A Tigress Tail, sorry Tale.

From Italy...

Photos Courtesy Grasiano Candidori...©...

The rescued and rebuilt Triumph Tigress engined Tiger Cub Trials.

We have to go back to 2007 for this story and I seemed to start it by asking the question on the Trials Central web forum about the Triumph Tigress engined BSA trials bike built in the competition department at BSA …the forum page kicked on for a couple of years and then went quiet until I added another comment in 2013, a update that is now on the Tigress “Vera” page, this led to more replies and later in October 2015 one from a member “Acot56” who said they had just bought a Tigress engined trials bike and needed help with any information on the breed. I suggested that they try and post a photo of the bike and this would help…After a couple of attempts “Acot56” managed to up load the photos of what they had bought, The Triumph Tigress engine had been fitted into a Triumph Tiger Cub frame and had also been converted to a rigid back sub frame…It was also missing a rear wheel, and this is what “Acot56” wanted details of measurements of axle length and width. This was now 2015 and after that there was no coments on the page for another few years… But “Acot56” had said that the Tigress bike had been bought from “Pixie” Briggs, and Deryk Wylde that had just found Trials Central (2014) commented in one of his superb Offroad Review magazines about Pixie Briggs, so I said we know about him Deryk don’t we.. Pixie had built several Trials Specials, Deryk had said…

So the story comes back to light in January 2025 when I get an email from long time contributor to content on this BSA Otter web site by the name of Graziano Candidori, he said he had just finished another of his bike builds and would I like the photos he had sent. Wow… I like that I thought... So asked if we could do a page on the little bike, and could he give us some background to the build, one of the photo he had also sent was he said he thought the bike as it was in the past… the photo I straight away recognised as being that of “Pixie Briggs’’ and the very same one that Deryk and I had talked about all those years ago.

 How did he come by the little bike I said, was it on ebay or from a friend?

He replied and said he had bought the bike from a lady living in the White Isle, (Isle of Wight), Angela Cotton was her name and she had delivered the bike to his friend Terry Weedy (RIP) in Southampton who then had delivered it to him Graziano in Italy on one of Terry’s little buying trips…

Trying to find more information I look up the name Angela Cotton from the Isle of Wight and find out that she has a collection of Triumph motorcycles, and scooters,Vespa’s  and a 175 two-stroke Triumph Tigress and also a twin cylinder 250…along with Tiger Cub’s from 1961 and a 1961 bath-tub 350 Triumph Twenty One. Angela was the secretary to the late music mogul Robert Stigwood and is still in that role for the Organisation today…

So we now know a bit of history about the Triumph Tigress engined Tiger Cub, and on its journey from Basingstoke in Hampshire ( Pixie Briggs) to the Isle-of-Wight, then back to Southhamton, and onto Italy,  there the ugly bug catapilar has turned into a beautiful Tigress moth…

All Photos Courtesy Graziano Candidori...©...

The finished masterpiece...

So how did Graziano get to this  from the next photo.

Photo Courtesy Graziano Candidori...©...

The little bike as Graziano bought it from Angela Cotton...

So lets get the build story from Graziano...

Now for Graziano’s build notes…

Good evening Charlie. I am back to you about the little Tigress. As you already know when I bought the project the bike was rigid, so the first thing I did was find the complete rear end of a Tiger Cub widen a bit and lengthen the swingarm by an inch and put it on the bike, fairly simple job, I had an aftermarket S. Miller seat and I used that, I made a little apron that hides the battery and protects the air filter.

I used a small Rickman/Zundapp silencer that fits precisely in that small space and is effective and well protected.

The rear shocks are Girling double spring, the rear hub is a Cub, while the front is Italian from Bologna Freni and comes from an Italjet, the 600 MP forks use yokes I believe from BSA B40wd. As you can see from the photos, the engine fits very tightly on the frame and to make it fit, the rocker box cover has been modified, under the engine the oil pan has been lowered in height to increase ground clearance and lengthened at the back to maintain a good volume.

Another feature is the double turn(? not sure how to call it sorry)…(Jack Shaft) of the secondary chain, this allows for good alignment of the transmission and low variation in chain tension.

 There is a small "drop oiler" for the chain and the two sprockets obtained from the rear mount of the engine. The 22 mm Keihin carburetor of Honda origin is (I am sorry to say) a real gem, combined with the electronic Tri-Spark (Austrailia) ignition it make easy starts and a clean carburetion on all engine speeds.

The bike is equipped with a mandatory lighting system here in Italy.

We also did the painting at home, but the one on the frame was too fragile, I have the impression that the paint shop cheated me, so I immediately redid it with epoxy powder, and I also decided to make it black and no longer amaranth red like before.

We did some tests on the bike, everything is fine, I'm satisfied, the fork needs adjustments because it bounces a bit too much, then we need someone who knows how to ride better than I do.

Tanti saluti 

Graziano Candidori 

Siena Italy ...

So lets look at the build photos in more detail...

Here you can see the BSA fork yokes with the MP stanchions fitted and that Smiths D type speedo...

A good shot of the two gearbox sprockets on the Jack-shaft...

All Photos Courtesy Graziano Candidori...©...

And look at the drip chain oiler...

The extension added to the sump to increase oil capacity...

Here the cutaway in the rocker cover to clear the frame top tube...

You can see that the little Triumph Tigress engine followed a lot like a car engine design...

New Oil filler cap fitted on the side of the rocker cover, they were in the middle on most, when they left the factory...

The carb from the Honda fitted, and yes they do work well ...

And the Rickman exhaust silencer...

Graziano >

While working on the engine, I discovered that it has a modified camshaft so that the cylinders fire together, it's a twin, but it works like a single... Charlie> Now that is different...

Very neat, and a new cover over the Tri-Spark digital igniton unit...

The Wassell tank sits nicely on this bike build...

Just the little detail put into this build makes it stand out...

Just the masking up of parts takes hours to do correctly, and several times on each item...

_______

Photo Courtesy Deryk Wylde Offroad Archives...

The photo from the start of the little Triumph Tigress-Cub's journey.

With Danny "Pixie" Briggs aboard. TALMAG trial I think...

Photo Courtesy Angela Cotton. 2015...

This how Angela bought the little Tigress Cub probably at Netley Marsh Auto jumble... 

She has bought other bikes from there...

The bike had been owned and I think built by "Pixie" Briggs.

It is the bike that "Pixie" is riding above if you look at the front end of the bike.

More Later just a start... 

Updat2025...01...