I've heard from other T300 owners from time to time since I started this blog. One such gent is Gray , who is the proud guardian of a 1991 Charcoal Grey Trophy 1200 mark 1, serial 000232. Yes, its even more venerable than my own 000544.
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| Spot the Difference 1: Publicity shot, early 1991 |
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| Spot the Difference 2: August 1991 |
Gray's 232 is a two-owner machine (whereas I am the 12th owner of 544) and he has some documentation that sheds a bit of light on its past. She was bought from Bill Head Ltd in Preston on 25th of July 1991, with a 1st of August registration for that year, make this bike one of the first 'J' plates out there. I believe my bike was purchased from Eddy's of Leeds because that was on the number plate when I bought 544. With so many prior owners in my case though it's impossible to say if 544 when through Eddy's hands (and a change of plate) in the mean time.
The invoice shows the VIN as 232 and the engine as 240 - a difference of
eight engines. I think they were test engines produced by the factory
as part of the early refinement process. Hinckley Triumphs do not have matching engine and frame numbers. My bike's engine number is 561,
a difference of seventeen, rather mysteriously. I'm guessing this is because engines were taken from production to serve test and quality sampling purposes.
I've read in several sources that the first months of
manufacture were certainly intensive period for the R&D folks at the factory
as well as for production line staff. Triumph were committed to a continuous improvement process, redesigning and introducing changes as soon as they were approved. This contrasts with the 'model year' approach, where ideas and designs for changes are drawn up during one model year and then an aggregation of all such changes are released for the next model year.
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| Wow - looks pristine to me. Very fancy levers. |
It is very unusual to see fairing lowers that are entirely unblemished. The high weight distribution catches out most owners when pushing or paddling about, resulting in shallow scrapes and scratches. Gray's bike seems to have escaped such insults.
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| Really lovely condition. Nice rabbit hutch too ;-) |
This is where the red screen came from - not to Gray's taste but maybe suits Lancaster Red rather better than Charcoal Grey (Metallic).
Cheers Gray.
10 comments:
Now for sale :-(
I have number 219,do you want it
Bgb if you you still have it let us know.
Hi Bgb if you still have it let me know Cheers
I have #232 now, and will be offering it for sale in the next few days. I have to say that it has changed quite a bit since your earlier photos, and is now a bikini-faired cafe racer! (not by me)
I can see it here:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/274519100866
Changes I can see are handlebars (acquired taste), can cover repainted black (the paint always flakes off here anyway), later brakes (good idea) and wheels (heavier steering IMHO) plus the lower edge of headlight cowl cut down around the mounting brackets. The bike has been repainted too; triumph logo on the tank isn't where the factory put them but hey it's your bike.
It sort of is my thing, but too many bikes and I'm after a classic guzzi, so one Trumpet and one modern guzzi have to go... your photos are a really useful reference by the way. It seems the bike may have a later (Daytona?) front end...
Some photos sent. I wonder who carried out the changes? I must admit I quite the way it looks now. 😘
Hi
Just looking into Vin numbers when I found this. According to my log book, mine was registered 17/08/1991 Vin ends in ....677 but my engine number is ..706
Thanks for posting this comment. My engine number, at 561, is also higher than my frame number, which is 544. As far as I know, Hinckley bikes don't have matching frames and engine numbers. It's normal for the engine number to be higher than the frame number. I have three other Hinckley triumphs and this is the case for all of them. My guess is that the factory produced several engines for test purposes, each with a number, so accounting for the offset, 15 in my case. I don't have a definitive answer though. Your bike is 133 or about the days between than mine. Your offset is 29. That's really were the very early days for Hinckley production. Only these who were working there at the tone could know.
Enjoy your bike. They are very special indeed.
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