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Triumph Engineering

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A new Triumph model for 2004, the Thruxton 900, named after a racing circuit in Hampshire, England
File:Triumph.sprint.rs.arp.750pix.jpg
The 955 cc Triumph Sprint RS
A slightly customized 1967 Triumph Tr6C 650 twin

Triumph Motorcycles is a famous manufacturer of motorcycles based in Hinckley in England.

History

The company's roots began in 1883 when Siegfried Bettmann moved to Coventry in England from Nuremberg, part of the German Empire. Bettman sold bicycles but used the brand name Triumph rather than his own. He was joined by another Nuremburg engineer Maritz Schulte and they produced their own bicycles. In 1896, Bettmann established a German subsidiary for cycle production in his native city, which became part of the Triumph-Adler Company. When the internal combustion engine led to the first motorcycles they Bettman and Schulte turned to motorcycle production.

In the 1920s Triumph purchased the former Hillman car factory in Coventry and produced a saloon car under the name of the Triumph Motor Company. Harry Ricardo produced an engine for their latest motorbike.

Triumph struggled to make a profit from cars. The bicycles and motorcycles were sold off as the Triumph Cycle Co . In 1936, Jack Sangster of Ariel Ltd purchased the motorcycle division, to form the Triumph Engineering Co Ltd largely led by ex-Ariel employees.

World War II

Motorcycles were produced at Coventry until World War II. The town of Coventry was virtually destroyed in The Blitz (September 7, 1940 to May, 1941). Tooling and machinery was recovered from the site of the devastation and production restarted at the new plant at Meriden, West Midlands in 1942.

Post war

The Triumph brand received considerable publicity in the United States when Marlon Brando rode a 1950 Thunderbird 6T in the 1953 motion picture, The Wild One.

Triumph were sold to their rivals BSA by Sangster in 1951. Sangster was to return as chairman of the BSA Group in 1956.

The Speed Twin designed by Edward Turner before the war was produced in large numbers after the war. Efforts to settle the lend-lease debts caused nearly 70% of Triumphs post war production to be shipped to the United States. To satisfy the American appetite for motorcycles suited to long distance riding, Turner increased the capacity of the Speed Twin to 650 cc. The new bike was named the Thunderbird (a name Triumph would later license to Ford Motor Company]] for use on a car), and only one year after it was introduced a hot rodder in Southern California mated the 650 Thunderbird with a twin carb head originally intended for GP racing and named the new creation the Wonderbird. It went with a few gallons of Nitromethane to the dry lakes and Bonneville. That 650 cc motor, designed in 1939, held the world's absolute speed record for motorcycles from 1955 until 1970.

In 1959, the T120, a tuned double carbureted T110, came to be called the Bonneville. Harley Davidson was certainly feeling the heat: as Triumph and other marques ate up market share, Harley became aware that their 1 litre+ beasts were not as sporty as the modern rider would like, resulting in a shrinking share of the market. The Triumphs were models for a new, "small" Harley Davidson as a result: the now-fabled Sportster, which started out as Harley's version of a Triumph Bonneville. With its anachronistic V-twin, the Sportster was no match for the Bonneville, but it proved a solid competitor in US sales and eventually also in longevity.

In the 1960s, 60% of all Triumph production was exported, which, along with the BSA's 80% exports, made the group susceptible to the Japanese expansion. By 1969 fully 50% of the US market for bikes over 500 cc belonged to Triumph, but technological advances at Triumph had failed to keep pace with the rest of the world. Triumphs lacked electric start mechanisms, relied on pushrods rather than overhead cams, vibrated noticably, often leaked oil, and had antiquated electrical systems; while Japanese marques such as Honda were building more advanced features into attractive new bikes that sold for less than their British competitors. Triumph motorcylces as a result were nearly obsolete even when they were new; further, Triumph's manufacturing processes were highly labour-intensive and largely inefficient. Also disastrous, in the early 1970's the US government arbitrarily mandated that all motorcycle imports must have their shift and breake pedals in the Japanese configuration, which required expensive retooling of all the bikes for US sale.

The British marques were poorly equipped to compete against the massive financial resources of Japanese heavy industries that targeted competitors for elimination via long-term plans heavily subsidized by the Japanese government. Triumph and BSA were aware of Honda's ability to make quality motorcycles but while the Japanese were only making smaller engined models, the large engine market was considered safe. When the first Honda 750 cc four cylinder was released for sale to the public, Triumph and BSA were facing trouble. A 3 cylinder engined motorcycle was developed to compete against the Japanese fours: the BSA Rocket 3/Triumph Trident.

