The Triumph Tiger 110 is a British sports

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 ...

that Triumph first made at their

Coventry Coventry ( or rarely ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands county, in England, on the River Sherbourne. Coventry had been a large settlement for centurie ...

factory between 1953 and 1961. The T110 was developed from the

Triumph Thunderbird The Triumph Thunderbird is a British motorcycle that was introduced by Triumph Engineering, Triumph back in 1949 and produced in many forms until 1966. The name was used three more times for new and distinct Triumph models. Original Triumph: 6 ...

and first appeared in 1954. Although it was supposed to be the sports model of the Triumph range, the Tiger 110 was later fitted with the rear paneling that was introduced with Triumph's 350cc 3TA twin in 1957. This rear cowling earned it the nickname '

bathtub A bathtub, also known simply as a bath or tub, is a container for holding water in which a person or another animal may Bathing, bathe. Most modern bathtubs are made of thermoformed Acrylic resin, acrylic, porcelain enamel, porcelain-enameled s ...

' from its shape and made the T110 look somewhat staid. From 1959 the T120 Bonneville became Triumph's leading sports model, and before the introduction of the

unit construction : ''For the vehicle design where the vehicle's skin is used as a load-bearing element, see Monocoque.'' Unit construction is the design of larger motorcycles where the engine and gearbox components share a single casing. This sometimes includes ...

650cc twin in 1962, the T110 was dropped from Triumph's range.

Development

The Triumph Tiger 110 650 cc OHV Twin was developed for the American market, and was Triumph's fastest production motorcycle to date. The T110 was built in 1953 and introduced as a 1954 model. The originally cast iron cylinder block and head soon were replaced with a light alloy cylinder head with special airways to improve cooling and austenitic iron valve seat inserts. The external oil feed pipes were also replaced with internal oilways via the pushrod tubes. The

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 ...

was named because it was capable of . The best one way speed obtained with the Tiger 110 by ''

The Motor Cycle ''The Motor Cycle'' was one of the first British magazines about motorcycles. Launched by Iliffe and Sons Ltd in 1903, its blue cover led to it being called "The Blue 'un" to help distinguish it from its rival publication ''Motor Cycling (mag ...

'' magazine was – although the speedometer read . By 1959, the Tiger 110 was eclipsed by the dual carburettor Bonneville T120 as Triumph's fastest model. The Tiger 110 then received the enclosed panels of the Twenty One which, resembling an upside-down Victorian slipper bathtub, earned the bike the nickname 'bathtub'.

World Speed Record

On 6 September 1956, at Bonneville Salt Flats American racer Johnny Allen secured the motorcycle land-speed record on a heavily modified Triumph T110 with a top speed of .Mick Duckworth: ''1956 Triumph streamliner'', Classic Bike, October 1999, p. 34
/ref> This success led to the development of the Tiger T110's successor - the Triumph Bonneville.

References

External links

Review on Real Classic including original brochure
Tiger 110 Land speed record motorcycles Motorcycles introduced in the 1950s Motorcycles powered by straight-twin engines

Development

World Speed Record

See also

References

External links