The National Motor Museum Trust

This machine was introduced in the autumn of 1949 to meet a demand from the growing US market for a more powerful version of the 500cc Speed Twin. The Thunderbird proved another great success for its designer, Edward Turner, and it was regarded very highly as a fine high-speed tourer.

In September 1949, the first three production models maintained over 90mph/144.84kph for 500 miles (804.67 kilomtres) and made flying laps of the Montlhéry track, near Paris, at 100mph/160.93kph.