TRIUMPH SPEED TWIN

Back in 2013, I was living in New Zealand and scanning the online auctions. I came across a 1949 Triumph 5T which, although it wasn’t pristine and shiny, was original and almost complete. I contacted the seller, who explained the story behind the bike. He was in his late 60s and was the second owner. His father bought the Speed Twin new from Tozer, Kelmsley and Melbourne in Wellington on 17th June 1949. I flicked off a bid, and two agonising days later got an email confirming the bike was mine.

The owner had agreed to get the bike MoT’d and re-registered as it hadn’t been on the road for 10 years, but he ran into a bureaucratic nightmare which stopped