I've not heard it run yet.
I bought it last year and it's been in the garage since, hidden under lots of other stuff. We moved house back to the North East (North Shields, Tyne and Wear) and the house is smaller and the garage is too. Garages in the UK are much smaller, in any case. I've just dragged it out.
My middle son bought me a pillar box red triumph t-shirt. I remembered seeing a Triumph 250 for sale on Facebook Marketplace nearly a year before in the same colour. So, I took a look, and it was still for sale. No offers. Kismet.
It was a genuine barn find. The man was a farmer, and it was in the barn. He'd had it for a while but hadn't had it on the road since 2016. The tank, mudguards and side panels were all freshly repainted about that time. But he didn't get it all back together and there it sat.
No battery
No chain
Throttle broken
No handlebar grips
Throttle cable hanging down (It didn't seem to reach the throttle and i looked for a decompressor lever. But it was connected to the carb so I don't know what went on there.)
It's a rebadged BSA a TR25, I think. Triumph made a trail bike out what was the BSA Starfire and most of them, I think, went for the export market. As far as I can see it is completely original apart from a Domino twist grip, Boyer Bransden ignition and the after-market "air strainer". It kicked over with loads of compression so I took a chance.
Its OIF (oil in the frame). There doesn't appear to be a damaged or rounded nut or bolt anywhere. So, it's not been apart, I guess. The speedo odometer reads 8,000 miles and I think it's the original.
Its 1971. I still haven't stopped grinning.