Tie one on: 1971 Triumph Trail Blazer

The British motorcycle industry roughly parallels the British motor car industry.  The two wheel equivalent of British Leyland was the BSA Industrial Group, which bought Triumph Engineering in the 1950’s and, due to stiff competition from the Japanese in the 1960’s, was out of gas on the side of the road in the early 1970’s.  One of BSA-Triumph’s last gasps was to badge engineer an Enduro known as the Triumph Trailblazer or BSA B25.  In the end, it was too little, too late and BSA-Triumph was nationalized and turned into a ward of the state as Norton-Villiers-Triumph until its liquidation in 1978.  Find this 1971 Triumph Trail Blazer for sale in Issaquah, WA for $1,750 via craigslist.

Powered by an overhead valve four stroke displacing 250cc’s, it was said to vibrate enough to give you Parkinson’s.  One of the highlighted features in a contemporary ad were vibration-stabilized headlight mountings.  They were also known to grenade their transmissions on occasion.  This bike was supposedly garage kept and only started once or twice a year for the past few years.  During its time in the garage, the side covers seem to have gone missing.

The ad says the seller inherited the bike from their grandfather.  For what it’s worth, the odometer indicates 1,001 miles on the bike and the trip odo warning sticker is still present.

The last tab on the vintage WA plate was in 1984, so it’s been a local for quite a few years; the sellers story is probably believable . Looks like it got the ride home from grandpa’s house in the back of a vintage pickup.  The oil drips under the bike a little concerning, but hey, I guess it is British. I do dig that space age hold over tail light.  

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Gianni is Daily Turismo’s Pacific Northwest correspondent and resident two-stroke zealot.