Triumphrat

BlakeC

hey, im pretty new to british bikes and wanted to see if anyone could help me figure something out, i recently got a triumph the vin is ND289573 i believe its a 1971 oif, just dont know wheter its a bonneville or tiger the engine is a 500 engine # is ff23263 i think the frame is a t100l? not sure what that means, and the motor is a t100r which i believe is a bonneville engine? the frame also has a single downtube.. were these the first year of the oif bikes?
thanks for any help!
-blake

CommandoRdster

Welcome to the Forum,Blake.
Blake,your bike is a Daytona. Yours is a 500cc. The Bonneville and Tiger are 650cc bikes. You should be pleased.The 500 is not quite as fast as the 650,but it is smoother,lighter,and revvier then the 650,and a lot of people think they are more fun to ride.And yes,'71 was the first year of production for the OIF. That also makes it pretty rare.Not too many people bought those first OIFs.


You posted on the wrong forum though.This forum is for the Hinckley bikes.Yours is an original Meriden model.You should have posted on the Classics and Cruisers forum. Those guys over there will be able to tell you everything you want to know about your bike,right down to the name of the bloke who put the air in the tires at the factory.

Go over there and re-post your questions,or just wait a while,and one of the moderators will come along and move it for you.



Cheers!
Bruce

__________________
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The advantage of a bad memory is that one enjoys several times the same good things for the first time. -Nietzsche

abmar

To the best of my knowledge:

First, no oil in frame 500 twins were built so yours should have an oil tank on the right side of the bike.
Second, a frame stamped ND would indicate a 1970 build date.
Third, the F prefix was not used by Triumph for any month or year so the motor may have been restamped indicating that it might have been stolen at some time and the numbers changed for reregistration.
Fourth, a T100R prefix stamped on the motor indicates a Daytona model with twin carburetors.
Fifth, a T100l frame prefix was never used by Triumph for any machine.

Your machine would appear to have a rather questionable origin. You may want to check the frame and motor numbers more carefully to make sure you got them right.

Bruce Martin

DAGAD

Hi Blake, Abmar has it right here. Re-check those numbers, especially as it should only have 5 NUMBERS after the month & year code, you have quoted 6. Next is always good for us to see your ride, so some pics would be most useful to the 'detectives'
Roy.