Motor scooters and motor trike

In the 1960s, despite internal opposition from those who felt that scooters would dilute the macho image of the brand, Triumph produced two machines to tap into what was seen as a large market segment for a convenient 'shopping basket'.

The Triumph Tina was a small and low performance 2 stroke scooter of around 100 cc with automatic clutch, and a handlebar carry basket for bringing the groceries back from a shopping trip. There was also a similar small Trike for those unsure of their ability to balance. Market Research had identified this as a market with strong demand for cheap and easy transport, and advertising featured Cliff Richard, pop idol of the era. But sales were poor especially of the Trike which had absorbed a large amount of development capital, and both were quickly discontinued.

The Triumph Tigress was very different, being a scooter designed to have good performance and handling for the enthusiast, drawing on Triumph's long experience of building fast motorcycles. It was available with a 175 cc 2 stroke single, or a 250 cc 4 stroke twin. Both had 4 foot operated gears. The 250 twin sold well and was capable of 70 mph (100 km/h) with efficient suspension and good roadholding despite having only 10-inch wheels. The only problem was build quality; it was sometimes said that a Tigress was a joy to own so long as someone else was paying the repair bills. The BSA Sunbeam was an identical machine with the BSA badge.

Collapse

When the BSA group collapsed under its debts, government help led to a merger with the Norton-Villiers combine, only the Triumph name was to be retained in the new group name of Norton-Villiers-Triumph, NVT. Workers at the Meriden, West Lands factory demonstrated against a move to Birmingham Small Heath, the BSA site and staged a sit in for two years eventually forming a cooperative to continue production of the 750 Twins, the Bonneville and the Tiger, primarily for the USA market. The inability of the cooperative to raise funds necessary to bring new models to market led to the collapse of the company in 1983.

Rebirth

In 1983 the company folded completely and was liquidated. The Triumph name was bought by a property developer, the self-made millionaire John Bloor, and a new company, Triumph Motorcycles Limited (initially Bonneville Coventry Ltd), was formed. Production was continued under licence for a short period by LF Harris in Devon, South West England to bridge the gap between the end of the old company, and the birth of the new company on a brand new site in Hinkley. A range of models using famous model names from the past debuted in 1988. Brand new 750 cc and 900 cc triples and 1000 cc and 1200 cc fours all using a modular design were built and proved successful. Fours have slowly been phased out of the lineup. Triumph's heritage is tied to parallel twins and triples, and these are the focus of Triumph's marketing strategy today.

Triumph is now carving out a niche in the motorcycle market based on nostalgic engine technologies and design. The 790 and 865 cc iterations of the Bonneville and Thruxton look like slightly revised versions of their 1960s counterparts. Less overt is the use of the inline triple — an engine layout other manufacturers have mostly abandoned, save Benelli's Tornado and TnT, the Foggy Petronas FP-1 and Aprilia's now defunct MotoGP bike, the Cube.

Triumph has learned not to compete head to head with Japanese manufacturers in the sportbike world, with the flagship Daytona 955 marketed as a "GT" sportsbike rather than a challenger to Yamaha's R1 or Suzuki's GSX-R1000.

In the hugely competitive 600 cc sportbike category, the four-cylinder Triumph Daytona 600, and before that, the Triumph TT, have lagged in performance compared to offerings from the Japanese makers. A bump to 650 cc for the smaller Daytona in 2005 illustrated Triumph's intention to not compete on the racetrack, where in many cases, displacement is limited to 600 cc, but on the street, where mid-range torque is often more important. For the 2006 model year, Triumph almost completely abandoned the four-cylinder engine (it's sole remaining four-cylinder machine is the Speed 4). The current 600 cc class sportbike offering from Triumph is the Daytona 675, which uses an inline-triple engine displacing 675 cc, further differentiating it from typical motorcycles in this class.

Triumph's 1,050 cc Speed Triple owns the street naked category, not in outright performance, but perception and image. And the Rocket 3, Triumph's power cruiser, takes the triple concept to extremes: 2,294 cc, 140 horsepower (104 kW), and 0 to 60 mph acceleration of about 3 seconds.

