As a schoolboy in the 1960's, I always bought Motor Cycle News and drooled over the photos of these fantastic British bikes winning the Daytona 200 ridden by Buddy Elmore and Gary Nixon! Great to see and hear this beautifully restored example in full running order. I also saw the great Percy Tait racing at Brands Hatch and Thruxton back in the day. RIP Percy. Thanks for posting!
Started my '67 Daytona T100 in the shed today. It's been sitting for two months after a long ride 1,000km or so. Took it for a pass around my local rural roads. Nothing like it.
Lovely bike! I've worked on a lot of classic bikes over the years and especially liked Triumphs, and have a soft spot for the 500 daytona of the early 70's, what a fun little bike they are. So nice to see and hear this amazing machine fired up, a lot of history with that bike and at a great time in racing.
Love the styling of the petrol tank, in fact the whole bike is a beautiful thing and a true work of art. I would love to hear that bike travelling at full noise.
Hi, reading in an interview with Gary Nixon. He gave the maximum speed per gear statistics. The one that stood out that I memorized was 1st gear - 72 m.p.h. My motorcycles up to that time in 1967 could not reach 72 m.p.h. " Hey! "
Glorious memories, thank you! I saw it many a time at Mallory Park and elsewhere and have a few good photos from that time. What a pleasure it was to see Percy, Dough Hele, Norm Hyde and Co taking on the works teams with much larger budgets and often coming out on top.
@@michaelhayward7572 No, I dont mind water cooling but take a look at the Triumph xrt and you hopefully will see what I meant. Its a jumble of tubing and piping that I certainly dont like I am of course of an age so just a personal view.
Too cool! My '70 Daytona is my all-time favorite, whether power sliding on a dirt road, bend swinging orcommuting around town, it's my idea of the perfect motorbike, and I've ridden and raced many others.
1967 was the year that Triumph got serious about making the old 500 into a proper racing machine. 60+ bhp and over 140mph at Daytona. To me, the most desirable Triumph factory racebike.
I grew up around early Japanese superbikes and Ducati twins. I was always amazed by how small, compact and light the Triumph twins are. I remember how out of place the 500 Triumph looked in a showroom of Kawasaki's. I thought it would never sell but the older salesman assured me it was a much sought after model. It sold.
I owned both a Ducati bevel drive and a Moto Guzzi Le Mans both these bikes were superior to the British bikes of the day. Ducati changed to belt drives eventually giving birth to the 916 and the Guzzi modified their V-twin engine, the British though stuck to the same ''World Beating'' formula and disappeared...Shows what happens when you thing everybody else has got it wrong.!!
@@brianperry What stupid comment ! The Moto Guzzi Le mans engine was based on a wartime generator engine, why didnt they change it ? Was it because they though they were better than others too ? Triumph, like the whole British motorcycle industry ran out of money. That's why they couldn't develope any new models, not because they didnt want to, or thought they were better than everyone else. However, many of the former British marques are back in production building world beating models again.
I remember Percy riding a Triumph at Mallory Park in 1973? I chatted with him in the Pits. When racing you could always hear the 'Thumper' approaching among all the ying yings screaming past. Such wonderful memories.
@@brianperry - Triumph were referring to Racing in America with Flat Track and Daytona 200 wins in 1967, 68, 1971 and numerous F750 and TT wins into the mid 70's, they meant it objectively as a company not subjectively as a buyer.
feel lucky to share that start up after all those years. I remember listening as a teenager the stories of Percy when he was chief development tester at Meriden, by Jim Lee who was another test rider ,of the antics they got up to around the area. have met Percy a few times,when he had his own Suzuki dealership,i bought a new bike in 1978. also he sold Suzuki cars years later and my son bought a small 4 by 4. great man great memories, thanks Dick for what you do.ps i hope JIM Lee is still keeping well if he reads this.
I saw this bike at Castle Combe on several occasions, racing with Dave Croxford, Charlie Sandby, Ray Pickrell, Tony Jeffrey’s etc. Exciting times for us.
