- Fri Jul 01, 2016 8:30 am
#60012
The fundamental difference is more about type than make; an Enfield twin will feel totally different to a Bullet for example. A twin will feel livelier though in practice it may not be. The vibration on a 360 degree twin without balance shafts will be buzzier and will get worse at higher revs. However it is not necessarily destructive or intrusive as anyone who has ridden an early Speed Twin will attest. The pre-war Speed Twin was a revelation after many years of big singles, which is why all the major manufacturers produced twins as fast as they could because most people wanted one after years of plodding around on a single, probably side valve. Problem was that the Americans always wanted bigger and bigger capacities, resulting in twins becoming excessivley vibratory (eg BSA A65 unit twins). Also, the more tuned they were the more they vibrated eg T100T Daytona, which also suffered from cracked cylinder heads. None of these issues is without solution. One of the few advantages of the RE twin was that the crankshaft was dynamically balanced at the factory. This of course can be done to any twin retrospectively. As for the Triumph/Norton the answer lies in the reason why so many Tritons were built - to marry the best frame and forks of the day with the best engine. FWIW my 1954 Tiger 100 is a lot quicker than my C5, though I don't ride it that way simply becuse the brakes are nowhere near up to the performance. I would advise anyone wanting an English twin to go for the single carb 500cc version or, if a Triumph, a 1969/70 TR6 Trophy, probably the best 650cc ever made.