Triumph is building several models based on the Bonneville engine. The base Bonneville comes with 790 cc parallel twin. The Bonneville Black is a de-contented version with a blacked-out engine that is the least expensive model in Triumph's lineup. The Bonneville T100 is an upscale version of the basic Bonneville, with an 865 cc parallel twin engine, two-tone paint schemes and a tachometer. The Thruxton uses the 865 cc engine with 2 mm larger carburetors and a re-shaped camshaft with revised suspension for sharper handling. It features clip-on handlebars and rearset footrests. It was designed to recreate the look of cafe racers from the 1960s. The Scrambler is another nod to the past, with its raised exhaust and knobby tires that recall the desert racers of the 1960s. It also uses the 865 cc engine. There are two cruisers in Triumph's lineup based on the Bonneville engine. The America is a straight-ahead custom with the 790 cc parallel-twin engine, forward-mounted foot controls, pulled-back handlebars and a low, dished-out seat. The Speedmaster uses the same formula as the America, but with the 865 cc engine and more sporting suspension and looks to make a sport cruiser.

Models

Pre-war

  • Model N 1930.
  • XO 1933.
  • 2/1, 2/5, 3/1, 3/2,
3/5, 5/1-5/5 1934.
  • 2H, 3S, 3SE, 3H, 5H, 6S,
Tiger 70, Tiger 80,
Tiger 90 1937.
  • Speed Twin 1938.
  • Tiger 100, 2HC, 5S,
5SC, DE Luxe 65 , 35,
35C, 35W, 1939.

Post war

  • TR5 Trophy
  • 6T Thunderbird
  • T100S Tiger Sports
  • T100R Daytona
  • T110 Tiger
  • TR25W Trophy 250
  • T100C Trophy
  • TR6 Trophy
  • TR6C
  • TR7V Tiger
  • Terrier 150cc
  • Tiger Cub 200cc
  • T120 Bonneville
  • 1965-66 Thruxton Bonneville production racer (58 total machines built)
  • T140 Bonneville
  • Tina Scooter
  • Tigress Scooter 175 2 stroke
  • Tigress Scooter 250 4 stroke twin
  • T140W TSS (8-valve head)
  • T140D Bonneville Special (custom style)
  • T140E (emmissions controlled)
  • TSX (custom style)
  • TS8-1 (show prototype)
  • Bonneville Executive
  • TR65 650 cc Thunderbird
  • TR7T Tiger Trail
  • TR65T Tiger Trail
  • T140LE Royal Wedding Bonneville
  • T140J Bonneville Silver Jubilee
  • T140AV , TR7AV ,TSSAV Anti Vibration Police models
  • TR7VS Tiger Electro (electric starting)
  • T140ES Bonneville Electro (electric starting)
  • TR60 Thunderbird (600cc show prototype)
  • Daytona (600cc show prototype)
  • TSX8 (8-valve custom style)

====Triples==== Badge engineered versions of the BSA Rocket3 (see Birmingham Small Arms Company)

From 1985 to 1988

Post 1990

  • Daytona 750
  • Daytona 1000
  • Trophy 900
  • Trophy 1200
  • Trident 750
  • Trident 900
  • Trident Sprint 900
  • Sprint 900
  • Sprint 900 Executive
  • Daytona 900
  • Daytona 900 SuperIII
  • Daytona 1200
  • Daytona T595
  • Daytona 955
  • Daytona 600
  • Daytona 650
  • Daytona 675
  • TT 600
  • Scrambler
  • Thruxton 900
  • Sprint RS
  • Sprint ST
  • Thunderbird 900
  • Thunderbird Sport 900
  • Legend
  • Speedmaster 790
  • Speedmaster 900
  • Adventurer
  • America
  • Rocket III
  • Rocket III Classic
  • Bonneville
  • Bonneville T100
  • Speed Triple 750
  • Speed Triple 900
  • Speed Triple T509
  • Speed Triple 955
  • Speed Triple 1050
  • Speed Four
  • Tiger
  • Thruxton 900

See also

References

Speed Triple Daytona 955i Rocket III Tiger

BSA Rocket 3 and Triumph Trident

  • Triumph

The Centenary Edition CD-ROM Heidelberg Desktop Publishing, Australia, 1 Simon Court, Rosanna VIC 3084, Australia

  • 1965-66 Thruxton Bonneville production racer

Triumph The Legend McDiarmid, Mac. Smithmark Publishers

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