I spent a good hour poring over this bike at a show some years ago, took lots of detail pictures. Built in secret during overtime as Edward Turner didn't approve. If only some of the modifications used were transferred to production bikes. Great to hear it run.
Edward Turner. Clever engineer. But one of the orchistratos of the British motorcycle collapse? He famously said' don't worry about the Japs,they're only making small bikes. They'll learn on those,then buy our bigger bikes'! Read Bert Hopwood's book.
I raced a 'copy' of this engine built by David Kirby in a lowboy frame with some success in classic races . when I rebuilt my engine I was amazed how close to standard it actually was . Just a few subtle mods and a careful build . I even use standard terry valve springs and it still revved to 9k if required . It had the legs on good Seeley G50's etc. and could hold it's own against F750 triumphs etc. ( not B.S. look up the results )
There was no reason for it NOT to start as it had received a complete rebuild and was as good ,or better, than new. Only a fool would try to start a 60 year old bike without a rebuild. Especially one with such a heritage.
@@Azzie492 I agree 100% The jeeezus lovers on Bikes and Beards channel do that all the time. They even ride them home, often a journey of 100 plus miles. Then they wonder why they ruined the engine!! But they are Americans… 👀🧐😎😜
I remember reading about Gary Nixon winning the Daytona 200 on one of these bikes. Back then they had to qualify by taking a flying lap on the oval and I believe Nixon's speed was 135 MPH. The next year Harley Davidson did a lot of development on their flathead KR, and crushed Triumph with Calvin Rayborn qualifying at 150 MPH and winning the race. I really enjoy seeing the race bikes of that era come back to life.
To my eternal regret I turned down the chance to buy that bike in '83 from the then owner David Kirby. What was I thinking of. If anyone is interested there is a really good book on triumph twin racers which covers this bike in some detail. " Road Racing History of the TRIUMPH 500 unit twin" by Claudio Sintich ( in English) ( Panther Publishing)
I met Percy a few times and he allowed me to sit on Slippery Sam for a photo once. Another occasion, I had travelled to a race meeting on my BSA big single, which had a CCM capacity conversion and my gear shifter had come lose and fallen off. The only person I knew there was Percy and he lent me a set of vice grip pliers which I wired on. I used to live on the A45 dual carriage way (Birmingham Rd), opposite the Triumph car service station and he called in to pick it up. He liked my parents’ home so much he tried to buy it, but my Mum & Dad wouldn't sell. But he did buy the small petrol station and garage (now the, Vaaroom Motorhome Hire) next to the now Windmill Village Hotel. My biggest and fondest memory of him, was when I was at Mallory Park watching him on a Triumph Triple and two other Triples being ridden round the hair pin side by side lap after lap. The sound was just fantastic, fond memories. RIP Percy.
When I was in Wimbledon, I refurbished/repaired an ex Mike Hailwood (so I was told) works BSA Triple cylinder head which had the (Manx Norton style) "Squish' Head. You could see why they would be very quick, using twin GP carbs would have meant the Squish chamber would have had plenty of charge to burn more efficiently It was very different from the ex Works 650 Thruxton Bonnie heads I have worked on, in fact there was no comparison. I can't remember his surname but Triumph specialists Hughes in Tooting had a race mechanic called Ron who had a really quick Unit 500 twin that was really well known back in the day.
Cool bike I use too own a 2000 triumph thunderbird sport white and tangerine, loved that bike❤ ,i remeber watching PBS television here in the USA and over sea sports shows, like soccer/football motor sports.I love the motorcycle racing it was my favorite. What ever happened to the triumph slippery sam?
Used to go to Triumph at Meriden in 60s for spares, and see Percy and fellow testers doing their job. But do find it a bit far fetched to have left a bike of that heritage for 60 years and never started it. !!!! . Makes a good story but years ago you never envisaged the appreciation in value, and would have used it not admired it. Might be totally wrong though. !!!!!
What was the bike that purported to be the ex Percy GP bike that Mick Hemings used to run then. Supposed to be the one that finished second to Ago’s MV?
