1964 Triumph T20SM Mountain Cub

Point well taken, as the small T20 mimicked the leader of the pack in many ways — total engine displacement notwithstanding. Like the T100, the little T20 was a powerhouse in its class. Consider this: The 1958 Catalina Grand Prix — held 26 miles across the sea from Los Angeles — was dominated by Tiger Cubs, with Don Hawley finishing first ahead of seven other Tiger Cub riders to sweep the first eight places in the 200cc class. The following year a highly modified Tiger Cub engine powered a streamliner to a one-way class speed record at the Bonneville Salt Flats, and about that same time trials specialist Roy Peplow, riding a Tiger Cub, became the first competitor to plonk his way to win the famous Scottish Six-Days Trials on a bike with an engine displacing less than 250cc. Further off-road success came when, in 1962, John Wright rode a Tiger Cub to the overall victory at the challenging Jack Pine Enduro, and many AMA Class C racers during the 1960s favored modified Tiger Cubs for Grand National short track competition.

However, the Tiger Cub actually was Triumph’s second sub-250cc motorcycle to break into that popular marketing segment. The T20 was based on Triumph’s Terrier T15, introduced the previous year at the 1952 Earls Court Motorcycle Show in England. As author Lindsay Brooke pointed out in his book Triumph Motorcycles, the Terrier came at a time when the commuter bike world was “dominated by crude, smoky 2-strokes that required messy premixing of their fuel.” The Terrier came with a more sophisticated 150cc overhead-valve 4-stroke engine sporting a die-cast aluminum cylinder head. In addition, the Terrier’s new and physically stylish engine came as a unitized package that included a 4-speed transmission, a first and a portent of things to come for Triumph. In short, the Terrier was a gas-it-and-go design, a rarity in the entry level category at the time.

The new Terrier also utilized alternator electrics, and gone was Turner’s favored, yet ill-fated, sprung hub (his early attempt at rear suspension for Triumph) in favor of a more civilized plunger rear axle/suspension assembly (even though it, too, proved to be fraught with fault compared to the dual-shock rear swing arm that was destined for the entire Triumph lineup within a few years).

Clearly, though, the Terrier was a departure from Triumph’s line of existing models, mostly powered by 500cc or 650cc vertical twin OHV 4-strokes. Unfortunately the first batch of Terriers destined for Triumph dealers in 1953 experienced a series of shortcomings that forced the folks in Meriden, England, to do a major recall, and rethink, before the model year played out. However, the unscheduled pause in assembly had an upside, allowing Triumph engineers to ferret out a total of 23 design defects that ranged from broken crankpins, to oil leaks, to an undersized oil tank to improving the small-bore dry-sump engine’s lubrication system, plus many other refinements for the new model.

Tiger Cub to the rescue!

Fortunately, Triumph engineers were able to fix the defects by the time production began on the new — and exciting — T20 Tiger Cub for 1954, giving Triumph two lightweight models for buyers to choose from. Initially most of Triumph’s two entry-level bikes were earmarked for homeland consumption, although corporate management realized all too soon that America presented an equally large market for the pair of small-bore models. And so Triumph laid plans to address the U.S. market sooner rather than later with the new models. Regardless, within a couple years it became apparent that the T20’s larger displacement engine offered more and better performance than the Terrier’s 150cc single, becoming the bike of choice for inexperienced and seasoned enthusiasts alike. By the end of 1955, Triumph elected to drop the Terrier and its 150cc engine from the lineup, leaving only the Tiger Cub T20 and its 200cc single to fill the entry-level market segment for 1956.

And fill it did! Sales of the spunky “miniature Triumph” continued to rise, especially in England and America. By 1957, competition success, found mostly in trials and scrambles events, prompted Triumph to expand the T20’s appeal to riders of all experience levels. For instance, the 1957 lineup saw the addition of the T20C Tiger Cub, the “C” indicating “Competition.” It was no secret, either, that the T20C was based on Ken Heanes’ successful 1956 International Six Days Trials bike. Among the various ISDT-related features on the 1957 Tiger Cub was a reconfigured frame with swing arm that relied on a pair of Girling shock absorbers to cushion the ride over rugged, challenging terrain. Meanwhile, in the U.S., further competition success was marked by Kenny Harriman’s first-place finish (200cc class) in the annual Big Bear Run, leading all small-bore competitors from the Mojave Desert floor up to Big Bear Lake in Southern California’s San Bernardino Mountains.

