Triumph Motorcycles history and facts
Triumph Motorcycles was born from the ashes of Triumph Engineering, which went bust in 1983. The same year, John Bloor, the billionaire behind UK housebuilder Bloor Homes, bought the Triumph name and manufacturing rights from the administrators. The original company, which had been producing motorcycles in the Midlands since 1902, just couldn’t keep up with the Japanese competition.
Under Bloor’s direction, Triumph Motorcycles quickly set about adopting the manufacturing techniques and technology of the leading Japanese producers to create some winning machines.
Bloor set up a new factory in Hinckley, Leicestershire, with the first models rolling off the production line in 1991. Triumph introduced a range of new 750cc and 900cc motorbikes with three-stroke engines as well as four-cylinder 1000cc and 1200cc machines.
By the time the company broke even in the year 2000, Bloor had invested over £80m in Triumph. Two years later, the company opened its first manufacturing facility in Thailand.
In 2004, the company released its triple Rocket III cruiser, a mighty 2294cc superbike. Other notable launches included the Daytona 675cc in 2005, the best-selling 675cc Street Triple in 2007 and the popular 900cc Street Twin in 2016.
In 2007, Triumph announced it was opening a third factory in Thailand to increase manufacturing capacity. Fast forward to 2020 and the company revealed plans to move all its significant, remaining motorbike production to Thailand, with just customs and prototype models to still be made in the UK.
Triumph has been the exclusive supplier to the FIM Moto2 World Championship since the beginning of the 2019 season, supplying its 765cc triple-cylinder sports bikes to all the teams. The Dynavolt Triumph racing team is also competing with the 765cc Triumph triple in the 2021 Quattro Group British Supersport season.
Still under the control of John Bloor, Triumph is the largest UK-owned motorcycle manufacturer, employing 2,000 people worldwide.
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