Percy Tait, huh? Hmmmm... Wrong seat. He never used the thruxton style that I've ever seen in any photos.. He also used the twin front oil tanks, not the single one that I've seen but it did bounce around a bit. The fairing is one of several he used..... What about the racing frame where the rt. exhaust wraps around it or vice versa? Or the magnesium front 4LS brake (BTW minus the custom frame I have all this. Hey, I could be wrong. And it is a beautiful restoration but why never run since the ... sixties? on a recent resto? I'm all confused.
Squish head combustion chamber, self generating ignition, all very, very old technology. Kawasaki had squish combustion chambers in their W1/W2 BSA A10/A7 engine copy road bike of 1967.
@@TheReverb1 That's what I figured, but it looked to have just one? Maybe my eyes are shot? Anyhow, he adjusted something down in the cut out in the seat making me think that was a single card too.. ...
@@TheReverb1 Ok, thanks. I've literally owned at least 8 Triumph 650s over the years, some Bonnies with dual carbs and Tigers or Trophys with single carbs, but never a 500 model.
@@TheReverb1 I think he used ! 5/32" GP carbs with a remote float . The big trick to make them run well was a very small mod to the inside of the carbs that most folk wouldn't think of .
As a schoolboy in the 1960's, I always bought Motor Cycle News and drooled over the photos of these fantastic British bikes winning the Daytona 200 ridden by Buddy Elmore and Gary Nixon! Great to see and hear this beautifully restored example in full running order. I also saw the great Percy Tait racing at Brands Hatch and Thruxton back in the day. RIP Percy. Thanks for posting!
Percy was my hero. I remember him racing at Mallory Park in 1973. I had a pit satrt pass and will always remember chatting to him with his bike.
and the T100R Daytona was born. Beautiful restoration of a true legend.
Started my '67 Daytona T100 in the shed today. It's been sitting for two months after a long ride 1,000km or so. Took it for a pass around my local rural roads. Nothing like it.
Lovely bike! I've worked on a lot of classic bikes over the years and especially liked Triumphs, and have a soft spot for the 500 daytona of the early 70's, what a fun little bike they are. So nice to see and hear this amazing machine fired up, a lot of history with that bike and at a great time in racing.
The man Dick Sheppard is the real hero, keeping history and our heritage alive 👍
Can this channel get any better?? Some of the most beautiful motorcycles in the history of 2 wheeled transportation!!! Thanks so much for sharing!!!
Giving history a rev-up!! Tear in the eye stuff. Magic. Thanks.
Love the styling of the petrol tank, in fact the whole bike is a beautiful thing and a true work of art. I would love to hear that bike travelling at full noise.
Hi, reading in an interview with Gary Nixon. He gave the maximum speed per gear statistics. The one that stood out that I memorized was 1st gear - 72 m.p.h. My motorcycles up to that time in 1967 could not reach 72 m.p.h. " Hey! "
Dick Shepherd is probably one of the greatest collectors and restorers of classic Triumphs.
Glorious memories, thank you! I saw it many a time at Mallory Park and elsewhere and have a few good photos from that time. What a pleasure it was to see Percy, Dough Hele, Norm Hyde and Co taking on the works teams with much larger budgets and often coming out on top.
fantastic piece on machinery i own a 1967 Triumph T100T Daytona cracking bike loads of fine & similar exhaust note to the works bike
we were in the paddock at Spa when Percy came 2nd to Ago
A thing of beauty! When bikes had a character which didnt look like they had been made from the spare parts in a plumbers merchant!
You mean its not water cooled?
@@michaelhayward7572 No, I dont mind water cooling but take a look at the Triumph xrt and you hopefully will see what I meant. Its a jumble of tubing and piping that I certainly dont like I am of course of an age so just a personal view.
@@andrewf9673 fairings hide stuff....
PS, i may be older than you...
@@michaelhayward7572 ⁵
I met this guy and his bikes in the IoM paddock. The bikes looked fabulous, real works of art.
Too cool!
My '70 Daytona is my all-time favorite, whether power sliding on a dirt road, bend swinging orcommuting around town, it's my idea of the perfect motorbike, and I've ridden and raced many others.
