A ride from London to Paris – that doesn’t sound too taxing, does it now? After all, I’m travelling by motorcycle. However, the bike in question is a rather temperamental 92 year-old flat-tank Triumph model Q. It’s been in the family since 1996, and I’ve completed many Banbury runs on it but it’s never really been used for long trips as I’ve always had a more suitable bike. However, when my friend Carla suggested green-laning from London to Paris I thought the Q would make a great contrast to Carla’s ultra-modern Zero, electric motorcycle.
Built at Priory Street factory, Coventry, the model P was launched at the 1924 Show at a cost cutting price of £42-77-6d. The penny-pinching design was really rather antiquated even for 1924. Mine is the improved MKII model Q, and was very popular in its time. Although the no-frills 500cc side-valve engined motorcycle was not a fast machine the pay-off was reliability and a lot of low-down torque, good for pulling a side-car.
Very much made to a budget, and to the casual observer identical to a 1914 veteran Triumph, it’s surprising that Triumph Motorcycles got away with selling such an old dinosaur. It still has a manual oil-pump, plus as original, the valves run directly into the head, with no valve guides fitted. The front brake appears to be a fairly standard drum brake, but is actually an expanding-band, with a very limited pivot-angle that guarantees extremely limited braking performance. The rear brake is a veteran block-type that operates in the vestiges of the belt-drive rim, and is crude but effective.
After a practice run around some Romney Marsh green lanes, Carla and I swapped machines, which was most informative for both of us. In the interests of not wearing out the old Triumph, I decided to do more green-laning preparation on our 1981 Yamaha XT250. This is a four-stroke mono-shock with drum-brakes and kick-start only, so nowhere near as pliable as a modern 250 but it is nearly 40 years old. This will conserve the Triumph for its epic run.
Meanwhile, I need to get a more suitable off-road helmet, and also a gel-pad seat cover would be wise!
Julie x
London to Paris by 1926 Triumph Q and 2017 Zero DSR! 