Top left : Engine detail of 1939 Tiger Bottom left : New Zealand restored pre-WW2 Tiger 90 Top right : Edward Turner presenting Syd Jensen with the Grand Prix Triumph at the Triumph factory Bottom right : Triumph Grand Prix racer 1947
amongst today ’ s ‘ born again Triumphs ’ coming from the Hinckley plant . To many enthusiasts Edward Turner ’ s Triumph Speed Twin was a landmark , and the beginning of the British motorcycle industry ’ s thirty , or forty-year passion for parallel twins , but many believe the model that followed it , the Tiger 100 , was the bike that gave the twin configuration its real impetus in the market place . The 500cc Speed Twin first appeared in 1938 , and with war clouds forming over Europe the Tiger was launched in 1939 . The Tiger was actually a sporting version of the Speed Twin . It had a higher compression
ratio , forged pistons , polished inlet ports , and bigger carburettor . Special mufflers had end caps that could be removed easily with a screwdriver , transforming the pipes into open megaphones , for the race track only of course . The extra horsepower achieved would lift the Tiger ’ s output to around 10bhp higher than the Speed Twin , and give it a top speed of 160km / h – putting it at the doors of the 100mph club . Apart from that the machines were very similar . They even weighed the same , 165.5kg . The extra speed and horsepower , however , made the Tiger very attractive for race track use .
76 KIWI RIDER