1967 was the year that Triumph got serious about making the old 500 into a proper racing machine. 60+ bhp and over 140mph at Daytona.
To me, the most desirable Triumph factory racebike.
Excellent,saw this racing when I was a Marshall at Mallory Park.👍👍
That guy has some very nice motorcycles.
I grew up around early Japanese superbikes and Ducati twins. I was always amazed by how small, compact and light the Triumph twins are. I remember how out of place the 500 Triumph looked in a showroom of Kawasaki's. I thought it would never sell but the older salesman assured me it was a much sought after model. It sold.
I owned both a Ducati bevel drive and a Moto Guzzi Le Mans both these bikes were superior to the British bikes of the day. Ducati changed to belt drives eventually giving birth to the 916 and the Guzzi modified their V-twin engine, the British though stuck to the same ''World Beating'' formula and disappeared...Shows what happens when you thing everybody else has got it wrong.!!
@@brianperry
What stupid comment !
The Moto Guzzi Le mans engine was based on a wartime generator engine, why didnt they change it ? Was it because they though they were better than others too ?
Triumph, like the whole British motorcycle industry ran out of money. That's why they couldn't develope any new models, not because they didnt want to, or thought they were better than everyone else. However, many of the former British marques are back in production building world beating models again.
I remember Percy riding a Triumph at Mallory Park in 1973? I chatted with him in the Pits. When racing you could always hear the 'Thumper' approaching among all the ying yings screaming past. Such wonderful memories.
@@brianperry - Triumph were referring to Racing in America with Flat Track and Daytona 200 wins in 1967, 68, 1971 and numerous F750 and TT wins into the mid 70's, they meant it objectively as a company not subjectively as a buyer.
@@brianperry harley is still going so your theory is flawed!Poor business management is not the same as poor engineering !
What a beautiful machine!
wonderful, i remember the era very well. good times, luv it. keep it up, regards, will.
feel lucky to share that start up after all those years. I remember listening as a teenager the stories of Percy when he was chief development tester at Meriden, by Jim Lee who was another test rider ,of the antics they got up to around the area. have met Percy a few times,when he had his own Suzuki dealership,i bought a new bike in 1978. also he sold Suzuki cars years later and my son bought a small 4 by 4. great man great memories, thanks Dick for what you do.ps i hope JIM Lee is still keeping well if he reads this.
Was that the same Jim Lee who later sponsored Mick Grant?
@@mv4ago no ,that is another Jim Lee. regards,
Sometimes, just sometimes I wish I was a bike guy. That's a beautiful bike.
wow what a stunning machine
I saw this bike at Castle Combe on several occasions, racing with Dave Croxford, Charlie Sandby, Ray Pickrell, Tony Jeffrey’s etc. Exciting times for us.
One awesome looking sounding bike one of Britain's best.
I spent a good hour poring over this bike at a show some years ago, took lots of detail pictures. Built in secret during overtime as Edward Turner didn't approve. If only some of the modifications used were transferred to production bikes. Great to hear it run.
Edward Turner. Clever engineer. But one of the orchistratos of the British motorcycle collapse? He famously said' don't worry about the Japs,they're only making small bikes. They'll learn on those,then buy our bigger bikes'! Read Bert Hopwood's book.
I raced a 'copy' of this engine built by David Kirby in a lowboy frame with some success in classic races . when I rebuilt my engine I was amazed how close to standard it actually was . Just a few subtle mods and a careful build . I even use standard terry valve springs and it still revved to 9k if required . It had the legs on good Seeley G50's etc. and could hold it's own against F750 triumphs etc. ( not B.S. look up the results )
Not only was he an engineer but an optimist and comedian also😂
How close is this to the one raced by Gary Nixon in the U.S.? I saw him ride it at Laconia in the rain.
Wow thanks for posting made my day hardcore Trump lover here favorite bike ever was 70 Bonne
Fantastic. Top job everyone involved. Love megaphones.
It's impressive that it hadn't run since the '60s, and yet it fired up no problem. Looks like it's been very well tended to.
