As most know who follow this website, we were fortunate to add terry Clark’s beautifully restored 1938 Speed Twin to our collection back in 2004. It was at the time, and remains, the preeminent and most valuable Triumph in our collection. Here is a picture of our '38 5T ... lots more in the photo album.
Terry has owned several other pre-war Triumphs including a 1939 Tiger 100, which he sold for $34,000 at the Las Vegas auction last January, as well as a 1937 Tiger 90 which he still possesses.
We are excited to report that Terry located and purchased another 1938 Speed Twin last month. He found this one posted on EBay and as luck would have it, it was only a few miles from Terry’s home in Washington State. After actually viewing the bike in person and participating in competitive bidding with several other Triumph enthusiasts from around the world, Terry was able to claim it as his own at auction’s end for a bit over $9,000.
We are pleased that Terry has agreed to help us document his restoration of this rare and important machine here on our website and this is our first installment.
Before Terry bid on the Speed Twin he felt the need to see the bike in person to make certain it still had the unique features which are next to impossible to locate or duplicate. Like the ’38 Speed twin in our collection, the bike was an early model with the rare 6 bolt cylinders which change the shape of the crankcases.
Later in ’38, Triumph changed the engine design to the traditional 8 bolt barrel as the 6 bolt units were cracking and failing regularly. So it was important that Terry see for himself that the crank cases were not broken as he felt it would be impossible to find a replacement set. Fortunately, his inspection confirmed that indeed the cases were sound.
Terry also found that the girder fork was complete with the all important handle bar mounts which are rubber mounted and again impossible to find. The girder appears to be in one piece although the knurled adjustment shims are all missing and the spindles are taken up tight so the girder won't work as it should. It remains to be seen if the spindles are sound or not.
Thankfully the motorcycle has the mechanical oil metering unit on the front of the timing case which is unique to the pre-war bikes. That unit regulates the oil pressure to the rocker boxes and is fully adjustable with an internal screw and reads the oil pressure on the Eureka oil gauge on the tank top.
The correct pre-war tool box is there. These boxes can be identified by the two external hinges as the later boxes had a piano type hinge.
The ’38 also had the correct oil tank with the screw top inscribed with the correct lettering indicating oil type to be used.
The fuel tank is the correct one for the early Speed Twins and is the same one used for the prior year’s Tiger 90. It can be identified by looking at the underside … the right side should be indented to clear the rocker box covers which were taller on the single engines. Terry thinks the later tanks had that indentation removed and they were just flat across the bottom. Unfortunately, Terry’s fuel tank has a big crease along the top where the rubber mounted handle bars had been forced down on the tank top. This is a common problem which had also been an issue with the ’38 Speed Twin in our collection before Terry restored it.
The wheels are amazingly correct … the rims are both correct numbered Dunlops. The front is a 20 inch wm2 which will restore easily. The rear is also correct and although it has a couple of "hammer" marks, it should restore just fine. If not, however, it's the same as a rigid Triumph rear wheel which can be easily located.
The front external brake drum and the brake plate are there, in good condition but unfortunately the front hub speedo drive is missing. This part will require some effort and luck to find.
Neither of the fenders is correct. Both the 8" headlight and its mounts are also incorrect. Missing is the Lucas Altette horn and its bracket. There are no gauges and switches for the tank top panel, although there is a Eureka oil pressure gauge in a box of parts but it is in poor shape. There is no speedometer or the shielded cable from the front wheel speedo drive box. Also, the front brake rod, which is unique to the pre-war Triumphs, and the handle bars and controls are trash.
The engine and frame numbers are correct for 1938 although there is no way to determine if they came together with the bike. (Note: All of Triumph’s pre-war records were destroyed in November, 1940 when the Germans bombed Coventry.) The pre-war gear box has the correct numbers for that era.
Terry feels that looking at the bike as a whole, the frame, engine and gear box were most probably original to the bike. Overall, the bike is very sound and an amazing survivor, with the exception of a couple of "unobtanium" parts, it is well worth restoring. When completed, this Terry Clark restoration will likely be valued in excess of $40,000.
More photos of this bike in our photo album.
In our next posting on the 1938 Speed twin … Part 2: The search for parts begins …
Hello, I look forward to reading about your progress with this bike. I have just about finished an incomplete basket case 1939 speed twin so I know how hard some of the bits can be to find. Re the speedo drive, it was one of the bits I needed one too and I got one from the Gagg brothers in Nottingham England (although it was not cheap). Their shop was, until earlier this year, an aladins cave of new old stock parts for all sorts of bikes. They sold up earlier in the year but they do however still run their Smiths instrument repair business so there is a chance that they kept all of the speedo related parts so they may be still worth a call.
Posted by: John | October 01, 2011 at 02:09 PM