Ever since the Triumph factory at Hinckley started making the Tiger, Thunderbird and Legend models in the mid-nineties, We have been repairing, refurbishing and modifying the wheels. We can offer new rims (Stainless or alloy), stainless spokes and complete new wheels for all the Triumph wire wheel models and also wire wheels for some models which normally have cast wheels.
I have a Thunderbird myself (1996), and the wheels are 3.5x17” front and 5.5x17” rear. These sizes work well and the bike handles superbly. The rims are polished stainless with the centres painted and lined in the classic style. The wheels are also sealed and run tubeless tyres. We have made several similar pairs of wheels for customers over the last 15 years.
For the Bonneville models (including Thruxton, T100, Scrambler and SE), from 2000 to 2015, we can offer complete wheels using the new CNC machined Talon hubs. These hubs are much lighter than the standard ones, they look superb and do not suffer from broken spokes. They come complete with bearings fitted and are available anodised silver or black from stock or any other colour by special order. Although they look different to the standard hubs, the Talon hubs fit in exactly the same way and they are compatible with the standard discs, cush drive, speedo drive, etc.
The standard rim sizes for Bonnevilles, T100s and Scramblers is 2.5x19 front and 3.5x17 rear. The standard tyres are 100/90-19 and 130/80-17. Thruxtons have the same rear wheel, but have a 2.5x18 front rim with a 100/90-18 tyre. We can supply wheels with standard size rims, or we can make custom wheels for you. Many people think that the standard rear tyre looks a bit skinny and we supply a lot of rear wheels with wider rims and tyres. The widest tyre you can fit on the rear, without needing to modify the bike, is a 170. (Normally a 170/60-17). A very popular modification is a 170/60-17 tyre on the rear and a 120/70-17 on the front. Customers report excellent handling with this combination.
The Talon hubs are also compatible with the original Triumph rims so, if you are having problems with broken spokes, we can just supply the hubs and spoke sets and you can save money by re-using your rims (if they are not rusty).
For the new Bonneville T100s, T120s, Bobbers, Scramblers and Thruxtons (introduced in 2015/16), we can fit new rims and stainless spokes to the standard hubs, but we cannot, at present, supply complete wheels.
Most of the wheels we manufacture can be supplied sealed for tubeless tyres if requested. They also come with polished stainless steel spokes as standard. Other tubeless wheels on the market come with zinc plated spokes and nipples, which are prone to going rusty. Recently, several people who bought these wheels a couple of years ago, have asked us to fit stainless spokes and nipples, due to the rust. We have also been asked to re-seal them due to leaks. We can undertake this work, but it’s quite an expensive job.
In addition to the Bonneville hubs, we also have Twin disc Thunderbird Sport front hubs made specially for us by Talon. These are also suitable for twin disc Speedmasters and nearly all of the earlier twin disc carburettor models (Trident, Trophy, Sprint, Daytona, etc). If you are converting one of these models to wire wheels, we can supply both front and rear wheels in standard or custom sizes with stainless or alloy rims.