Issue #256 Time Machines
Written by Robert Smith   
Tuesday, 01 December 2009
Time is an illusion,” Ford Prefect says to Arthur Dent in Douglas Adams’s Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. “Lunchtime, doubly so.”
The passage of time certainly creates illusions: motorcycles are obviously so much better than they were, even though we thought them the acme of transportation back in the day. I’m pondering this as I cruise through the lush forests of West Virginia on Triumph’s 2010 Thunderbird. Will the new T-bird—which appeared exactly 60 years ago in 1949—create as much of a stir as the original?
In indigenous mythology, the Thunderbird is a supernatural avian of immense power, said to create thunderstorms just by flapping its wings. It’s often depicted atop the totem poles fashioned by Pacific Northwest peoples.
It was on a trip to the Daytona races in the late 1940s that Triumph boss and chief designer, Edward Turner came across a Thunderbird Motel. In the grounds he found a totem pole topped with the mythical flier, and was captivated. To Turner—not a man of modesty it must be said—the powerful image seemed just right for his latest creation: Triumph’s largest parallel Twin to that date, designed specifically for the North American market.
Though the Europe-oriented 500cc Triumphs had sold reasonably well on the left side of the pond, US distributors always wanted more power and displacement. Turner responded with the 34-hp 649cc 6T Thunderbird. Always the showman, Turner launched the Thunderbird at the Montlhéry circuit in France, where three standard machines completed 500 miles on the track at an average of over 90 mph. The legend was born.
Marlon Brando rides a Thunderbird in The Wild One. Bud Ekins, subbing for Steve McQueen, leaps the prison camp fence on one in The Great Escape. The Thunderbird was so successful that the only remaining homeland manufacturer had to respond, adding a smaller, lighter and sportier motorcycle to its range: the 1952 30-hp 750cc side-valve model K. The on- and off-track rivalry thus sparked lasted two decades.
It was a 1950 Thunderbird engine modified to run on alcohol that powered Johnny Allen in the “Texas Cee-gar” streamliner to 214 mph at Bonneville in 1956. The Thunderbird also beget the 42-hp Tiger 110 and in 1959 its most famous protégé, the 46-hp Bonneville. The last 6T Thunderbird was built in 1967, but the name briefly appeared on an economy 650 produced by the Triumph Meriden Cooperative in 1980.
Enter John Bloor. Well aware of the cachet associated with the product names he acquired with Triumph’s other intellectual property in 1984, Bloor used the more evocative names sparingly. Though a Tiger and a Trophy were named soon after Triumph resumed production in 1990, a Thunderbird didn’t appear until 1995. Though a fine street-standard motorcycle, the ’95 T-bird was based on Triumph’s ubiquitous spine frame T3 design, which hadn’t been designed with cruiser ergonomics in mind. The 1995 iteration was a disappointing seller, and in spite of spawning a Sport version, the name disappeared again in the early 2000s.

LIKE BONNEVILLE, THE THUNDERBIRD name carries powerful marketing connotations for Triumph. That it appears on the company’s 2010 cruiser entry emphasizes the importance attached to the new bike. Until now, Triumph’s success in the all-important cruiser market has been sporadic at best: the America and Speedmaster are styled right, but fall down on presence and performance—two things the tank-like Rocket 3 has in spades, while also being aesthetically challenging. Triumph learned two things at least from the R3: while both are important, appearance trumps performance in the cruiser market; and if your engine isn’t a V-win, it better be appealing in some other way to the target market—or at least not a definite turn-off. The R3’s slab sided Mack-truck look was a no-no for the chrome cruiser crowd.
So the new T-bird looks like a grown-up Speedmaster with a few steroid shots, and as such it ticks the right boxes style-wise. The engine is unashamedly a parallel Twin, liquid-cooled but with mock cooling fins. (Those on the cylinder head are even shaped like the old Bonneville’s “delta” head.) Inside are pistons of even larger diameter than the Rocket 3 at 103.8mm; a 270-degree crank; and no less than three balance shafts. At 1600cc, it sits right in between Triumph’s smaller parallel Twin cruisers and the behemoth Rocket 3. The capacity also fits the ‘Bird right into the “power cruiser” bracket, and its rated output of 85-hp and 107 ft/lbs. torque make it a serious competitor in this market. (If that’s not enough horsepower, Triumph also offers a 1,700cc retrofit booster kit.). Six gears and a toothed belt complete the drivetrain.
So what’s it like to ride? Triumph never has made (and, I hope, never will make) a bad riding bike. So the Thunderbird’s geometry is a compromise between the La-Z-Boy attitude of a cruiser and the “proper” riding position of a street standard. Though heavy at 750 lbs. wet and with an oversize doughnut for a back tire, handling should be sluggish, but the wide bars and reasonable trail make for fairly accurate cornering. How much undercarriage you’re prepared to grind becomes the limiting factor. Power delivery is surprisingly docile up to around 4,000 rpm, with most of the hounds being released between there and the 6,000-ish rpm limiter.
The T-bird is an important entry for Triumph, and is already making waves in the shark tank: “Cruiser of the Year,” says a prominent US magazine. But will it sell? Well it certainly couldn’t have a better name.  
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