1973 Triumph Daytona 100R Flat Track Racing Motorcycle, Frame no. T100R XG41279 Engine no. T100R H51771

Competition success in the USA prompted Triumph to adopt the 'Daytona Tiger' name for their top-of-the range sports '500' in 1966, Buddy Elmore having won that year's prestigious Daytona 200 race on a works twin, a feat Gary Nixon repeated the following year on his way to the first of back-to-back AMA titles. With the re-launch of the BSA-Triumph range in November 1970, by which time it had gained the 650's excellent twin-leading-shoe front brake, the 'Tiger' part of the name was dropped and the Daytona's model designation changed to 'T100R'. However, within two years the entire BSA/Triumph Group was in severe financial difficulty and the proposed closure of Triumph's Meriden factory led to the workers occupying the plant in September 1973. When the factory eventually reopened, the two 500cc models in production immediately prior to the shutdown ? the T100R Daytona and the TR5T Trophy Trail ? were not revived. A truly collectible classic motorcycle, last of the lineage, the Daytona offered here dates from the final year that Triumph produced this popular twin-cylinder, twin-carburetor sports bike.

This flat tracker was built and raced by Tim Burke in northern California in the early 1970s. Today, it could take advantage of its eligibility in vintage flat track racing. The bike is equipped to race: a spool hub front wheel without a brake; a Lester cast wheel at the rear with a disc brake; a chromed swinging arm; a small fiberglass gas tank; a custom oil tank; pancake air filters, a Supertrapp 2-into-1 exhaust exiting on the right; and drilled cylinder head fins. And the bar and footpegs in the right places. Its condition suggests either it did not get raced very often or that it has been carefully, recently refurbished. Or both.