piece), rating it very highly as a competition machine.
Meriden, West Midlands
-External links:*****...
factory. The Tiger Trail was made from 1981 to 1982 in both 750 cc (TR7T) and 650 cc (TR65T) capacities, and under 180 models were built. Emission regulations precluded export to the USA but otherwise the model was available to all Triumph's other markets particularly in Australia, New Zealand and western Europe.
History
Triumph manufactured the Tiger Trail in response to their French importers, C.G.C.I.M., request for a large capacity dual purpose machine to compete with the BMW R80G/SBMW R80G/S
The BMW R80G/S is a motorcycle manufactured in Berlin, Germany, by BMW Motorrad from 1980 to 1987. Production totalled 21,864 bikes.It was the first in the BMW GS family of specialised dual-sport bikes, of which over 500,000 have been produced....
model. The importers had visited Meriden with a prototype based around the Triumph Bonneville T140 which the factory judged too powerful. Instead, Meriden's director of engineering Brian Jones
Brian Jones (motorcycle designer)
Brian Jones was a motorcycle designer and engineer born in Gloucester, UK in 1928. Notable for his contribution to the original design of the Triumph Bonneville, he died in Coventry, on 4 March 2001.-Career:...
based the proposed model around the 750 cc TR7V Triumph Tiger with its single 30 mm Amal
Amal (motorcycle)
AMAL is a British carburettor trademark. AMAL were the suppliers of carburettors to the British motorcycle industry and their products were present on the products of the largest British motorcycle manufacturers such as BSA and AMC...
carburettor and Lucas electronic ignition. Alterations included lowering the compression giving 42 bhp at 6,500 rpm and fitting Triumph Trident camshaft
Camshaft
A camshaft is a shaft to which a cam is fastened or of which a cam forms an integral part.-History:An early cam was built into Hellenistic water-driven automata from the 3rd century BC. The camshaft was later described in Iraq by Al-Jazari in 1206. He employed it as part of his automata,...
profiles. The secondary gearing was also altered by fitting a 18-tooth gearbox sprocket and 47-tooth rear chain sprocket. Overall weight was down 25 lb (11.3 kg) from the road models to 375 lb (170.1 kg) dry. A factory decal advised not travelling beyond 80 mph (35.8 m/s) upon the standard tyres, although top speed was tested as reaching just over 100 mph (44.7 m/s).
The 750 cc model was first shown by the factory at the 1980 Paris motorcycle show and introduced for the 1981/1982 season. Bike magazine reported that the French importers were to have entered two 750 cc Tiger Trail bikes in the Paris-Dakar Rally
Dakar Rally
The Dakar Rally is an annual rally raid type of off-road automobile race, organised by the Amaury Sport Organisation...
. Certainly, French magazine Moto Verte entered and reported upon a 750 cc Tiger Trail in the Paris-Tunis rally and whilst failing to finish, praised the engine and felt only adjustments rather a complete redesign was needed. Competition success soon came in June 1981 when Tony Beaumont of the Police Federation
Police Federation
Police Federation may refer to:*Police Federation of England and Wales*Police Federation for Northern Ireland*Scottish Police Federation*Defence Police Federation...
team sponsored by British Petroleum beat BMW R80G/S and Japanese opposition to win the 750 cc and above class of the Ralleye Des Pyrenees/Circuit Des Pyrenees , a tough on/off road timed race. Triumph exploited this fact in a publicity poster featuring their sales manager Bob Haines leaping through the air upon a TR7T, describing it as The Bike For Adventure. An Englishman, Jez Billing, rode a suitably modified 750 cc Tiger Trail in his around-the-world attempt from 1986 to 1988. White Tiger Trails were also made for the Gulf Petroleum
Gulf Oil
Gulf Oil was a major global oil company from the 1900s to the 1980s. The eighth-largest American manufacturing company in 1941 and the ninth-largest in 1979, Gulf Oil was one of the so-called Seven Sisters oil companies...
sponsored Royal Military Police
Royal Military Police
The Royal Military Police is the corps of the British Army responsible for the policing of service personnel, and for providing a military police presence both in the UK, and whilst service personnel are deployed overseas on operations and exercises.Members of the RMP are generally known as...
display team. The frames of these white Tigers omitted the pillion
Pillion
A pillion is a mostly British English term for a secondary pad, cushion, or seat behind the main seat or saddle on a horse, motorcycle, bicycle or moped...
footrest brackets whilst the siamesed exhaust system was of a different design and their tanks sported metal badges instead of decals and being of later Italian manufacture, had 'flip-up' petrol caps. The front mudguard also had a perforated lower end.
