Muddled Tiger

Retired garage owner Alex Taylor has often provided us with deliriously distressed, very original classic motorcycles – a typical example was the Francis-Barnett Seagull we sampled in TCM, March 2020. Unrestored cosmetically but well-sorted mechanically and electrically is Alex’s way.

So by those standards his 1960 Triumph T100A Tiger 500cc unit twin is unusually tidy, visually. Just finding a bathtub 500cc Triumph that has complete panelling and an original engine – the numbers match on this one – can be quite a feat, as the tinware was often stripped off (especially in the US, where ‘stamped steel’ was anathema to macho young buyers), or the sports engine was often pulled out and rehoused for scrambling. But Alex has an unusually good network of contacts. He snared the 500 for £3000, and has spent another £4-500 since.

He currently lives at the end of a gravelled drive reached from a rutted single track side-road leading from a narrow village lane, which are all prone to getting water-logged and muddy in the rainy season. So one reason for his buying a pair, 500cc and 350cc, of publicity had highlighted “conservative and intelligent weather protection.” Another reason related to the fact that Alex is not the tallest rider, so the 17inch wheels and 28.5 inch seat height were plus points. The 350lb weight, 10lb of which was from the panelling, didn’t hurt either; that was 35lb lighter than 1957’s pre-unit T100.