Ask a lot of people who ride bikes and usually their first touch point with motorcycles started out with their good ol’ dad. The smell of an oil and petrol filled garage often brings back memories of dads tinkering, restoring (and probably often, breaking) motorcycles. That’s definitely true for Roz, who grew up with a Brit bike obsessed pops who hoped that one day she’d get the old brit bike bug. Luckily for her dad, Roz did get the bug and she has been breathing in petrol ever since.
After almost 2 decades of riding, Roz has decided that it is about time to move her amateur career forward from not only a rider of bikes, but also a reviewer of bikes. But because she's a nobody and VC is not a famous motorcycle review blog, we decided to shun fancy brand new bikes for her to review. So she's pulling out any old motorbike from her dad's garage (mostly old British bangers) and talking us through those instead. She will look at what makes these the best (and also sometimes the worst) kind of bike to own, alongside using extremely strict rating criteria, such as coolness factor, quirkyness factor and likelihood of breaking down and needing rescuing factor, amongst many others! Be prepared to be overwhelmed, underwhelmed and possibly just whelmed. These are mostly British bikes after all!
Next up the second in the Rozzy Rides series…….
Rozzy gives us the skinny on her Dad’s absolute beaut of a TR5T Trophy…. freaking ugly rack and all! Yewwwwwwwwww
TRIUMPH TR5T TROPHY ADVENTURER/TROPHY TRAIL
Bought as a rolling chassis about five years ago in Essex for £2750 (pretty expensive considering it was missing lots of important bits).
The TR5T is a definite favourite - for both me and dad. It was taken from rolling chassis to rideable in an unbelievably short space of time - dad usually spends at least a couple of years ruminating on his projects before starting them, getting them very nearly finished, and then getting bored and abandoning them. Dad tells me that he just wanted to get the TR5T running asap, so he just threw all the bits he had on it and got his mechanic Joss to get it going; it’s quite rough and ready, and is nowhere near a full restoration.
To that end, the TR5T is pretty basic. First of all - no battery and no lights/indicators (not even a brake light). To be honest I don’t ride these bikes at night ever, and I’ve gotten over my obsession with indicators, so this isn’t a huge issue for me, but dad was rear ended on this bike recently by an elderly dude and I suspect a brake light may have helped a little in that particular situation. There is a mirror but it vibrates off quite a lot. The brake lever is currently broken because the bike fell over (apparently I had parked it inappropriately…) and it snapped.
While we’re on the subject of brakes, there are none (even when it has fully functioning levers). I wouldn’t recommend riding this bike in a situation where brakes are super important, so, do with that what you will. I usually use the gears to slow down, and have a squeeze on the brakes to see if anything happens. Dad has actually put a different front wheel with a big twin leading shoe front brake on (it should have a teeny 6 inch single leading shoe), but I really don’t think this has made a whole lot of difference. I can’t imagine how frighteningly terrible the 6inch brake must be.
THE SHIT RACK
“HAS DAD PUT A SHIT RACK ON IT? Yes. He justifies this because he once went to the supermarket on it (that same time the old man knocked him off). I think the ¾ seat even accentuates the bloody rack if I’m honest.”
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To make up for its limited capacity for braking, I tend to mostly ride the TR5T round the lanes, and wouldn’t really use it for long road rides at high speed. It accelerates very quickly, and feels very fast, but this is down to its gearing - it’s a trail bike, and was built to be able to pull you up steep hills and through deep mud. Its top speed is about 75mph (much slower than other Triumph 500s like the Daytona which can manage about 120mph quite smoothly). The speedo doesn’t actually work, so you’ve no real way to tell how fast you’re going. However, the bike vibrates so much, I think if you actually got to 75mph it would rattle your tits right off so I don’t recommend.
In line with it being a trail bike, it’s got semi knobbly tyres on it, so it’s not set up for high road speeds. It has a special American issue exhaust which is very ugly, but it’s designed to stop fire and flames coming out of your exhaust pipe. This was a requirement by the US Forestry Service, to ensure that riders didn’t ignite undergrowth and cause a forest fire when out and about on the trails in California/wherever. There’s not much need for that kind of advanced 1970s technology in Shropshire’s particular dank microclimate, but dad seems to have stuck to stock on this.
Plus points - it’s (usually) quite easy to start. No battery means no key, so you just turn the petrol on, give the carb a tickle (press the tickler) and kick it over. It should start second kick (if dad is starting it); it usually starts tenth kick for me, the tenth kick being dad’s kick after I have tried to kick it nine times already. Sometimes the gods shine on me and it starts for me after three kicks. It’s got what dad likes to refer to as ‘specialised technical grips’ on the handlebars to eliminate some of the vibration. In reality, these are a little thicker than normal grips and do very little. A long ride will leave your hands and feet feeling very spongy indeed.
