classic motorcycle forum
Motorcycle Discussions => British Bikes => Topic started by: thunderbird on November 19, 2008, 03:08:24 PM
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hi all,i am currently rebuilding the wheels on my 52 tbird project, i know the rims and hubs were painted for this year can anyone tell me if the the spokes should also be painted, ie the whole wheel painted polychromatic blue.cheers steve
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All the early 50s Triumphs I've seen have had chrome rims with a coloured stripe in the middle and cadmium plated spokes (I think most manufacturers used this type of plating back then). Fully painted rims and spokes may have been an immediate post war, short term answer to chrome shortages (and miliatry bikes of course), but Triumphs were far too flashy to keep this permanently.
Anyway, have you ever tried to pinstripe a spoke????? ;D
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henry i have a copy of harry woolridge thunderbird bible and for 1952 the whole rims were painted and also the handle bars the sprung hub wheel i am rebuilding also has the remains of the blue paint on the whole rim, spokes and hub just thought i would ask on the forum if anyone knows if the spokes should be painted as it dosen,t say in the book and yes i have sprayed spoked wheels in the past on vintage car wheels
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Hi Steve, Like I said in the post, all the early 50s Triumphs I've seen have chrome rims with a stripe and bog standard plated spokes. Maybe I just haven't seen a 52 Thunderbird but I looked it up in my Roy Bacon resto guide and he says chrome with a stripe for all the road bikes in '52. I guess it's a case of who's advice to take. I'll have a trawl through the bottom drawer and see if I can find a contemporary picture. HN
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thanks henry if you can find any more info that would be great,looking at the thunderbird bible in 1952 only due to a shortage of nickel the following parts were cadmium plated push rod tubes,rocker feed spindle nuts,exhaust pipe pin clips,kick start pedal,footchange lever,also states the wheel rims and handlebars were stove enamelled blue so makes a dull looking triumph really,but i would like to build it as close to original spec as i can so the main question really is would the spokes have been stove enamelled along with the hub and rim as was done on early vintage bikes and cars. i have looked on the web at a few pictures of a 52 tbird and they have the pin stripe to the wheels and chrome handlebars but maybe the owners just wanted a brighter triumph.cheers steve :)
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I know that there was a lot less chrome on bikes in 1952 because of the shortages of chrome/nickel. We had a 52 BSA Golden Flash and that had an all-black tank because of this, but it DID have chromed wheel rims with a black centreline - I've just checked a 1957 photo I have.
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thanks neracarken,yes i also own an early 50s zb31 totally original and unrestored the rims are painted silver with the center of the rim spokes and hub stoved black there is no sign of any chrome under the silver i suspect this is the original finish due to the shortages of nickel at the time.cheers steve :)
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ive just been trawling the web for 1952 tbird and chrome shortages and guess what came up http://www.vintagebike.co.uk/Bike%20Directories/Triumph%20Bikes/pages/Triumph-6T-52.htm thanks to vintagebike and nigels picture library the answer was here all along.cheers steve
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Just to confuse, here's a photo of my dad's 1952 Flash, and the photo was taken in 1957 at Polperro - I know coz I took it! The "rider" is now my SWMBO!
The rims were definitely chromed, not painted silver.
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y115/neracar-ken/ORL674.jpg
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neracarken do you know if the flash is still about? i think there was probably variations from model to model and makes, to what parts were chromed that year dependent on the supply of nickel.nice to see the picture of the bsa and thanks for your interest.cheers steve :)
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Sadly, it isn't! My dad part-exed it for a brand new 1958 s/a Flash in Plymouth - can't remember whether it was Pikes or Kings. He later found out that the new owner suffered a fire with it and it was completely burnt out! :'(
Here's the new model - bike, not girl! :)
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y115/neracar-ken/OCO790.jpg
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shame about the old flash neracarken,your farther was obviously a keen bsa man, nice to see the old pics :)
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Not just my dad - I had a 1957 B31, and a 1951 A7 and BSA sidecar, then made my own s/car and chassis c/w s/a wheel using old Poole Power Station boiler tube, new timber, and old alloy sheets from cars in a scrap yard! It was sprayed in a Jag metallic blue with a vacuum cleaner gun! Here it is on the day I sold it - £25!
