1963 From 1963 all Triumph engines were of unit construction. 1969 In 1969 Malcolm Uphill, riding a Bonneville, won the Isle of Man Production TT with a race average of 99.99 miles per hour (160.92 km/h) per lap, and recorded the first ever over 100 miles per hour (161 km/h) lap by a production motorcycle at 100.37 miles per hour (161.53 km/h). For many Triumph fans, the 1969 Bonneville was the best Triumph ever.[citation needed] American sales had already peaked, in 1967. In truth, the demand for motorcycles was rising, but Triumph could not keep up. 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 push-rods rather than overhead cams, vibrated noticeably, 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 motorcycles, 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 1970s the US government mandated that all motorcycle imports must have their gearshift and brake 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 well aware of Honda's ability 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. 1970 The 1970 Tiger/Bonneville re-design and taller twin front down tube oil tank frame met a mixed reception from Triumph enthusiasts at the time, and was insufficient to win back those already riding the Japanese bikes that had hit the markets in 1969; the Honda 750 Four, and the Kawasaki 500 Mach 3. The Triumph 350 cc Bandit received pre-publicity, before being quietly shelved. Triumph was still making motorcycles, but they no longer looked like the bikes Triumph fans expected. The Trident attracted its own market, but the Japanese bikes were improving more rapidly. 1971 1971 Triumph Daytona The parent BSA group made losses of 8.5 million pounds in 1971, 3 million for BSA motorcycles alone. The British government became involved. The company was sold to Manganese Bronze Holdings, which also owned Norton, AJS, Matchless, Francis-Barnett, James-Velocette and Villiers. 1977 Norton Villiers Triumph 1977 Triumph Bonneville T140 VA new company called Norton Villiers Triumph (NVT), managed by Dennis Poore, emerged in 1972 when the BSA group collapsed under its debts. Government help led to a merger with the Manganese Bronze Holdings subsidiary Norton-Villiers. The three remaining brands to be produced by the company were combined to create the new group name of Norton-Villiers-Triumph (NVT). However, this restructuring would result in a number of closures and redundancies, due to the withdrawal of the Conservative government aid (as an inducement to Dennis Poore to take on Triumph) by the then Labour Minister, Roy Hattersley. After many consultations with the factory personnel explaining the consolidation necessary to face the Japanese challenge, in September 1973 NVT Group chairman Dennis Poore finally announced the closure of Meriden works effective February, 1974. Of 4,500 employees, 3,000 were made redundant. Faced with unemployment and having their products handed over to a rival firm, the workers at the Meriden factory demonstrated against a move to Small Heath, Birmingham, the BSA site and staged a sit in for two years. With political backing of the newly-elected Labour government and, in particular, the then-minister for trade and industry , Tony Benn, the Meriden worker's co-operative was formed supplying Triumph 750 cc motorcycles to its sole customer, NVT. SINCE The new company's manufacturing plant and its designs were not able to compete against the Japanese so Bloor decided against relaunching Triumph immediately. Initially, production of the old Bonneville was continued under licence by Les Harris of Racing Spares, in Newton Abbot, Devon, to bridge the gap between the end of the old company and the start of the new company. For five years from 1983, about 14 were built a week in peak production. In the USA, due to problems with liability insurance, the Harris Bonnevilles were never imported. Hinckley Production Bloor set to work assembling the new Triumph, hiring several of the group's former designers to begin work on new models. The team visited Japan on a tour of its competitors' facilities and became determined to adopt Japanese manufacturing techniques and especially new-generation computer-controlled machinery. In 1985, Triumph purchased a first set of equipment to begin working, in secret, on its new prototype models. By 1987, the company had completed its first engine. In 1988, Bloor funded the building of a new factory at a 10-acre (40,000 m2) site in Hinckley, Leicestershire. Bloor put between £70million and £100million into the company between purchasing the brand and breaking even in 2000. Model range TT600A new range of motorcycles using famous model names from the past arrived in 1991. New 750 cc and 900 cc triple-cylinder bikes and 1000 cc and 1200 cc four-cylinder bikes all using a modular design to keep production costs low – an idea originally put forward, in air-cooled form, in the early 1970s by Bert Hopwood but not implemented by the then BSA-Triumph company – were built. There were early problems and the four-cylinder 600 cc sports TT600 was described in reviews as "unpleasant at low revs due to a lethargic and unpredictable throttle response, with anonymous styling". As sales built, the big fours were phased out of the lineup and parallel twins and triples became the marketing and development focus of Triumph's marketing strategy. Triumph also decided to exploit demand for retro motorcycles with modern engineering. The 865 cc versions of the Triumph Bonneville and Thruxton look and sound original but internally they have modern valves and counter balance shafts. The Triumph Rocket III - the largest production motorcycle in the world for their contemporary range, the triple is Hinckley Triumph's trademark, filling a niche between European and American twins and four cylinder Japanese machinery. The 2,294 cc (140.0 cu in) triple Rocket III cruiser was introduced in 2004. The first 300 Rocket III models were already sold before they were produced, and there was a long waiting list for Rockets into 2005. Triumph's best selling bike is the 675 cc Street Triple. In 2010 they launched the Triumph Tiger 800 and Tiger 800 XC, dual-sport motorcycles, which uses an 800 cc engine derived from the Street Triple, and is designed to compete directly with the market leading BMW F800GS. Export Success At the same time as production capacity increased, Bloor established a new network of export distributors. He has previously created two subsidiary companies, Triumph Deutschland GmbH and Triumph France SA. In 1994 Bloor created Triumph Motorcycles America Ltd. Triple Connection In 1995, the Triple Connection clothing range and the accessories range of products were launched. Triumph made a commercial decision to design all their own motorcycle clothing rather than license other producers. Factory Fire At 21.00 on 15 March 2002, as the company was preparing to celebrate its 100th anniversary as a motorcycle maker, its main factory was destroyed by a fire which began at the rear of the facility. At the height of the blaze over 100 firefighters were tackling the fire which destroyed most of the manufacturing capacity. Nevertheless, the company, which by then employed more than 650, quickly rebuilt the facility and returned to production by September that year. Furthermore, in 2003, Triumph opened a new manufacturing facility in Thailand. An assembly and painting facility in Thailand was opened in 2006 by Prince Andrew. In September 2008, Triumph announced that they were expanding their Thailand factory to increase capacity to over 130,000 motorcycles. Future The Triumph Group announced sales of 37,400 units in the financial year ending 30 June 2006. This represented a growth of 18% over the 31,600 produced in 2005. Company turnover (revenues) rose 13% to £200 million ($370 million), but net profit remained static at around £10.3 million due to recent investment in production facilities. On 21 July 2008, Triumph held a Global Dealer Conference where new models for 2009 were launched, including the official announcement of the parallel twin-cylinder Triumph Thunderbird 1600. The Daily Telegraph business pages of 4 June 2009, reported Lord Digby Jones, the former Minister of State for Trade, becoming chairman of Triumph motorcycles (Hinckley) Ltd as well as announcing the new 1600 cc Triumph Thunderbird 1600 twin cylinder model and Chief executive, Tue Mantoni's 'cautious' general market outlook for 2009 given the prevailing global economic downturn and despite a 19% rise in sales. |
| http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triumph_Engineering http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triumph_Motorcycles_Ltd Triumph Motorcycles Limited |
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