Win on Sunday, sell on Monday

Tiger Cub T20 sales remained stable, even increasing year by year, which led to a variety of other market-specific models for the small, yet popular, bike. And each variant sported performance and styling updates and modifications that targeted specific riding or racing applications. Some mods and changes were good, while others were not so welcomed by enthusiasts. In the end, though, the T20 Tiger Cub platform was a favorite among inexperienced and veteran riders and racers alike. The model even survived Ed Turner’s Bathtub styling fiasco of the late ’50s. But for the most part the T20 lent itself well as a platform that targeted specific market segments. Again, some models reflected the Tiger Cub’s full potential, others, not so much. Perhaps among the Cub platform’s less heralded variants was the 1958 T20J Junior Cub that relied on a small intake restrictor that limited horsepower. Restricting power allowed young riders (typically 14-16 years old) in America to qualify for state-regulated learner driving/riding permits.

Other interesting and relevant styling features found their way onto T20 models, too. Features like stylish polished alloy fenders, upswept exhaust pipes (many Cubs earmarked for the street had low-swept mufflers) and other popular packages kept the Tiger Cub in the lineup. By 1960 worldwide sales peaked at about 13,000 units per year, impressive numbers for most brands of the time. Even so, the T20 was growing long in the tooth, and it faced stiff competition from Honda’s CB77 and CL77, not to mention other new and fresh sub-250cc models from Japan, most of which were of 2-stroke design! You know, those crude, smoky bikes that required messy premixing of their fuel (a process that ultimately led Yamaha, Suzuki and later Kawasaki to create oil injection systems that eliminated the need for pre-mixing fuel). The times were changing, and the Tiger Cub faced extinction.

Indeed, an even bigger threat to the T20, and all Triumph models for that matter, was BSA’s purchase of Triumph Motors during the ’50s, which led to fear of a subsequent merger between the two companies. Over time Triumph’s new management (composed mostly of BSA officers) seemed to lose interest in the Tiger Cub, leading to a hybrid based on BSA’s Bantam 200 and the T20. Essentially, the “new” Triumph model that evolved mixed a T20 engine with a BSA Bantam frame, and for the next few years the situation only grew worse until the Tiger Cub effectively no longer existed. Perhaps author Ian Falloon summed it up best in his book Triumph Motorcycles, stating, “the RT20B [the resulting model shared by BSA and Triumph in the sub-250 category] was always doomed as both Triumph and BSA enthusiasts treated it with suspicion … and it was only the US T20SM Mountain Cub that sustained it this year [1966].” Several years later the sun finally set on this part of the once-proud British Empire. And with that came the demise of the Tiger Cub, among other classic Triumph and BSA models.

By 1970 the Tiger Cub as previous enthusiasts knew it no longer existed. Even its model designation had morphed to T25W, prompting many diehard Cubbies to walk away from the BSA/Triumph debacle entirely. Slowly, the motorcycle community lost interest in the Tiger Cub, and the miniature Triumph quietly became a time-forgotten footnote in motorcycle lore.

Tarnished alloy

However, one enthusiast who recently discovered the Tiger Cub’s once proud place in history is Thad Wolff. Long-time readers of Motorcycle Classics might remember Thad as the owner of the 1972 Yamaha R5 featured in Bridging the Gap. He achieved initial MC alumnus status when he helped revive Dan Miller’s 1978 Honda CB750K for its place of honor.

As for Thad’s brush with the Tiger Cub featured here, that relationship began innocently enough a few years ago while Thad drove through his Southern California hometown of Thousand Oaks to visit his parents. During the short crosstown drive he noticed the garage door in one of the neighborhood houses was open, revealing a motorcycle’s rear alloy fender and spoke-laced wheel. “Vintage,” he muttered to himself while veering toward the curb to park the car for a closer look. By the time young Thad (well, being 10 years my junior, he’s young in my eyes) reached the garage, the bike’s owner spotted him and the two introduced themselves. Thad Wolff, meet Ralph Morino … and the two gentlemen immediately hit it off. The bike? A 1964 Triumph T20SM Mountain Cub in need of some garage love.

During their encounter Thad learned that Ralph had, at one time, intentions of reviving the old bike for his kids, but other than a rebuilt top end, the project stalled, and the kids grew up. That bit of knowledge, of course, paved the path for Thad to see if the bike was for sale.

