Triumph "Coppa Britannia"?

[po18guy]

Was surfing the Triumph site and seeing that they have the spectrum fairly well covered, what with Speed Triples, 2500cc Rocket Threes, Bobbers, Adventure bikes, Bonnevilles and all. What caught my eye was the Thruxton RS. Something about it looked vaguely familiar - at least in concept and paint scheme. 1200cc, 270º crank, 103 HP at only 7500, Lacking only a quarter fairing, it seems almost a British homage to the Coppa Italia.  

[Lucky Phil]

38 minutes ago, po18guy said:

Was surfing the Triumph site and seeing that they have the spectrum fairly well covered, what with Speed Triples, 2500cc Rocket Threes, Bobbers, Adventure bikes, Bonnevilles and all. What caught my eye was the Thruxton RS. Something about it looked vaguely familiar - at least in concept and paint scheme. 1200cc, 270º crank, 103 HP at only 7500, Lacking only a quarter fairing, it seems almost a British homage to the Coppa Italia.  

I've always kinda liked the look of these Triumphs. They strike a nice balance between retro and modern engineering. Just hope the quality has improved from the last 3 Triumphs I owned back in the 90's.

Ciao

[68C]

Sadly, some say the 90's Hinkley Triumphs were the best in that they were over engineered as they had to succeed or the project would have foundered.  They were also modular bikes so bits could be swopped around, knowledge of them grew and used spares easy.  The later bikes come under the Accountants scrutiny with all the slack taken out.  Regular model changes mean they are now just another bike, but importantly from a viable company.  I do wish John Bloor had the confidence to start the company under a new name without the recycled old Triumph models.  By now it would still be successful and not have the stigma some give it as an old fashioned product.  They also need to build entry level bikes so youngsters who have never heard of Triumph can develop a brand loyalty. 

[LowRyter]

3 hours ago, 68C said:

Sadly, some say the 90's Hinkley Triumphs were the best in that they were over engineered as they had to succeed or the project would have foundered.  They were also modular bikes so bits could be swopped around, knowledge of them grew and used spares easy.  The later bikes come under the Accountants scrutiny with all the slack taken out.  Regular model changes mean they are now just another bike, but importantly from a viable company.  I do wish John Bloor had the confidence to start the company under a new name without the recycled old Triumph models.  By now it would still be successful and not have the stigma some give it as an old fashioned product.  They also need to build entry level bikes so youngsters who have never heard of Triumph can develop a brand loyalty. 

Moto Guzzi should be so lucky to get a John Bloor.

[swooshdave]

On 4/15/2020 at 1:28 AM, Lucky Phil said:

I've always kinda liked the look of these Triumphs. They strike a nice balance between retro and modern engineering. Just hope the quality has improved from the last 3 Triumphs I owned back in the 90's.

Ciao

 

The build quality on the new Triumphs is outstanding. Heck the reliability is also outstanding. You should pop over to a Triumph dealer and take a look.

[Lucky Phil]

4 hours ago, LowRyter said:

Moto Guzzi should be so lucky to get a John Bloor.

I have a great deal of respect for what bloor did creating triumph from scratch. A few more like him and less entrepreneurs would make a better economy I think.

59 minutes ago, swooshdave said:

 

The build quality on the new Triumphs is outstanding. Heck the reliability is also outstanding. You should pop over to a Triumph dealer and take a look.

