Vehicle Description
1948 Triumph Tiger 100
VIN: 48T10096938
Awarded the "Spirt of The Quail" award in 2017
Restored by award-winning Triumph restorer Jonnie Green
Possibly one of the finest examples in the world today
Longtime ownership for more than 49 years
A true sport enthusiast's machine
Bringing up the performance for Triumph in 1948 was the Triumph
Tiger 100. With the runaway success of the Triumph Speed Twin,
Edward Turner's mind turned to further developing the potential of
his new parallel twin motor. The lighter and more powerful Tiger
100 was developed as a sport's enthusiast's machine, and whereas
with the previous models the '100' referred to its claimed top
speed.
In 2004 award-winning Triumph restorer Jonnie Green purchased this
example in Southern California from the estate of its long-term
owner, Harley Durfee. Although it is unknown if the T100 was
purchased new by Durfee, records indicate that he owned serial
number 96938 since at least 1955. This T100 was part of a
two-motorcycle purchase, the other being Durfee's high-performance
1956 Triumph factory-prepared TR5R road racer, which records show
he purchased new. Acknowledging the rarity of both bikes and their
originality, Green put them into deep storage in his personal
collection, with his sole intention of restoring both at a later
date.
2015 was the year that Green decided that the T100 would be
completely restored to a concours level, intent on displaying his
quality workmanship at the prestigious Quail Motorcycle Gathering
in Carmel, CA. Upon careful disassembly of the bike, he discovered
that the engine's 3-piece bolt together crankshaft was a polished
unit, confirming Durfee's preference for performance-oriented
riding.
As with all of Green's restorations, he photographed the entire
restoration process. Using as many original new-old-stock parts as
he could find, he avoided non-original Triumph parts to maintain
the bikes authenticity. The original wheel rims for example were
stripped and re-plated, then the centers painted and lined. When
the original spokes were deemed unsafe, Green looked to Buchanan's
for their superior stainless spokes, but went to great lengths to
grind the "B" off of each spoke head, then gently bead blasting
them for a correct finished look. The elusive Lucas MT110 tail lamp
and lens were another hard to locate NOS item that Green
successfully obtained, keeping with the factory original mandate.
After a nearly two-year restoration process the bike was displayed
on the lawn of the Quail Motorcycle Gathering in 2017. Paying off
for the immense amount of work put into this fantastic ride, the
Triumph won the "Spirit of the Quail" award for that year, one of
the most prestigious awards in the entire show.
Since arriving at Canepa, the absolutely pristine motorcycle has
been treated to an extremely sympathetic concours-level show
detail, taking care to preserve the excellent restoration carried
out by Jonnie Green. It now presents as possibly the finest example
of a 1948 Triumph Tiger 100 in the world today.
