Forum

[Reds]

I am a Royal enfield Model G Owner which i love and will never sell , today i was offered a Triumph 3TA 350cc 1959 for 3500 pounds does anyone know anything about these bikes ?

Regards Reds

[PeteF]

I had a couple of 350 twins over the years. You get about 20 horses and a pretty smooth engine. It should have a bathtub rear fairing, big front mudguard and a nacelle headlight. If these are missing it brings the price down quite a lot.

[Beezabryan]

I liked them when they were new

[Dennis C]

They are a nice bike all be it underpowered that price is at the very top end for one so it would have to be all correct with matching numbers and proven history.

[Rattlebattle]

The price is about right for a decent one with matching frame and engine numbers. The main point other than whether or not it is mechanically ok is that the bathtub (rear panelling) is metal, not glass fibre. Same applies to the policeman's helmet front mudguard. Easily checked.....Back in the day a lot of owners binned the bathtubs as they made servicing more difficult and weren't to most owners taste. Consequently nowadays it is harder to find an all original one. Personally I'd quite like one, though I'd prefer a 5TA (500cc). They have 17 inch wheels and I believe tyres used to be harder to find, though these days it might be easier. Engines are not stressed and should be reliable,if a little underpowered, but at least they are pretty smooth. Check the so-called distributor, play in the shaft can result in difficulty in getting accurate timing. They are nice enough to ride and have a low seat height. As a lot of owners are reaching the age where downsizing is becoming popular I would say a 3TA should at least hold its value. I'm keeping my Tiger 100 anyways.

[Martin]

Nice you mentioned the 3TA, as been hovering over a friend's '62 model
buried so deep in his basement that alterations will be necessary to
retrieve it. Machine is rusted bronze with bikini rear fender, and with
very appealing Siamese 'pipes, original aside from that but 40000 miles
Kind friend confided it was 'rattly' Perhaps Rattlebee can elaborate on
what horrors to expect when rebuilding. Price is a modest $CDN 1000

[Martin]

Meant to say Siamese 'pipes are NOT appealing, and rusted anyway.
Perhaps a time to ask if 'pipes and mufflers are easily available?

[papasmurf]

Exhausts systems widely available from a number of suppliers. (Google is your friend) Feked is worth a look.)

[Dennis C]

In my humble opinion the Bikini model is one of the nicest, all the parts you need are available (in the UK), all this series of Triumph are a little noisy mechanically so don't worry too much about a bit of noise, we politely referred to it as "the Triumph rustle" things to give close attention to if you buy it and strip the engine are to clean the sludge trap and Check the timing side crankshaft bush is a close and good fit to the shaft as the big end oil supply replies on it.

[Rattlebattle]

As Dennis says, it is essential to clean out the sludge trap and to check the timing side crankshaft bush. The latter doesn't tend to cause the issues it used to on BSA A65 engines, when wear would cause cause oil pressure loss then catastrophic blow-up, but it needs to be kept within spec. It is crucial to change oil every 1,000 miles, in which case the engine should last well and there is no need to spend a lot of money on the bearing conversion that SRM now does for Triumphs as well as Beezas. (I never had the bottom end of my A65 Lightning apart in all the years I owned it, but I religiously changed the oil every 1,000 miles). The smaller iron barreled twins don't rattle too badly - listen to an all alloy engine like my pre-unit Tiger 100 or a BSA Barracuda/Starfire for deafening rattles (hence my forum monika) but the top end will be rattly compared to most. It's when they stop rattling that one should start to worry, especially if they stsrt running better - a Triumph goes best just before it bloes up......Spares are probably as good as they can get for a sixties English bike, except that the bathtub tinware will be harder to come by. The later bikini style was prettier, but I would avoid anyhting with alloy mudguards unless the price reflects this. The 3TA/Twenty One won't win many races but is probably at least as quick off the mark as an RE 350, standard in both cases. I like them; the Tiger 90, baby Bonneville was the best of the 350ccs, although a friend of mine has the earkier (1940s) 3T, a real oddball that is quite rorty but fizzles out at 50mph or so...