Introduction
I am Alan Moore, the proud owner of a Triumph Pre-Unit 6T Thunderbird, frame number 15*48NA, Polychromatic blue in colour, built at the Triumph Engineering Company Limited, Meridian, near Coventry, UK, in 1951. This site documents the total rebuild during 2013/2014.
Production of the 650 c.c Triumph Thunderbird began in October 1949, (1950 model year), being based
on the 500 c.c 5T Speed Twin which was first produced in 1937. The 1951 model year began in
November 1950 with frame number 136NA and continued to November 1951 with frame number
15808NA. The Thunderbird came off the production line with all parts painted Polychromatic blue, other
than the battery tray, dynamo end cap, steering damper knob, stand springs, rear light, front and rear
number plates and the choke lever, which were all painted black, The wheel centres were Polychromatic
blue and these, together with the mudguard centre ribs, were lined in gold. This was the only colour scheme
offered between 1951 and 1955. Extras were a sprung hub (£25), side stand (£11), pillion footrests and a Twin Seat instead of the standard single seat and 15*48NA was fitted with these.
The Triumph factory records show that 15*48NA was despatched in October 1951 to R Mays, Bourne, Lincolnshire. Research has revealed that R Mays was in all probability Raymond Mays, the famous racing driver and founder of ERA and BRM.
The earliest documentation was found at the Lincolnshire achieves, this being a handwritten record relating to the issue of the registration number. It shows FTL441 was issued on 22 November 1951 to the ‘Grantham and District Motorcycle Centre’ who were located at 6 London Road, Grantham (their dealer plate remains attached to the toolbox lid). It is likely that the machine was delivered to this dealership for its pre delivery inspection and their dealer plate remains attached to the toolbox lid. First registration took place on 1st December 1951.
Unfortunately FTL 441’s initial history is unknown. An old style buff log book dated 29th May 1957, (marked ‘continuation book’) shows it was then owned by a Mr D Lomas of Fairbourne Road, Braunstone, Leicester. On 3rd July 1957 the log book was updated to show a sidecar was now attached. A year later, on the 8th May 1958, it had a new owner, a Mr L D Burton of Mountsorrell, Leicestershire.
On 14th January 1963, my Dad, Brian Moore of Shepshed, Leicestershire, registered FTL 441
having bought it from Mr Burton for the sum of £25 (Dad’s weekly wage at this time was £7).
The motorcycle was fitted with a double adult Watsonian ‘Cambridge’ sidecar which provided
accommodation for my Mum, Rita, and four year old son, Alan (me). A photograph taken
outside my Grandpa’s on Oakley Estate, Shepshed, sometime in the early sixties, shows
the ‘combination’ with Dad aboard, wearing his ‘Everoak’ safety helmet. It can be seen that the
Thunderbird’s original Polychromatic blue colour scheme had, at some point been changed to a
lighter metallic blue similar to the Shell blue colour of the mid to late 1950’s T110 and TR6 models.
Dad used the combination for work and it was also the family's only form of transport.
It soon became clear that the engine was in need of some attention. Dad was working in
Leicester at the time and the engine was removed and taken to Arbour Motors at 147
Melton Road, Leicester, who were Triumph dealers.The shop was run by three bothers, and it is said that they ‘employed’ lads from the local area to do the basic engine work. The quality of workmanship on the rebuilt engine will be investigated later on.They reconditioned the engine, which involved fitting a replacement barrel (the old one being too worn to rebore), new pistons, conrods, main bearings and valves. When it was finished, Dad went to collect it but did not have the £25 on him to pay the bill. The shop refused to release the engine until the money was handed over.
Whilst the engine was out Dad set about giving the frame, front forks, wheel rims, wheel hubs and headlamp nacelle a lick of paint as there was quite a bit of rust showing. A rub down, undercoat of red oxide and a topcoat of brushed on airforce blue paint was applied. The tank, oil tank, toolbox and mudguards were left the light metallic blue colour. With the frame and reconditioned engine reunited the combination provided reliable daily transport until about 1966 when the Moore’s main transport changed to a converted Ford van, ‘gifted’ by dad's uncle, Shirley Moore. The sidecar was detached from the T’Bird and given to a group of students who were lodging at ‘Laceys’ , three doors down from our house. They took the body off the chassis and ‘dumped’ it at the bottom of Lacey’s orchard, where it provided a play den for my younger brother Paul and myself.
