Fred

1969

Triumph

TR6R Tiger

Green

matching numbers

Got Fred and a full Vetter fairing in 1973 from a guy going to ride around the world on it, but then his wife got pg and he got a Porsche. Was my primary transportation for about 3 (gas embargo) yrs and a hobby thereafter. Along the way I also found a 70 Bonnie, a good runner but abused. Nice to have a loaner for "flying in formation" rides with friends. A lot of superficial parts swapping took place and, when I was finally back to just Fred - well he looked more like a "Bonnie" than a Tiger.

I have an 80's Sportster 19" front wheel and a sixteen inch rim laced to a Triumph rear hub. I also have the Dunlop survivor 18" wheel and a nice new chrome hub and polished SS spoke wheel (18") for show. The stock Triumph front end has the original DLS hub, laced to a period Borrani rim with ss spokes. Tires right now are Duros but will eventually get back to K-81s.

Powertrain is lightly refurbished stock. It's had one rebore (0.060) a valve job and a gearbox/clutch rebuild. Carbs are Commando Amal 932s (NOS) At approx. 35 K miles (off the road for a couple of decades in there,) it will eventually need a going through to clean out the sludge trap but I've always kept clean oil in it and it likely won't be my problem. The single carb was excellent, but I do like the top end pull with the bonnie head. Don't find it any harder to keep tuned either. Just use good carbs!

A customizer I knew glassed up the tailpiece from a stock Kawasaki item to accommodate your basic Harley seat. The same guy did the tank and tail paint work. I molded out the frame, a little bit here and there over many years. I tried my hand at spraying the frame and it came out better than I expected. Only one small bug got in it, amazing for CT outdoors. The frame was white at one time but hard to keep clean. Guess I got onto an anti-black craze because Triumph (and everybody) had such a penchant for spraying everything black. I wanted every component to stand out on it's own.

The chassis is basically stock except for new rear shocks and a 39mm Showa fork on the front with tapered roller bearings in the neck. I wanted a modern disk brake (with the option to go dual) and more substantial tubes up there, plus it doesn't look unlike something Norton might have used in the same era. Gaiters suck. I still have the original forks and wheel, a potential 30 min swap for parades and shows where brake fade isn't an issue.

Harley seat. 2" over fork tubes extending through the clamps to get the clip-ons up to a comfortable level. I tried the full fairing for commuting one winter but it hid the bike and acted like a sail. And I got pneumonia anyway.

The bike is wired mostly through the frame, with the switches and relays up front routed through the headlight. Blackbox rectifier and voltage regulator. Still have the points and original alternator. Used to run with just a capacitor but recently added a battery so I don't have to kick it as hard. Also have a conventional power tap for batt. charging, compressor, cell phone, etc.