I suspect you would be right, I hope so anyway. I owned 3 Triumphs in the 90's. The first was the original Speed Tripple which was a heavy thing and fairly basic engineering but decent quality as was required for launching a new company so I was pretty happy with it. The second 2 were the new Daytonas with the alloy frame from a few years later and quite frankly they were horrible. Both mine had to have the frames replaced, not for the well known failure of the clear finish but for other issues. The first one had a big ugly angle grinder scar across the frame in a really visible spot where the guy dressing the welds before the frame was painted slipped and marred it badly. Should never have made it through QC and the second one for a porous casting at the swingarm mounting point. Had to fight them on both counts legally but won. The bodywork on the first one had 2 different paint shades of the same colour, instruments that fogged up all the time( which I fixed successfully) and things like the airbox which looked like it was put together like a Lego kit. I used to call it the Hyundai Excel of motorcycles( which was really a disservice to the Excel) and if you knew nothing about the mechanical stuff you would probably think it was nice. Having said all that I had a great relationship with the deal;er and thought well maybe it was the old first model lemon so a year later I bought another new one. Mistake, it was just as bad with none of the quality issues addressed and had the porous frame casting. At the same time my mate had a customer that was racing one and he was taking care of the mechanicals and converting it to use a Motec ecu. I started finding out the internal mechanical details about the engine and realised that Triumph and I had different ideas about quality. The drive gear on the balance shaft on those second gen engines was a shrink fit on the shaft without a locating key or dowel and they used to move. The weight would then start clipping the rod bolt on #1 cylinder and the engine was scrap within a second. This used to happen with std bikes at track days not just race bikes. My mate used to pin the gear to prevent it on race engines. I mentioned to my dealer friend about this and they had a few customer bikes affected. That's when i gave up on Triumph quality. 

If you ever get a chance to buy or restore one of these old Daytonas I'd steer clear.Some of the basic stuff they never even supplied as spares parts, like valve guides.

Ciao 

[gstallons]

There was a time the words build quality / British motorcycle was not in the same book . When I was young you didn't ride a British bike any farther than you could  push it back .

[LowRyter]

It's just a shame when I compare Bloor to Piaggio.  The results should've been just the opposite.  A big corporation with huge resources but with no vision and little respect for its customers.  

[swooshdave]

On 4/17/2020 at 5:10 AM, gstallons said:

There was a time the words build quality / British motorcycle was not in the same book . When I was young you didn't ride a British bike any farther than you could  push it back .

I don't think Italian bike owners should throw stones at Brit bike owners. Tales of woe on each side are epic.

[gstallons]

You got that right !

[GuzziMoto]

I could see owning a Triumph. But I don't. I think our Guzzi's keep attracting more Guzzi's, so there isn't really room for a Triumph. Otherwise I probably would own one. But these dang Guzzi's keep showing up and hogging all the room in my garage.....

 

I could see owning either a Triumph twin like in the OP or a Triumph triple. I am partial to the smaller triple. What a glorious sound, three cylinders and all that rpm....

[footgoose]

1 hour ago, GuzziMoto said:

I could see owning a Triumph. But I don't. I think our Guzzi's keep attracting more Guzzi's, so there isn't really room for a Triumph. Otherwise I probably would own one. But these dang Guzzi's keep showing up and hogging all the room in my garage.....

 

I could see owning either a Triumph twin like in the OP or a Triumph triple. I am partial to the smaller triple. What a glorious sound, three cylinders and all that rpm....

I could see myself saying the same thing... and I did acquire a a small (850) triple. Yamaha FJ09. A great revving and glorious sounding motor. Just something about a triple.

[gstallons]

I heard a Laverda triple w/a flat plane crank one time ....... It was a religious experience !

[GuzziMoto]

Yeah, while I like the V twin of a Guzzi there is something special about a triple. And one that likes to rev can be amazing. The new Yamaha triple is nice, I also looked at an FJ09. I certainly would not mind owning one. The Triumph Street Triple is my favorite based on what I know of them. But I have not rode one yet as I don't want to know what I am missing. A little triple that revs over 12,000 rpm, what's not to like.

Parallel twins have a nice cadence to them as well. But I think a triple is my favorite motorcycle engine configuration. A very close second is a V4. Then there was the guy who built his own V8 by siamesing two 400cc inline 4's together. That must sound fantastic.

And yes on the Laverda. 

[po18guy]

On 4/20/2020 at 4:09 PM, gstallons said:

I heard a Laverda triple w/a flat plane crank one time ....... It was a religious experience !

Two-smokers are not often a delight to hear. But that maniac genius Allen Millyard created a 5 cyl 1250cc H3 Kawi. On the boil, danged if it does not sound like an F1 motor. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a90677Qci3g