Description
Triumph 1912 3½ HP 500cc.
The first Triumph motorcycle appeared in 1902.
It was equipped with a Belgian Minerva Engine. In 1903 and 1904 JAP and Fafnir engines were employed and by 1905 Triumph’s own engine was in use.
Winning the Single Cylinder Class in the 1908 TT Races on the Isle of Man gave an enormous boost to sales of Triumph machines.
At the outbreak of The Great War in 1914 Triumph’s reputation for quality and reliability had been firmly established, no wonder the War Department ordered some 35.000 Triumph machines for war duties.
The cubic capacity of the engine grew from 363cc in 1905 till 550cc in 1914.
This 1912 model has bore and stroke of 85 x 88 mm, giving 499cc.
The machine is in good order and is equipped with hub-clutch.
The rear wheel is driven by V belt, rear brake is of the block-in-pulley type.
Tyre size is 26 x 2½, ignition by the ultra-reliable Bosch magneto.