The Ford van was soon replaced by an Austin Cambridge, then a Morris Minor and in 1972 a new 'Black Tulip' coloured Morris Marina 1.3 Super, purchased from Halls Motors located at the ‘Top of the Knob’ on Leicester Road, Shepshed. During these years FLT 441 was used occasionally, being stored either in the shed at home or later on at the back of a rented garage on Ring Fence. Here it sat, covered with an old canvas despatch rider’s coat, for many years before being moved to another rented garage just down from our house on Leicester Road. Dad kept the bike taxed, MOT’d and insured so he could use it if necessary. It was briefly brought back into service in 1977 when I had a little accident in GUT 84L which involved an involuntary reverse manoeuvre into a lamp post, the result of skidding on black ice at the Leicester Road/Cambridge Street junction.
In May 1979, the Thunderbird undertook what was probably the greatest journey of its life, a two week trip to the hallowed ‘ Isle of Man TT races’. Dad was on the Triumph, my brother Paul and me on my new Honda 400F Super Sport. Prior to this epic journey FTL 441 was given a service and, armed with a couple of cans of Ford light metallic blue spray paint, I ‘tarted’ up the petrol tank, toolbox, oil tank and mudguards in the back garden. During those two weeks at the IOM the Triumph ran faultlessly,other than the throttle stop screw mysteriously disappearing one night whilst parked outside our digs.
On its return from 'The Island' the Thunderbird went back into the garage on Leicester Road and that is where it stayed until 1999 still bearing its last Vehicle Excise Licence issued on 10th November 1979 with an expiry date of 30th November 1980. In 1999 the garage was no longer available for rent and FTL 441, together with a BSA B175 Bantam and a Honda 250 Super Dream was relocated to my house.
FTL 441 was pushed round and, just to see if it would run, the battery from the Bantam
was fitted, the carburettor float bowl was given a quick clean out, the plugs wire brushed
and half a gallon of petrol poured into the tank. After a few kicks over with the plugs out
to build up a bit of oil pressure, and after a little ‘tickling’, the old ‘T Bird’ burst into life.
Not bad for a bike that had been sitting idle for 19 years. A few runs up and down the drive
showed the gearbox, clutch and brakes were working, even the lights came on. It was
at this exact point in time, with the smell of the warm engine and the whiff of oil in my
nostrils, that I decided the bike had to be restored and put back on the road. Within a
day, with great enthusiasm and a flurry of WD40, Whitworth spanners and gentle
persuasion, FTL 441 was stripped down to a rolling chassis. And that’s how the old ‘Bird’
stayed until September 2002.
A visit with Dad to the National Motorcycle Museum at Birmingham was intended to rekindle the enthusiasm, and to an extent it did. Armed with lots of photo’s of nicely restored Triumph Pre Units work recommenced. A notebook of work carried out has an initial entry dated 3rd September 2002. This states the front wheel bearings were removed, one being marked ‘Made in England’ and the other ‘Made in Sweden’. The following week has entries for a parts catalogue being purchased (£17 from TMS, Nottingham) and removal of the sprung hub from the rear wheel. The only other notebook entry is dated 5th March 2009, when the front mudguard lower stay was cleaned and primed. So why the six and a half year gap? Well, my recollection is that in 2002, armed with the parts catalogue and a price list from TMS at Nottingham, it became clear that a proper restoration was going to be expensive. I decided that the cost could not really be justified, given that I had a young family and all that entails. It was not until 2009 that a spark of my initial enthusiasm reappeared. This initiated a trip with my Dad and son William to the Newark Showground Classic Bike Show to seek out some cheap parts. The sum total of a day traipsing round hundreds of stalls was half a dozen cans of spray primer, new chromed caps for the oil and petrol tank and a throttle twist grip for the 1939 500 c.c Ariel RedHunter my Dad had inherited from his Dad, Thomas Stanley Moore, of Oakley Estate, Shepshed. Having found that prices at the show were similar to those on the Internet that year saw a gradual purchase of parts, spray guns, polishing equipment and a home chrome plating setup. However, other than priming that lower mudguard stay work on the ‘T Bird’ remained at a standstill..
In 2013 the urge to transform the boxes of parts into a gleaming Triumph that my Dad would be proud of resurfaced. This website details this restoration. There is a 'Blog' which sets out any interesting post restoration problems and their solutions.
