110 in the movies

Haven't been doing to much on the bike lately - hopefully that will change soon. Came across the following webpage listing all the apearances of a T110 in the movies - mostly during the early 60's. Here is the link. (hav'nt heard of most of these movies :-) )
http://www.imcdb.org/vehicles_make-Triumph_model-Tiger+110.html

Fork parts - First Paint

Managed to get fork and yoke parts that needed painting done today. Used a degreaser first then primed and then gloss black over. The one fork downtube has some recognisable pitting, and will need some attention and a re-spray later. Hopefully it wont be too long till we can start assembly of the front suspension. :-)

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Basic frame assembly

Swingarm is in used a press to get the bushes in (thanx to Guy) the rest of the frame and new shocks are just lightly bolted in position - good to get an actual idea of the final form and size of the bike - btw the frame together like this is rather heavy!!!!

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Parts Layout

So I decided if this bike is going to be built correct it would need some kind of a "plan/diagram" of what goes where. So the main area were taken from the parts catalogue and laid out together to form a poster to go on the wall of the workshop. This is what it essentially turned out as. Also aids as some inspiration in the mean time - eye candy!

Chrome Removed

The lower fork parts I posted on previously were taken to have the Chrome removed. We were a bit sceptical about the process and were warned that due to the age of the parts and the thickness of the chrome that there may be pitting on the surface. Well we were very surprised when we saw the resultant parts and how smooth and good they look - ready for a prime and paint.

Not sure at what stage of the bikes life these parts were chromed, as the original model never came out with chrome in these places.

Shocks and parts etc….

Had some more parts arrive. Firstly being the new rear shocks, they are Girling replicas (as original) ordered from Paul at norbsa02 in the UK. They look fantastic – all shiny and new.

Next to arrive were the replacement fork wipers from Oliver at Trisupply – they are a “modern” replacement for the front forks, machined from Stainless Steel and use a neoprene seal instead of the old felt washers. Should be a good improvement.

And last but not least, a bunch of “stuff” from Ace Classics (pre-unit Triumph specialists), the parts included the missing air box, gearbox bracket, rear footrests, and some other bits.

Painted Frame

So the frame has been painted and all the brackets to go with it. We decided to paint the frame with a low gloss black 2K paint rather than powder coating.

Came out very well.

Fork parts

In the meantime these parts have arrived for the front forks from http://www.tri-corengland.com/ - including new springs for the shocks and new rear swingarm spindle including new bushes.

Frame being primed

Frame and brackets were then etched and primed.

Frame progress

The frame was stripped of parts and wirebrushed a bit. The rear swingarm had the spindle and bushes pressed out. Then off to sandblasting, where it cleaned up very nicely.

Stripping front shocks

The front forks were taken apart from the steering yoke and then stripped, there has been quite alot of wear and tear over the years. Alot of "gunk" build up too. The shocks should also not be chromed - will need to get them de-chromed.

Can see below the old felt wipers and the washers to hold them - these will need replacing.

Parts all laid out

So these are the parts all packed out, there are some duplicate parts, and inevitably there are also some parts missing.

Some specs on the T110

Make

:Triumph
Model: T110
Year: 1955
Capacity: 649cc
Engine type: pre-unit
Gearbox: 4 speed / chain driven

Essentially the Tiger T100 & T110 are a 'sports' makeover of the 649cc Thunderbird twin. They were Triumph's fastest motorcycles to date, nicknamed the "Tiger".

Tiger 110 (T110) - very high performance (8.5:1 pistons), sporty version of the Thunderbird (42bhp compared to the Tbird's 34).

This is a nacelle version Triumph, produced in a shell blue colour. The Tiger is the first motorcycle to use a swingarm rear suspension as apposed to the sprung rear hub.

Pre-unit construction is an engine architecture where the engine and gearbox are separate casings, with their own oil reservoirs, and usually attached to parallel plates that also attachs to the frame.

The T110 was recently seen in the movie "The curious case of Benjamin Button" starring Brad Pitt as seen above.

The "bike" had been stored in timber crates packed in sawdust, in my fathers loft for the 39 odd years. This is what the crates looked like when opened.

It was like Christmas "cracking" the crates open to see what lay inside. :-)

This blog is about the rebuild of a 1955 Triumph Tiger 110. The aim is to rebuild the bike back to running condition, keeping it as original as possible, but where modern technology allows to make changes which will improve the bikes performance.

The picture is from the original catalogue from 1955, and gives an idea as to what the bike should look like.

Here begins the adventure.....