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'68 Triumph T25w: to project or not to project?

6K views 36 replies 12 participants last post by  jhays79 
#1 ·
Long story short, I was given this bike by my wife's aunt. It was in a shed for years. Motor wasn't locked up but it had some corrosion here and there, mainly the forks.


4 yrs ago I took it apart, sand blasted the frame, fenders, and tank and primed them. The frame I painted semi gloss black. That was it, the bike sat in my fathers shop for four years until the other day when I moved it into my shop at work to continue where I had left off.


Today I finally got around to pulling the top end off the motor to see what it looked like.





The valve seats and valves themselves were clean and almost no pitting at all, the exhaust valve guide however fell out on it's own.

The cylinder on the other hand had some vertical scoring, that my three armed honing tool couldn't get out, so it'll have to be bored out and a new piston.


You can still see the scoring after I tried honing it out.


Now the question is: Is it worth throwing any money at this thing? The frame, fenders, gas tank (has a couple of small pinholes but I can weld them no problem), oil tank are all solid. The forks are rusted beyond worthy repair, the wheels may be salvagable but I'd rather not take the chance.

I'm not talking about a full on show quality restoration, I'm talking a simple going over to make a decent rider out of it, maybe strip it down and make sort of a mini cafe racer out of it, or a mini bobber? I know a B44 engine will fit in that frame no problem, but I'd have to source one of them and go over it as well. Any thoughts?
 
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#3 ·
That's what's holding me back, the engine size. If I'm gonna go through the trouble to get it back on the road I want it to fucking rip, and with a 250 I know that's not gonna happen. I think I'm going to focus on getting it back into a roller and figure out what motor I'll put into later. I don't really want to put money into boring out a 250, new piston, rings etc. Maybe I'll part the motor out to fund the project? Would a BSA B50 fit in that frame? I'm assuming if a 441 will a 500 single would, but you know what happens when you assume? :D
 
#4 ·
I don't know about the B50, but you'd think since the cases and trans are closely related it would fit.
The B50 would make it a haul ass bike.....if you can kick start it.

all I know is the 500 twin motor will fit and it was all done in one days labor.
 
#7 ·
I like those little bikes...did a BSA B25 up for a client the winter before last. He has been riding the hell out of it ever since. Great little machine and the Triumph version is better looking IMO. I'm in agreement with whittiger650, get it running and have some fun with it!
 
#9 ·
I'd get it going and then decide. There's a lot can be done to improve the 250 engine. Then with REGULAR oil changes, they're a great unit.

A lot of these have had issues, but usually as they've been thrashed, or neglected. It's only a 250 after all, aimed at the UK learner market mostly, using an old design, which was a bit over-stretched when made to look sporty. The oil pump can be crap on the early ones, but uprate it with a 3 bolt type, and they're much better.

I'd imagine they're quite rare in the US, definitely quite rare in the UK.
 
#19 ·
Why would you bother to fit a magneto, when it already has a 120W Lucas alternator which is more powerful than any magneto and produces more than enough electricity to run single cylinder ignition?

If you don't want a battery, you only need a 4700 microFarad electrolytic capacitor ( cheap and not much bigger than a matchbox ).

You wouldn't even have to close up the plug gap to get it to start, like you do with a magneto.
 
#14 ·
I already have this to play in the dirt:

'71 BSA B50mx with oversized valves, ported head, lightened rocker arms, ET ignition with no battery. It hauls fucking ass and could rip stumps out of the ground with the torque. Excuse the backwards mounted front fender :D



That's why I want a B50 or 441 Victor motor to put in the T25 for the street :D

It seems like half the posts say stick with the 250, the other half say ditch the 250. :confused:
 
#16 ·
The older I get, the older the bikes I get to ride and the less I care about power...it's all relative...these little 250 engines have way more punch than a 500 from about 20 years prior and way, way more than a side valve machine. As for me, I could ride one of those things all day long and have just as much fun as driving my Commando.
 
#17 ·
I had a Bunch of them BSA/Triumph single units... the B50 motor mount is wider so ya know, the 441 will bolt in... and better to kick start.. the 500 is a real bitch... of course I could just need more ass.... 145 am I...

the 250's are fun so dont discount them... make a little cafe....

Roach.
 
#23 ·
Thanks for the info, was suprised to see an aluminum rod in there...

That T25 cafe is pretty sweet looking!

Priced a new .020 over piston, 200 bucks! Things like that make me hesitant to drop money on a 250. Maybe I'm just being cheap:D
 
#28 ·
You know, that thought has been crossing my mind. 200 bucks for a piston is too much to blow on a 250. I might just run the honer through the cylinder once more and go with it. Worse comes to worse it burns oil and I yank the motor for a different one.
 
#32 ·
Still messing around with this bike. Mocking it up a little bit to get more motivation. Yeah, it's not a 500cc pre-unit, or a 750 bonneville, but it was free, and it's all I got going on right now, hehe.

I like the way this looks with the rear lowered a bit, but I'm assuming to do this I'd half to extend the swingarm or replace the shocks with solid struts. To match the height I'd need a smaller diameter wheel or cut the forks down which I'm not even sure is possible. Any thoughts?

 
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