The Triumph Tiger Daytona is a

motorcycle A motorcycle (motorbike, bike; uni (if one-wheeled); trike (if three-wheeled); quad (if four-wheeled)) is a lightweight private 1-to-2 passenger personal motor vehicle Steering, steered by a Motorcycle handlebar, handlebar from a saddle-style ...

made by Triumph from 1967 to 1974.

Development

The 'Daytona' name was derived from American rider Buddy Elmore's win at the 1966

Daytona 200 The Daytona 200 is an annual motorcycle road racing competition held in early spring at the Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida, Daytona Beach, Florida. The race was founded in 1937 when it was sanctioned by the American Mo ...

race held at the

Daytona International Speedway Daytona International Speedway is a race track in Daytona Beach, Florida, Daytona Beach, Florida, United States, about north of Orlando, Florida, Orlando. Since opening in 1959, it has been the home of the Daytona 500, the most prestigious race ...

Daytona Beach Daytona Beach is a coastal resort city in Volusia County, Florida, United States. Located on the East Coast of the United States, its population was 72,647 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Deltona–Daytona Beach–Ormond Beach metropo ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

. He achieved an average speed of on a 'works special'

Triumph Tiger 100 The Tiger 100 (T100) was a standard motorcycle first made by the British motorcycle company Triumph in 1939. Production ceased when the Triumph factory was destroyed by German bombing in 1940 during World War 2, but recommenced in 1946. Seve ...

. The 500 cc

Daytona (T100T) was developed by Triumph's Chief Engineer and designer

Doug Hele Douglas Lionel Hele (13 July 19193 November 2001) was a pioneering British motorcycle engineer with Triumph and other firms: BSA, Douglas and Norton. He was born in Birmingham in 1919 and died in Hagley, Worcestershire on 2 November 2001. Ca ...

and launched as a production motorcycle the following year. Based on the setup developed for the 1966 Daytona races, the T100T was fitted with a new cylinder head and twin

Amal Monobloc AMAL was a British engineering company servicing the motorcycle and other light-engineering motor industries between 1927 and 1993 Derived from Edward Turner's original twin-cylinder design and a development of the

Triumph Tiger Triumph_900_Tiger

Triumph Tiger is a name used by a number of former ...

, the 'Daytona' sacrificed low-speed tractability for a pronounced power step at 3,500 rpm that helped it to compete with the advanced designs from Japanese manufacturers like

Honda commonly known as just Honda, is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate automotive manufacturer headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Founded in October 1946 by Soichiro Honda, Honda has bee ...

. As well as decreased engine flexibility, however, the increase in power reduced the life of the valve gear, leading to heavy oil consumption. Gary Nixon won the 1967

race on the newly designated ''Triumph Daytona''. In 1969, the timing side main bush was replaced with a ball-bearing race and a roller on the drive side which helped engine life. At the 1969

Belgian motorcycle Grand Prix The Belgian motorcycle Grand Prix was a motorcycling event that was part of the Grand Prix motorcycle racing season from 1949 to 1990. History The first official Belgian Grand Prix was held in 1949, but non-championship races were held as far ba ...

on the

Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps The Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps (), informally referred to as Spa, is a Race track, motor-racing circuit located in Francorchamps, Stavelot, Wallonia, Belgium, about southeast of Spa, Belgium, Spa. It is the current venue of the Formula One ...

in the

Ardennes The Ardennes ( ; ; ; ; ), also known as the Ardennes Forest or Forest of Ardennes, is a region of extensive forests, rough terrain, rolling hills and ridges primarily in Belgium and Luxembourg, extending into Germany and France. Geological ...

, Triumph's factory tester

Percy Tait Percy Tait (9 October 1929 – 17 November 2019) was an English professional motorcycle road racer and senior road tester for Triumph motorcycles, where he was estimated to have covered over a million miles of road testing. He later became a ...

led the world champion

Giacomo Agostini Giacomo Agostini (; born 16 June 1942) is an Italian former professional motorcycle road racer and racing team manager. He competed in the FIM Grand Prix motorcycle racing world championships from 1963 to 1977, most prominently as a member of ...

for three laps and finished second at an average speed of on the Daytona. The later model Daytonas were further upgraded with special E3134 race profile cams for both inlet and exhaust and strengthened followers, valve guides, and performance connecting rods. While the Triumph 650 Bonneville and new 650 Tiger models received a new oil in frame and dramatically changed geometry for 1971, the Daytona kept the traditional unit era frame, which kept the frame and seat height of the previous model years. The last Daytona model, the T100D, was fitted with a

disc Disc or disk may refer to: * Disk (mathematics), a two dimensional shape, the interior of a circle * Disk storage * Optical disc * Floppy disk Music * Disc (band), an American experimental music band * ''Disk'' (album), a 1995 EP by Moby Other ...

front brake but only 14 were built before the closure of the Meriden works in September 1973 and the 18-month '

sit-in A sit-in or sit-down is a form of direct action that involves one or more people occupying an area for a protest, often to promote political, social, or economic change. The protestors gather conspicuously in a space or building, refusing to mo ...

' industrial action after which the Daytona models were discontinued.

References

External links

1971 Triumph T100 Daytona review
{{Triumph motorcycles Meriden Tiger Daytona Motorcycles introduced in 1967 Standard motorcycles Motorcycles powered by straight-twin engines

Development

See also

References

External links