Press reviews of the bike were generally favourable but with common criticism particularly of the Mudplugger tyres' road and wet weather performance as well as the overall weight, harsh suspension and a too short protective engine guard. In comparison with the BMW R80G/S and the Moto Morini
Moto Morini
Moto Morini is an Italian maker of motorcycles. It was founded by Alfonso Morini in Bologna, in 1937.Earlier, Morini had also manufactured motorcycles together with Mario Mazzetti under the name MM...
Camel, the Tiger Trail did well, German magazine Motorrad
Motorrad (magazine)
Motorrad is a German magazine about motorcycles and motorcycling. With an average circulation of approximately 135,000 copies it is Europe's largest magazine for this target audience. It is published biweekly by the publishing house Motor Presse Stuttgart...
judging the 750 cc engine superior and Superbike
Superbike (magazine)
SuperBike is a monthly British motorcycling magazine. In addition to motorcycles, the magazine features reviews of race bikes, dirt bikes, and others.-Features:...
placing the 650 cc version second to the Camel off-road (with the BMW R80G/S being third) and second to the BMW on-road. Testing the TR7T, Dutch publication, Motor, adjudged it very comfortable but functional, it's off-road performance 'surprisingly good'; particularly on sand being 'pure pleasure'.
Both models were deleted from general production at the end of 1982 due to lack of demand, popularity only ever having been gained in Germany and Switzerland. The last TR7T was completed as part of a Ministry of Defence order entering service on 9 August 1982 until 20 April 1989.
TR7T description
With the exception of the aforementioned white military 750 cc Tiger Trail, the model came in one colour only, 'Sunburst Yellow', and featured yellow plastic mudguards and side panels. The petrol tank, the smaller two gallon 'USA' type , was in the same colour and had a stylised 'T' decal affixed on either side, the first use of main styling decals for Triumph. The tank had two Italian PaioliPaioli
Paioli is an Italian motorcycle parts company. Parts include suspension units for both front and rear ends as well as minor components such as petrol taps....
petrol taps for main and reserve. The 'semi-western' handlebars, braced and fitted with Dohertey rubber grips, together with the petrol filler cap, two-into-one exhaust system and silencer were black chromed. The tachometer was omitted, its pod being filled with a warning light panel and ignition switch. Braking was by the standard Automotive Products
Automotive Products
Automotive Products, commonly abbreviated to AP, was an automotive industry components company set up in 1920 by Edward Boughton, Willie Emmott and Denis Brock, to import and sell American-made components to service the fleet of ex-military trucks left behind in Europe after World War I.In 1928,...
Lockheed 10.25 inch front brake and a newly introduced 7 inch single-leading-shoe rear drum brake. The turn indicators, not featured in the 1981/1982 brochure photo, were black plastic ULO
Ülo
Ülo is an Estonian masculine given name.People named Ülo include:*Ülo Altermann , soldier and forest brother*Ülo Jõgi , war historian, nationalist and activist*Ülo Kaevats , statesman, academic, and philosopher...
items from Germany who also supplied the rear stoplamp. Also German were the rear view mirrors by Bumm. Rear suspension
Rear suspension
For front-wheel drive cars, rear suspension has few constraints and a variety of beam axles and independent suspensions are used.For rear-wheel drive cars, rear suspension has many constraints and the march to the superior but more expensive independent suspension layout has been a long slog...
were Marzocchi
Marzocchi
Marzocchi is an Italian manufacturer founded in 1949 by the two brothers Stefano and Guglielmo Marzocchi. The company profile includes hydraulic industrial pumps and suspension components for motorcycles and bicycles...
units from Italy, 25 mm longer than the standard Girling units fitted to road models. The front suspension was the same as for road models albeit with gaitors fitted as standard and sharing the satin black finish for the range that season. The front wheel rim was 3.00 x 21 inches and like the rear, a 4.00 x 18 inch item, was a chromed item supplied by the Italian firm, Radaelli
Radaelli
Radaelli may refer to :*Fernando Chemin Radaelli is a Brazilian footballer.*Giuseppe Radaelli, a 19th century Milanese fencer of the Italian school of swordsmanship....