Biggest plus point - it is LOADS of fun to ride. I can’t really put my finger on why, but both me and dad love riding this bike. I think it’s something to do with the gearing, or how stripped back it is - I don’t worry too much about throwing it down the road because it’s not fancy. It makes a great sound (even through the weird exhaust) and riding it makes you feel like a complete hooligan. I love ripping around the lanes on it, and generally being a bit of a local menace. It’s light: a stock TR5T is 146kg, dad’s must be lighter still having lost the battery, lights and other stuff; and it’s low - never underestimate how confident you feel when able to plant both feet firmly on the floor with ease. You can also put your feet down to try and help you stop. And it’s a head turner - people know it’s a 500 twin but they can’t quite figure out what kind. If dad and I do go for a ride together, dad always wants to ride this
IMPORTANT SCIENTIFIC STATS COMPILED BY ROZ
HANDLING: 8/10. Good on and off road. Often makes me squeal with glee. It’s got quite a bit of torque at low speeds, and its lightness encourages you to throw it around. It’s got semi knobblies on (which are new - dad asked me to put that in) so they’re not going to have the grip you need on the road in the wet, and forget about getting your knee down at high speed, but for riding around the roads in Shroppy they’re fine. It’s just a lot of fun!
COOL FACTOR: 8/10. I really like Triumph 500s, and this twin has got a little bit of a ‘baby desert sled’ vibe. It’s got some lovely siamese pipes, sadly they do go into the boxy exhaust, letting it down a bit, but the bike sounds lovely, a fairly low growl. The black tank in the picture is temporary, the actual tank is at the painter’s being pinstriped (when finished, hopefully will look kinda like the tank on this, but black instead of yellow) so I am basing some of its ‘cool factor’ on how it should look. However, dad once sent a tank to be repainted and happily waited 11 years to get it back so I don’t have high hopes of the proper tank being back on before 2025.
LIKELIHOOD OF BEING NICKED IN LONDON: 10/10. Doesn’t need a key to start, plus sorta rare and worth a bob. Fairly light for a 500 - super easy to pick up and chuck in the back of a van if you’re that way inclined.
LIKELIHOOD OF NEEDING DAD TO COME RESCUE ME: 2/10 (not needed it yet, but don’t want to jinx it). Actually pretty reliable. So far the only reason you might need rescuing is because you’ve stalled it and can’t get it started again, or because you’ve forgotten to put some petrol in.
KEY TOOLS FOR A SUCCESSFUL RIDE: Allen key to fix the bar end mirror back on. Boots with thick soles to put down on the ground to help you brake in an emergency.
VIBRATIONS WHILST RIDING FACTOR: MAXIMUM 10/10 extreme vibration at all times. You’ll feel it in the very core of your being, and for at least an hour after a decent ride.
IDIOSYNCRASIES: Keep your revs between 3000 and 5000rpm to try and keep the vibration at an ok level (the rev counter does work); you need to flood the carb before trying to start it, there’s no choke. I like to try a power pose and some personal affirmations prior to trying to start it. Dad usually watches this performance from a safe distance and only approaches to help once I’m 9 or 10 kicks in, sweating and swearing.
RESTORATION LEVEL: 5/10. It works, and looks pretty good, but it’s never going to win an award. There aren’t any major rusty bits, it’s got a bit of patina. It looks like it’s ridden, which it is, and it wouldn’t be the end of the world if you dropped it (until dad gets the nice tank back on anyway).
HAS DAD PUT A SHIT RACK ON IT : Yes. He justifies this because he once went to the supermarket on it (that same time the old man knocked him off). I think the ¾ seat even accentuates the bloody rack if I’m honest.
Factory stats (yawn) most of which probably don’t really apply to this bike any more:
Chassis
Front Wheel: WM1 21"
Rear Wheel: WM3 18"
Front Tyre: 3.00 x 21
Rear Tyre: 4.00 x 18
Front Suspension: Telescopic hydraulic forks
Front Brakes: 6inch single leading shoe
Rear Brakes: 7inch single leading shoe
Engine/Transmission
Configuration: Vertical Twin
Capacity: 490cc (29.9cu in)
Bore/Stroke: 69mm / 65.5mm (2.72in / 2.58in)
Compression: 7.5 : 1
Gears: 4
Dimensions
Length: 2150mm (84.6in)
Seat Height: 810mm (31.9in)
Wheelbase: 1370mm (53.9in)
Dry Weight: 146kg (321.9lb)
Fuel Tank: 9litres (2galUK - 2.37galUS)