Lively Performance
SOME ELDERLY FOLK WHO remember the 1950s will tell you that the decade was a more civilised time than today. Behaviour was better, dishonesty was rare, and the commercial pressures that cause so many of modern society’s problems had yet to manifest themselves. Don’t believe a word.
When the UK bike press was let loose on the new 1954-model T110 Tiger for the first time, Triumph made every effort to ensure that their machine had a chance to shine. Bernal Osborne, editor of the influential Motorcycling magazine, was allowed out on the 650-cc sportster and, after a morning spent on the roads around Triumph’s factory at Meriden, he returned to declare himself impressed by its smooth, flexible parallel-twin engine.
Osborne was then treated to a long lunch with no less a figure than legendary Triumph boss Edward Turner, before taking possession of the T110 once again for an afternoon’s speed-testing at a nearby proving ground. Here,,” enthused the magazine’s headline the following week.