“Those alloy fenders,” Thad breathlessly told me when recalling that first encounter. Yeah, those shiny alloy fenders, I agreed, can be alluring to anybody who enjoys old iron. Eventually Thad and Ralph cut a deal that included various other timeless parts boxed and stowed in the garage rafters. Among the rescued goods was an original California black license plate wearing 1974 registration tags. The license plate frame was a “find” in itself: It was a cast metal fixture common back in the ’70s, and it boasted the shop’s name: “Lemoreaux and Milne” it read. Speedway fans recognize those two names as racing legends from the past. Wilbur “Lammy” Lemoreaux finished second to Jack Milne in the 1937 Speedway World Championship, and both men are AMA Hall of Famers. They also happen to be enshrined in the Trailblazers Hall of Fame … as is Thad, and that little vignette is just another small-world story that I’m fortunate to notch on my keyboard in this wonderful career as a Motojournalist!

Despite the joined-at-the-hip relationship with the late Jack and Lammy, Thad decided from the get-go to restore the Mountain Cub as a slow-moving trials bike, not a balls-to-the-walls speedway racer. And with that, the restoration began, and with it another tidbit of provenance for this story: Thad would use the rugged old Wilton bench vise that his grandfather had used for his many projects as a fabricator to bring the Cub back to life. He also called on the lathe that once belonged to the late Pierre DeRoche, who had used it many times to fabricate bits and pieces for AMA Superbike Champion Reggie Pridmore’s Vetter-sponsored Kawasaki KZ1000 Superbike. Others who benefited from DeRoche’s skill with the lathe include Cook Neilson and Phil Schilling for their legendary California Hot Rod, the very Ducati that took Cook to first place at the 1977 Daytona Superbike race. DeRoche also used the lathe to fabricate silencers and end caps for Thad’s 1980 AMA Novice championship Yamaha TZ250. Now it was time to add Thad’s feisty Triumph Cub to the list.

Among the components that Thad formed with these and other tools include the Cub’s trials-friendly foot pegs, matched with a new linkage to relocate the rear brake pedal to the right side of the bike. Doing so suits the muscle memory action that Thad’s accustomed to after years of racing Japanese motorcycles. He also crafted the nifty rear wheel adjusters and rear shock mounts that enable him to fine-tune chain adjustment, wheelbase and shock absorber angle as required.

Forming the new skid plate caused him little drama, and Thad slightly reshaped the right-side shifter for easy access with his right boot. He also added structural strength to the frame’s backbone; turns out the Cub’s stock gas tank offers additional strength to the frame’s backbone, but the smaller aftermarket tank lacked that feature so Thad came up with his own design. And he says of the new gas tank’s smaller size: “It looks more proportional than the stock tank.” As for the tank’s red paint and graphics, he felt that polished bare alloy dominated the bike’s appearance, “So I took it to Harry’s Auto Body in Burbank for my friend Arthur to paint.” He then took it to another of his former professional road race contacts, Gary Berg in Thousand Oaks. Gary did the striping and graphics for many of Thad’s race bikes including his Suzuki RG500 (Formula 1) and GS1000 (Superbike), and most recently Gary laid down the lines on the Tiger Cub. He’s also responsible for painting the leaping tiger graphics on the gas tank. The graphic itself was inspired from a Tiger Cub Club decal.

As mentioned, the goal was to compete in trials, specifically AHRMA (American Historic Racing Motorcycle Association), so in the spirit of the bike’s vintage status Thad elected to retain the stock fork, its legs now filled with stiffer coil springs. Works Shocks (today known as Worx Shocks) suspend the rear. Thad was close friends with Gilles Vaillancourt, the man who originally started Works Shocks, and today Gil’s step-daughter, Star, owns the company. Thad also called on Buchanan’s Spoke & Rim for new spokes that he laced to the Cub’s aluminum shoulder Akront rims.

Among the final modifications for trials competition included replacing the 19-tooth engine sprocket with 16-tooth/61-tooth front and rear sprockets to drop final drive ratio into the realm of low-speed trials competition. Finally, you’ll note the PI front number plate, the initials indicating Premier Intermediate class (lightweight). As a former AMA road race champion it’s interesting to observe how Thad performs in this new “speed” discipline (speed, of course, being a relative term).

“I finished second, by a single point, my first time out,” he said. Since then, and as of this writing, Thad has won every AHRMA trials contest he and the Tiger Cub have entered, the most recent first-place earned this past summer at Laguna Seca.

Retired racers have a saying: “The older I get, the faster I was.” But with his recent success in trials competition, perhaps Thad The Younger and his 1964 trials-prepped Triumph T20SM Mountain Cub have given retired racers a new saying: “The older I get, the slower I can go!” MC