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y115/neracar-ken/Sidecar.jpg
If you want to see some unusual bikes we've had, look here. The Vincents weren't ours, though!
http://s4.photobucket.com/albums/y115/neracar-ken/
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neracarken the sidecar looks a good job it looks right with the bike a great bit of recycling :)and a nice collection of bikes you have owned to you must have been keen on trials/scrambles
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Hello,Thought i would add my three penath (Thats the Welsh spelling) to your paintwork issue debate. Your rims are definately all blue due to the Korean war causing a nickle and consequent chrome shortage that year. The spokes according to the spec in the November 1951 Triumph sales brochure were heavy duty dull plated.I have looked at the bike picture you placed a link to and if you want close to original spec PLEASE dont use that bike as a yardstick!!!I would never set myself up as an expert as i advise restorers to do their own research using period photos not pics of badly restored ones, but rigid Triumphs are my thing and i have researched and owned over many in the last 30 odd years. I am happy to talk Triumph any time if you want to contact me.Regards David
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Thanks for your reply David,i recognise your user name from ebay and have bought a few parts from you for my project,i had decided to leave the spokes unpainted which is good if this is how it would have been,all of my info for spec i have taken from Harry Woolridges book,i dont have any period pictures to go by but have looked at several pics on the web but they do seem to vary in detail.If you have any info or finer details for this year it would be much appreciated,i do have a question i have just started dismantling the sprung hub wheel i have undone the nuts that hold the brake drum on but it wont come off, any tips.dont worry i wont be attemting to dismantle the spring box :o.Thanks Steve
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Hello Steve,It is very difficult to do a correct detail restoration today because of good intentioned but poorly restored bikes held up as good examples.The Thunderbird profile is in my opinion one of the best examples of this .The bike used has so many wrong parts on it is embarrassing.Still none of us are perfect and i would never hold my bikes up as correct but if you do then my arguement is be correct!Re period photos the best source is old copies of The motorcycle or photos of the bikes when new like for example in the foreward of original parts books.Difficult sometimes to get but worthwhile when you do.You even have to be wary of Triumph brochures as they can lead you astray as for example if you followed them you couldnt fit any cables as they were left off!
Re your sprung hub brake drum once you have undone the nuts you have to drive the sprocket/drum assembly off as the bearing is a tight fit on the spring box and the bearing is a tigher fit in the drum.There are various ways to do this from using an alloy drift on the sprocket( but be carefull not to beat the teeth off!)to undoing the other side plate of the sprung hub and driving the spring box out to displace the sideplate. Note if doing this you have to 'feel' that the spring box is lined up with the 'springbox shape' in the sprung hub rather like a key in a key hole otherwise it will all get jammed up.Note also the lengths of the spindle as if you hit it with a hammer(with an old nut on to protect the thread)you can and most likely will move the spindle over to one side. It is a painful job but with patience it all works out but be carefull as despite its weighty construction a sprunghub is quite fragile and easy to damage. Any problems email me on triumph@dwright!9.fsnet.co.uk. I am happy to discuss detail finish of your bike for instance what parts are black? regards David
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Hi David.thanks very much for the tips on dismantling the sprung hub,this is a job i had put to one side as did not want to break anything taking it apart, so your insight will be a great help,thanks for your email i will be intouch,one of the questions was what items are black as i know a lot of the bike is polychromatic blue for this year.Thanks Steve
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Can anyone tell me that paint code for the polychromatic blue? I think it is a Dupont colour but their site is useless and i have been running through information on the internet and in books without any luck. Can anyone help? Thanks Heather :)
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Silver blue sheen with a hint of green from:
http://www.msmotorcyclesuk.com/
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you can also get the paint from RS http://motorbikepaint.co.uk/
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Hmmm thanks ill try to contact them for a paint code but i am in Canada so i am not sure about how it would travel over or if that is even a good idea to ship it. Does anyone have a pic of their bike in that colour (polychromatic blue) i am trying to make sure i have the right one. Thanks again Heather :)
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Don is US based and is a paint supplier www.triumphman.com