, both featuring security bolts and both shod with Avon
Cooper Tire & Rubber Company
Cooper Tire & Rubber Company is a United States based company that specializes in the design, manufacture, marketing and sales of replacementautomobiles and truck tires, and subsidiaries that specialize in medium truck, motorcycle and racing tires...
Mudplugger dual purpose tyres. The headlamp
Headlamp
A headlamp is a lamp, usually attached to the front of a vehicle such as a car or a motorcycle, with the purpose of illuminating the road ahead during periods of low visibility, such as darkness or precipitation. Headlamp performance has steadily improved throughout the automobile age, spurred by...
was smaller than on the road models in size, its bucket finished in satin black and sporting a separate chromed mesh stone guard. The seat was a 3/4 length item, unique to the model. A black-painted bash plate was fitted to the underside of the frame stopping just short of the sump plate. The silencer
Muffler
A muffler is a device for reducing the amount of noise emitted by the exhaust of an internal combustion engine. A US Patent for an Exhaust muffler for engines was granted to Milton and Marshall Reeves in 1897....
was a cut-and-shut version of the standard roadster 'barrel' type. The centre stand was an optional item with only a sidestand originally supplied. Pillion footrests, too, were omitted, the high level silencer precluding passengers. Later production models cured this by fitting a wire guard to the silencer and a footrest extended out to clear the same. No passenger grabrail was ever fitted. Rider footrests were short, black-painted metal items that, unlike the roadster models, were not rubber mounted but could fold back against a spring.
TR65T description
The 650 cc TR65T Tiger Trail came out in early 1982 and was based around the newly introduced Triumph TR65 ThunderbirdTriumph TR65 Thunderbird
The Triumph TR65 Thunderbird is a British motorcycle that was made by Triumph Motorcycles at the Triumph worker's co-operative at the Meriden factory, when they re-introduced the Triumph Thunderbird model name to their range in April 1981.-Development:...
engine albeit suitably altered for the trail and with electronic ignition. Whilst press road test versions were finished as per the 750 cc model, the 1982/1983 brochure shows the 650 cc version, again in 'Sunburst Yellow' (Bike reported a 'Lime Green' colour scheme for the TR65T although none appeared in the press), to have different stylised 'T' tank decals with longer tails, the engine completely finished in satin black, a flat rectangular silencer
Muffler
A muffler is a device for reducing the amount of noise emitted by the exhaust of an internal combustion engine. A US Patent for an Exhaust muffler for engines was granted to Milton and Marshall Reeves in 1897....
with perforated sheet alloy guard, extended bash plate, 'dog leg' clutch and front brake levers, no headlamp stoneguard, centrestand as standard and the adoption of the roadster's instrumentation with centralised igniton /warning lamp panel and tachometer
Tachometer
A tachometer is an instrument measuring the rotation speed of a shaft or disk, as in a motor or other machine. The device usually displays the revolutions per minute on a calibrated analogue dial, but digital displays are increasingly common...
. Passenger footpegs on the 1982 brochure TR65T (and like the example held by the London Motorcycle Museum
London Motorcycle Museum
The London Motorcycle Museum opened in May 1999 at Oldfield Lane South, Greenford, Middlesex. A charitable trust, it displays a range of over 150 classic and British motorcycles. Notable exhibits include the last Triumph Bonneville T140 out of the Meriden gates in 1983.-History:Bill Crosby, the...
) were welded upon the swingarm
Swingarm
A swingarm, or "swinging arm" is the main component of the rear suspension of most modern motorcycles and ATVs...
as on the 1973/4 TR5T Trophy Trail although TR65T press bikes supplied to Dirt Bike Rider , Motorcycling , The Biker and Superbike did not feature this or any cosmetic change from the TR7T. Ex-International Six Days 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...
Gold Medallist, Ken Heanes, reported on a TR65T for Dirt Bike Rider (which erroneously referred to it as a TR7T in their by-line to the piece), rating it very highly as a competition machine.
Sources
- Roy Bacon Triumph T140 Bonneville & Derivatives (Niton press)
- Harry Woolridge Triumph Trophy & Tiger Bible (Veloce Press)
- Bike, The Biker, Motorcycling, Superbike, Motorrad, Moto Verte, Motorradfahrer, Motor Cycle Weekly, Dirt Bike Rider, Motor Cycle News , Motor magazines
- Triumph Motorcycles (Meriden) Ltd publicity material