For Sale: 1948 Triumph Tiger in Scotts Valley, California

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.