A Triumph of Style

This legendary English brand had been around years before most of us were born. Many of its biggest fans consider the early models to be the more collectible classics, and practically all of its fans feel that the 650 or 500 is more desirable than the lesser tiddler models. Even the host of Tiddlerosis would choose a mid-Sixties 500cc over any other Triumph model, but this page is about Triumph tiddlers.

Triumph built, and exported to the U.S. in limited numbers, a range of 200cc to 350cc models throughout most of the Sixties. My first encounter with the brand was with a friend's brochure in the very early Sixties. I cannot remember the exact year, but it definitely was 1960, '61, or '62, and the 350cc models were included in the lineup. The earliest brochure I currently own is 1963, and the 350's were no longer present in the U.S. lineup at that time. That brochure included only 200cc, 500cc, and 650cc models. Since Cycle World began publishing in 1962, and I do not own any pre-1963 issues of Cycle, I do not have even a single photo of an early Sixties 350cc Triumph. The photos I have are all of the 200cc Cubs of the early Sixties, and some of the later 250cc models. As we all know too well, Honda reliability triumphed over English style. Triumph tiddlers rolled quietly out of the U.S. market at the beginning of the Seventies.

Beyond all else you want to say about vertically-split engine cases and the Prince of Darkness being in control of the light show, Triumphs had style. A Triumph always looked the way a motorcycle was supposed to look. The gas tank was smooth, trim, and always painted. Black rubber knee pads were allowed, but chrome sides were not. Slender fenders would never allow a Triumph to be mistaken for a Dream. Seats were wide and flat, with pleats and a passenger strap, but no two-tier shapes were allowed. The handlebars were a nondescript Western shape and the headlamp was in a compact nacelle. Rubber boots covered the front forks and square rear shock covers were left in Japan. The bullet-shaped mufflers were particularly lovely to view and hear. The sportiest models had tachometers, but the lesser models had only speedos. When you watch the chase scene in Coogan's Bluff, you know that Clint was riding a Bonneville because he had a tach. The punk he was chasing had only a speedometer. I guess that second carburetor allowed Clint to catch his man! There were no turn signals or electric starters on the classic Triumphs. You get to see Coogan kickstart his Bonnie like a real man should. Clint wasn't the only celebrity to increase the Triumph legend, either. Look at Bob Dylan's t-shirt on the cover of Highway 61 Revisited. We all know how the future of rock and roll was altered forever when Bob later fell off his Bonneville and left the nasal wheeze and melodic rock of Blonde On Blonde back at the studio in Nashville while he rediscovered God and his acoustic roots.

See a lot more photos and information about Triumphs at Sheldon's EMU.