Highly unlikely too.
There was no reason for it NOT to start as it had received a complete rebuild and was as good ,or better, than new. Only a fool would try to start a 60 year old bike without a rebuild. Especially one with such a heritage.
@@Azzie492 I agree 100%
The jeeezus lovers on Bikes and Beards channel do that all the time. They even ride them home, often a journey of 100 plus miles. Then they wonder why they ruined the engine!!
But they are Americans… 👀🧐😎😜
Beautiful machine!
That's really cool. Sounds great (coming from a 2 stroke addict).
When I was a lad, I did some “Christmas work” plucking turkeys at Percy Tait’s farm!
Omg what a gorgeous machine 👍
One beautiful bike you can't help but love ❤️ it
Sounds wonderful.
I remember reading about Gary Nixon winning the Daytona 200 on one of these bikes. Back then they had to qualify by taking a flying lap on the oval and I believe Nixon's speed was 135 MPH. The next year Harley Davidson did a lot of development on their flathead KR, and crushed Triumph with Calvin Rayborn qualifying at 150 MPH and winning the race. I really enjoy seeing the race bikes of that era come back to life.
Gary Nixon lived in my area, and he use to come to most of the British bike shows and he would bring a few bikes.
Priceless history georgous Triumph..
Really a dream bike👍
Wow ! dedicated follower of fashion .
Stunning.
Stunning 👍
Amazing bike.
Just in time for the TT!
“Hasn’t been started since the 60’s”
>> starts right up.
To my eternal regret I turned down the chance to buy that bike in '83 from the then owner David Kirby. What was I thinking of. If anyone is interested there is a really good book on triumph twin racers which covers this bike in some detail. " Road Racing History of the TRIUMPH 500 unit twin" by Claudio Sintich ( in English) ( Panther Publishing)
A beauty for sure, many thanks for these videos.👍👍
Hi, I remember reading about these motorcycles and the exploits of Gary Nixon and Gene Romero upon them.
Geweldig….!
Ive a T100R,they are very special.Completely outclassed in every respect by all the other manufacturers of the time but still.....
I met Percy a few times and he allowed me to sit on Slippery Sam for a photo once.
Another occasion, I had travelled to a race meeting on my BSA big single, which had a CCM capacity conversion and my gear shifter had come lose and fallen off.
The only person I knew there was Percy and he lent me a set of vice grip pliers which I wired on.
I used to live on the A45 dual carriage way (Birmingham Rd), opposite the Triumph car service station and he called in to pick it up.
He liked my parents’ home so much he tried to buy it, but my Mum & Dad wouldn't sell.
But he did buy the small petrol station and garage (now the, Vaaroom Motorhome Hire) next to the now Windmill Village Hotel.
My biggest and fondest memory of him, was when I was at Mallory Park watching him on a Triumph Triple and two other Triples being ridden round the hair pin side by side lap after lap.
The sound was just fantastic, fond memories.
RIP Percy.
Ah..Percent Tait..it's coming back through the mists of my old mind!!
The seagulls are loving it.
When I was in Wimbledon, I refurbished/repaired an ex Mike Hailwood (so I was told) works BSA Triple cylinder head which had the (Manx Norton style) "Squish' Head.
You could see why they would be very quick, using twin GP carbs would have meant the Squish chamber would have had plenty of charge to burn more efficiently
It was very different from the ex Works 650 Thruxton Bonnie heads I have worked on, in fact there was no comparison.
I can't remember his surname but Triumph specialists Hughes in Tooting had a race mechanic called Ron who had a really quick Unit 500 twin that was really well known back in the day.
Can we have the same start up for the original Triumph factory Thruxton Bonneville?
What a pity Percy isn't with us anymore to hear his old bike start again
Marvellous 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏 Thanks a lot!,,
Beautiful 👍🏻
Fine machine !!!
Pure beauty
Sounds good.
FANTASTICA!!!!!!
