Thunderbird Sport – A Triumph

The 1949 Thunderbird motorcycle was the brainchild of Edward Turner, then Triumph’s managing director and chief designer. He was looking for a powerful roadburner to build the market in the United States; already healthy, but also red hot, as families were returning to “normal” after World War II. It was in the United States that he found the inspiration to build the 649c.c. twin. It was comfortable and well built and Americans bought many of them, until 1966 when the model was discontinued.

It was revived in 1981, although it had little in common with the first model, except for the Thunderbird ‘paper dart’ logo. The Thunderbird TR65 was a ‘budget’ motorcycle that was actually a short-stroke version of the larger T-140 Bonneville. Just three model years later, partly due to lackluster sales, production was halted and Triumph itself suffered financial problems.

After John Bloor managed to get a new factory up and running in Hinckley to produce Triumphs in 1990, the Thunderbird was revived in 1994 as the Thunderbird 900. Just three years later, in 1997, Triumph launched the Sports Thunderbird 900. It was an improved machine based on the same 885c.c. triple drive from the standard Thunderbird. However, that engine was tuned to produce 82 hp and 56 ft-lbs of torque, compared to 69 hp and 52 ft-lbs of torque on the standard model.

Much of the classic look of the original Thunderbird 900 was carried over, but the Sport had some significant physical differences. Much of the chrome had been replaced with satin black; fancy stitching and seat buttons removed. The airbox received a “cheese grater” cover that harked back to the old exposed air filters mounted on historic racing motorcycles. The Thunderbird Sport 900 had an upgraded, fully adjustable suspension to handle the extra power; and higher specification components improved the already excellent handling. For braking, the Thunderbird Sport had an additional disc up front that allowed for worry-free braking control. Smaller, 17-inch diameter, but wider wheels (3.5 inches wide at the front and 4.25 inches at the rear vs. 2.5 and 3.5 inches at the front and rear, respectively, on the standard Thunderbird) for a bigger, sportier wheel selection, not to mention a sportier one. stop. The exhaust was even changed for improved ground clearance using a set of upward sloping reverse cone mufflers on the right side of the machine.

The Thunderbird Sport managed to please its new owners. As a sport-tourer, it was a very successful motorcycle model. Unfortunately production ceased in 2004 and this was the last Thunderbird model released by Triumph for many years. After production stopped, we had to wait until 2009 to find out if the Thunderbird would return. Did. And now we have the 2010 Thunderbird 1600!