The "Comerfords" Triumph Tiger Cub...

60 made, in 1967-8...

Photo Courtesy Iconic Auctions...

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Another Page that has been on hold for a while, as I kept putting it off, there is a reason, as I am waiting for new updated photos etc... 

So thought  I will start the page anyway…

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After Triumph pulled the plug on production of the TR20 trials Cub at the end 1965… And as the TR20 trials Cub had always sold well, Comerfords came up with a plan to convert a batch of the mostly for export to the USA Triumph TM20 Mountain Cubs into copies of the last works Triumph Cub of Gordon Farley’s… Gordon was Comerfords  competition manager, and had trials support from the company, and he would oversee the conversion of the first batch of twenty machines that Comerfords had managed to purchase from Triumph.

The conversion work was said to have been carried out by employee Colin Morgan with input from Gordon Farley who it says parted the engines to fit the different gear set used. 

Firstly the bikes were stripped of the lighting and duel seat, and bars for replacement with trial items, frame modifications were then carried out, footrests etc…

A 21” front rim and trials universal tyre replaced the 19” Mountain Cub unit's. Other parts replaced were the steel oil tank for a Murray Brush fabricated alloy unit, also the cone shaped alloy silencer replaced the steel Cub part fitted. Also alloy guards replaced the lined steel ones fitted on Mountain Cub.

 A 7/8” Amal Monobloc carb with Triumph TR20 jetting was also used. It is said that the frame also had extra gusset plates added below the swan necked joint, and the frame was further strengthened by the use of the steel strut tube that held the BSA Victor alloy tank, this tank had the Triumph Tina scooter plastic filler bung fitted.

Rear tyre was a 400x18 trials universal and rear sprocket had 64 teeth. And an alloy chain guard replaced the steel unit.

Although they were available, the alloy brake plates were not fitted to the Comerfords Cub’s but were for sale in the shop. This was probably to keep, the sale price of the bikes down to the £225 selling price…

It should be noted, that all the Comerfords trials Cub's sold were all pre registered by the company with the DVLA and had a Surrey prefix registration number.… So this is a guide to whether you have a genuine model, there is said to be probably only seven  to nine noted as being Comerfords Triumph Cub's still in existence,(2024) out of the sixty odd that were built…

The depleted number seems a lot, but since the start of the Pre65 movement, most Triumph Cub trials bikes have been treated to a McDonald frame, or one of the other copies, so this is why the genuine bikes are now so few, and these have had a lucky escape through mostly being in owner's collections of motorcycles…

All this before Triumph /BSA stopped making the Tiger Cub and Bantam-Cub bikes in 1969 when the last one rolled of the assembly line.

We will take a look at a few of the photos of a couple of the known to be genuine built at Comerfords bikes, and then later also include the later Triumph 250 Trophy bikes that Comerfords also made, I believe there were five of them...

The four Cub  bikes I have checked have Surrey Registration Prefixes that is PF with a F ending and PL with a F ending...

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Photo Courtesy Iconic Auctions...

This Comerfords Triumph Cub had been rebuilt sometime ago and then had sat in the owners  showroom entrance for years until It was sold earlier this year 2024...

Changes from when it left Comerfords New, are the replacment of the fuel tank with a Sammy Miller copy of the BSA Tank.

The fork stanchions were replaced with chromed items  and new rubber gaiters fitted that have now perished again as they do with rubber items. 

The silencer is a Terry Weedy unit in stead of the cone shaped Murray Brush box fitted to the New bikes.

The Amal Monobloc Carb has been replaced with a Dellorto.PHBL22B3.....as was the trend a few years back and again the rubber jointer has perished.

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Screenshot...

This is the shot of the parts replaced on the bike above, and you can see they all look original... to the Comerfords Cub's...

Photo Courtesy TOMCC...

Here is a Triumph TM20 Mountain Cub that was the basis of the Comerfords bikes.. and it should be Noted: that the engine and frame numbers should be the same with the T20M prefix before the number...

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Photo Courtesy Bonhams Auction 2013...

Another Comerfords Cub photo 2013 and I have checked the registration number on this one too...

One of the telling parts is the oil tank, as the copy ones have shorter filler necks, and lack the drain plug at the back...

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Photo Courtesy Alan W....and TC...

This is the ex Hedley Cockshott Comerfords Cub new in October 1968 it says on the logbook.

And you can see the oil tank details with the filler neck and drain plug...

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Scan to be replaced with new photo...

You can see from this shot the frame gusset's that were added to the weak point of the Triumph Cub frames, an old works rider modification that was added by the Comerfords staff...to the bikes built.

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Scan to be replaced with new photo...

A good image of the oil tank and the footrests fitted by Comerfords...

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Tank decals that are available for your rebuild...

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Suppliers of the above...

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Photo Otterman...

This is one of the Murray Brush constructed silencer boxes that I had for repair in April this year.2024...

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Photo...Otterstock 2017...

A photo I have since 2017. of a newly manufactured Murray Brush type Comerfords Cub silencer...

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Photo Otterstock...2017...

This is the totally rebuilt Comerfords Cub that the exhaust silencer is fitted too...

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Photo Courtesy HJPugh...

The Fourth Comerfords Cub that I have checked as being a genuine article...this one a 1968 too...

So More Later... and New Photos and update...

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We then get to the Five Comerfords Triumph TR25 Trophy's that were built...

Photo Courtesy OffRoad Review...

Roger Davey competing in one of the Sammy Miller series trials...on one of the five built Triumph TR25 Trophy's. Roger won the championship on this bike in 1996 and 1998...

This bike was one of the Comerford TR25 Trophy's built by Reg May in 1969-70.The frames were modified pulling in the seat tubes and altering the steering head angle slightly, forks were lengthend, Boyer-Bransdan electronic trials ignition fitted, along with new alloy oil tank, and the BSA Victor fuel tank, alloy guards, trials seat, gearbox and engine sprockets, and Triumph Cub hubs, and larger rear sprocket, rim sizes were 21" front and 19"rear...Engine was tweaked with smaller Carb and two base gaskets, gears may have been different I will check with Roger Davy. 

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Photo Courtesy Car&Classic...

This is the ex Roger Davy TR25W Triumph.

The bike was first sold by Comerfords to trials and scrambles rider Roger Kearsey, Roger Davy bought the bike from him in 1984, Reg May updated the machine for Roger in 1988 and then he went on to compete on the Comerfords Triumph very successfully until the bike was retired in 2001...It was then stored for quite a while until it was restored in the year 2010 the bike was then bought by Jim Rose in 2012 and shown by him until  2020... when Jim sold his collection of bikes.The bike at present lives in Devon UK I am told...

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Photo Courtesy Offroad Archives...

Roger Davy aboard the Comerfords Triumph TR25 Trophy in one of the Sammy Miller Championship rounds.

Note: the bike still has the sign written lettering on the fuel tank...

So where are the other Four?

Photo Courtesy Car&Classic...

The Comerfords 250 Triumph Trophy still in show condition.

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Photo Courtesy Car&Classic...

Another Part of Classic Trials History...

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Courtesy Offroad Archives...

The Late Great Reg May aboard one of the Comerfords Triumph TR25 250 Trophy's.

Note: this machine still has the TrailBlazer wheel hubs fitted ...

More Later and more information.

Updat2024...12...