Cool bike I use too own a 2000 triumph thunderbird sport white and tangerine, loved that bike❤ ,i remeber watching PBS television here in the USA and over sea sports shows, like soccer/football motor sports.I love the motorcycle racing it was my favorite. What ever happened to the triumph slippery sam?
Used to go to Triumph at Meriden in 60s for spares, and see Percy and fellow testers doing their job. But do find it a bit far fetched to have left a bike of that heritage for 60 years and never started it. !!!! . Makes a good story but years ago you never envisaged the appreciation in value, and would have used it not admired it. Might be totally wrong though. !!!!!
sounds good
Checking the oil tank for oil returning. Would really love to hear it running around the track. Any track.
The front brake, is it a Fontana, or Oldani ?
Single carb with long intake runner to increase velocity for more top end on the longer circuits ?
What was the bike that purported to be the ex Percy GP bike that Mick Hemings used to run then. Supposed to be the one that finished second to Ago’s MV?
What gear did he select to start it on the rolling road. With the high compression I'm thinking 4th maybe.
What a machine 👍🏻🇨🇦
I would love to have that on the road 👌💯👍
Perfect
What about the 500 in the national motorcycke museum in Birmingham England??
I assumed they were one and the same .
nice 👍
What happened to slippery Sam riden by malcolm uphill in 69 TT
I thought Mick Hemmings restored it for racing and won on it in Japan in the 90's!!!!
Not sure it was the same bike as he did build a replica in the 80's . I swapped him my 4ls front brake for it for a Norvil set up in 83 ish.
Anyone know if there's any engine spec info available? I see an oil cooler.... One of the ULTIMATE Triumphs!
Yeah, Dick will have this information.
If I remember correctly Percy Tait was the Triumph factory test rider.
I had a 67 t-120R. I backed off 1 tooth on the valve timing and flew. 230+.
Had a Daytona 500 T 100 T pe unit loved it better than a Bonnie
And it started after all those years
It has had a full rebuild just prior to this start up..be really odd if it didn't fire up after a but and bolt return.
I've a picture of this fella print out big has a 30 number on it can't find out where he's racing
My mate and me were in the pits when he pulled in and Percy had big maulers so my mate and me deftly removed the plugs for him.
Percy Tait, huh? Hmmmm... Wrong seat. He never used the thruxton style that I've ever seen in any photos.. He also used the twin front oil tanks, not the single one that I've seen but it did bounce around a bit. The fairing is one of several he used..... What about the racing frame where the rt. exhaust wraps around it or vice versa? Or the magnesium front 4LS brake (BTW minus the custom frame I have all this. Hey, I could be wrong. And it is a beautiful restoration but why never run since the ... sixties? on a recent resto? I'm all confused.
Squish head combustion chamber, self generating ignition, all very, very old technology. Kawasaki had squish combustion chambers in their W1/W2 BSA A10/A7 engine copy road bike of 1967.
Ride it already !
One would think a full on racing bike would have dual carbs, but it looked to have just the one!
Hi; all the Daytona have 2 carburetors. See it again.
@@TheReverb1 That's what I figured, but it looked to have just one? Maybe my eyes are shot? Anyhow, he adjusted something down in the cut out in the seat making me think that was a single card too.. ...
@@BritIronRebel what he did in the seat was to check the oil return.
@@TheReverb1 Ok, thanks. I've literally owned at least 8 Triumph 650s over the years, some Bonnies with dual carbs and Tigers or Trophys with single carbs, but never a 500 model.
@@TheReverb1 I think he used ! 5/32" GP carbs with a remote float . The big trick to make them run well was a very small mod to the inside of the carbs that most folk wouldn't think of .
😁👍👍👍
Isn't it well presented and clean.
Black Bridge ? where the fuck is that
best not get that barnet caught in the rollers innit
Not really a good idea without a couple of fire extinguishers nearby.
Sounds like there's ten million seagulls nearby? That's awful nice of them not to poop all over everything.
And one of the million reasons I'll stick to internal combustion 🙏❤️🙌 in this sad time we are moving towards EV's 🤢
That looks nothing like my '72 T100R Daytona 😲
lol
should have opened the gates to ride it