Canadian Triumph TRWs

[rob love]

I have wanted on of these forever it seems, and I finally found a worthy candidate at a good price last week. The odometer reads 750 miles, it appears to have original tires on it with very little wear, and other than the gas tank having been repainted by someone, the bike remains in it's original paint. Unfortunately, the repainting of the fuel tank means the CFR is gone forever.

There are a few items removed from it, and a few more items missing. It came with some NOS parts, which is always nice, like a NOS oil tank.

I need to find things like the pannier racks and bags, the front number plate for the fender, an oil cap, and the rear chain cover. If anyone has originals around and want to sell or trade, let me know before I start ordering repros.

Anyway, enough talk, here are a couple shots of my new project. How many other MLU members have TRWs?

[super dave]

I thought that is the one that is for sale in Calgary but after looking it up it is different as the one in Calgary has a few more pieces on it. I did not realize that we had used them as I thought the seller was just saying it was military do to the color ?? How many years did we use them and is the on for sale in Calgary a good price at $6,000.00 ??

[rob love]

Canada bought a fair number of them in 56/57. Mind you, on another thread, the guys were debating the conditions of payment (if any) for the TRWs. Many were sold, still in their crates, in the mid 60s to early 70s.

That one listed in Calgary is what wet my appetite again for one. The CFR is right on the fuel tank, where they were normally found. Another ad showed up a few days later from Alberta with a lesser condition one for much less than that one. I snapped it up and drove out last weekend to pick it up.

Their asking price seems to be the norm for one in very good shape. Mind you, it is on ebay right now with a starting bid of $4500 and has received no bids.

[super dave]

Thanks for the info, I just might have to keep my eyes open for one in the future.

Dave

[Dean (Ajax)]

I have the front plate with a CFR still on it as well as a mint unissued Manual for the TRW.

Dean

[rob love]

I sent you a PM on those Dean. Perhaps I will have a CFR to adopt for my bike.

There was a good article in CMP magazine #3 on the Canadian Triumphs. It mentioned that used units were selling for $400 to $650, and new in the crate ones were selling for $900 to $1250. There must have been some lower priced lots, as I have read on some of the Bike forums where a dealer in the US was selling the ex-Cdn bikes for $500 each in the crate, and had 15 to 20 of them.

Mind you, I'll take an article that was written closer to the days when they were sold, rather than conjecture from internet forums. The memory can get a bit cloudy after 3 or 4 decades, and legends can grow.

[Jon Skagfeld]

Originally Posted by Dean (Ajax)

I have the front plate with a CFR still on it as well as a mint unissued Manual for the TRW.

Dean

Dean: When you write..."with a CFR still on it"...do you mean the CAR i.e.90674 or is it an Ontario F plate, i.e. white on brown as in F 123?

Answering my question in a way, during the service life of TRWs, I never saw anything other than F plates.

[Jon Skagfeld]

What a memory jog!

I was a Dispatch Rider in the Royal Canadian Corps of Signals.

My assigned bike was 56-90674, sometimes 56-90673.

500cc, twin valve, one down, three up, no neutral finder like the Enfield had.

In addition to message handling, we were responsible for convoy/traffic control. By using 6 bikes in a leapfrog manner we could escort a convoy out of Toronto by holding up civilian traffic at lights and waving the vehicles through.

This was in the early 60s, in a kinder gentler Toronto which still vividly remembered WW 2 and respected the movement of military vehicles. As a matter of fact, at that time, it was illegal to interfere (i.e. to enter into the stream of military vehicles).

Thanks for reminding me the "good ol' days".

PS Bruce Parker owned an ex MP TRW. I rode it during a TV production done by Peter Feniak and Anne Rohmer called "That's Life". Jeez...related TRW events keep popping up!