Triumph Thunderbird

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The Triumph Thunderbird was a British motorcycle introduced in 1949 and produced until 1966. To capture the American market, it used a variant of the Speed Twin's parallel twin engine, bored out from 500 cc to 650 cc to give the added horsepower American customers demanded. The Thunderbird brought Triumph considerable publicity with Marlon Brando's 1953 motion picture, The Wild One, in which he rode a 1950 Thunderbird 6T.

The new Triumph company re-introduced the Thunderbird name in 1995. It was instrumental in Triumph's successful re-introduction to the US market. The styling harks back to the golden years (for Triumph) of the 60's. It was the first "Classic" Triumph to be produced by the resurgent company.

It uses a variant of the 885 cc triple engine, detuned for more torque at lower rpm. Peak power is down to 69 bhp from 98 bhp. The engine is externally redesigned to give a period look.

Several variants were produced, including the Legend, Adventurer and Thunderbird Sport. The Thunderbird was produced until 2003.