Triumph TR65 Thunderbird

The Triumph TR65 Thunderbird is a motorcycle made by the Triumph workers co-operative at the Meriden factory from 1981 to 1983. It reintroduced the Thunderbird name first used on the original 6T Thunderbird of 1949. The TR65 was a 650 cc parallel twin using a short-stroke version of the 750 cc T140 Bonneville engine, with a single 30 mm Amal carburettor and a mild cam, which made it livelier and cheaper to insure than the T140. Aimed at the economy market, it saved cost with a single silencer, contact breaker points, a drum rear brake and satin black cycle parts, and could return 54 miles per imperial gallon. It carried German ULO indicators and Italian wheel rims and petrol taps. No TR65 was exported to the United States because its carburettor did not meet the Environmental Protection Agency rules, but it was sold in Japan, South Africa, Western Europe and several Commonwealth countries.