A Tribsa, was a custom built

café racer A café racer is a genre of sport motorcycles that originated among British motorcycle enthusiasts of the early 1960s in London. Café racers were standard production bikes that were modified by their owners and optimized for speed and handling ...

off-road Off-roading is the act of driving or riding in a vehicle on unpaved surfaces such as sand, dirt, gravel, riverbeds, mud, snow, rocks, or other natural terrain. Off-roading ranges from casual drives with regular vehicles to competitive events w ...

motorcycle of the 1960s and 1970s. A Tribsa comprises a Triumph parallel twin engine installed in BSA motorcycle frame. The purpose was to combine the best elements of each marque to give a superior bike to either. The Tribsa name is a

portmanteau In linguistics, a blend—also known as a blend word, lexical blend, or portmanteau—is a word formed by combining the meanings, and parts of the sounds, of two or more words together.

word, an

amalgamation Amalgamation is the process of combining or uniting multiple entities into one form. Amalgamation, amalgam, and other derivatives may refer to: Mathematics and science * Amalgam (chemistry), the combination of mercury with another metal **Pan ama ...

of Triumph and BSA. Although both the BSA A65 and the Triumph 650 cc twins engines were pushrod

overhead valve An overhead valve engine, abbreviated (OHV) and sometimes called a pushrod engine, is a piston engine whose valves are located in the cylinder head above the combustion chamber. This contrasts with flathead (or "sidevalve") engines, where the v ...

(OHV) units, only the Triumph had twin camshafts, which supposedly facilitated tuning for a greater power output. The BSA frame was a duplex-cradle design which was considered stiffer and stronger than the Triumph's single downtube item. A batch of nine TriBSAs were planned by the BSA-Triumph for the 1966 ISDT using 348 cc, 490 cc and 'special capacity' 504 cc 'short' Triumph twin engines in a frame using geometry from the BSA Victor scrambler, Victor front forks and wheel together with a Triumph QD rear wheel in a Triumph

swinging arm A swingarm ( or swinging arm), originally known as a swing fork or pivoted fork, is a single or double sided mechanical device which attaches the rear wheel of a motorcycle to its body, allowing it to pivot vertically. The main component of the ...

A light-alloy Gold Star type fuel tank and a steel oil tank were fitted together with three ignition coils, one as a spare. ''Motor Cycle'', 24 June 1965, p840. ''On the Rough'', by Peter Fraser. Heresy? "More than one person has said to me just lately that a BSA Victor with a unit-construction Triumph twin engine would make a light, reliable and very rapid ISDT device". Accessed and added 2015-02-25 ''Motor Cycle'', 21 April 1966. ''On the Rough, by Peter Fraser.'' Accessed 2013-06-29 The 490 cc prototype was finished and tested in Wales with the remaining batch utilising the other engine sizes scheduled to follow. Some bikes were intended to be named Triumph and the others BSA, to enable two opportunities for makers' honours. ''Motor Cycle'', 8 September 1966. '' ISDT Full report and final standings.'' K. Heanes, J.Giles 348cc Triumph. S.Miller 490 Triumph. Messrs. A.J. and A.R.Lampkin, 502cc BSA. Accessed 2013-07-01 A Tribsa was built experimentally at Meriden by Triumph in 1973 using surplus BSA A65 frames. This led to a 'factory Tribsa' which was to use the BSA A65 frames with the 650 cc TR6 engine. Not many of these hybrids were produced and factory records are vague. In today's

vintage In winemaking, vintage is the process of picking grapes to create wine. A vintage wine is one made from grapes that were all, or primarily, grown and harvested in a single specified year. In certain wines, it can denote quality, as in Port wine ...

off-road events, Tribsas may be seen competing in

motocross Motocross is a form of off-road motorcycle racing held on enclosed off-road circuits. The sport evolved from motorcycle trials competitions held in the United Kingdom. History Motocross first evolved in Britain from motorcycle trials competi ...

enduro Enduro is a form of motorcycle sport run on extended cross-country, off-road courses. Enduro consists of many different obstacles and challenges. The main type of enduro event, and the format to which the World Enduro Championship is run, is ...

, and

trials In law, a trial is a coming together of parties to a dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to adjudicate claims or disputes. One form of tribunal is a court. The tribunal, wh ...

."Crease reigns supreme in muddy trial." Europe Intelligence Wire 2 Dec. 2003. General OneFile. Web. 26 Sep. 2011. A popular alternative to the Tribsa was the

Triton Triton commonly refers to: * Triton (mythology), a Greek god * Triton (moon), a satellite of Neptune Triton may also refer to: Biology * Triton cockatoo, a parrot * Triton (gastropod), a group of sea snails * ''Triton'', a synonym of ''Triturus' ...

which combined a Triumph engine in a Norton

Featherbed frame The featherbed frame was a motorcycle frame invented by the McCandless brothers and offered to the Great Britain, British Norton motorcycle company to improve the performance of their racing motorcycles in 1950. It was considered revolutionary ...

, a chassis which had yielded victories in the

Isle of Man TT The Isle of Man TT or Tourist Trophy races are an annual motorcycle racing event run on the Isle of Man in May and June of most years since its inaugural race in 1907 Isle of Man TT, 1907. The event begins on the UK Spring Bank Holiday at the e ...

for Norton.

References

External links

Cafe racer
at the

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Custom motorcycles Motorcycles of the United Kingdom BSA motorcycles Triumph Engineering motorcycles

References

Further reading

External links