The name Triumph is synonymous with British motorcycling although it's founders were in fact Germans. Siefgried Bettmann originally made bicycles before changing the name of his company to Triumph and moving into motorcycle manufacture. In this venture his partner was Mauritz Schulte. The two of them fitted a Belgian engine into their first frame in 1902. They soon had their own engine to put into this frame and produced a range of bikes which became known as the Trusty Triumphs due to their reliability.

By the time of the First World War Triumph's 500cc Model H had become hugely popular. After the war the Model R was produced. It featured a four valve cylinder head long before other manufacturers used this layout. More successful than either of these though was the Model P which was made at the rate of 1000 a week.

Unfortunately Triumph ran into financial difficulties which in 1936 led to it being bought by Ariel owner Jack Sangster. He appointed a new chief designer, Edward Turner, who revamped the entire range and renamed them Tiger. Turner soon produced his own bike though. The 500cc Speed Twin was a change from the usual single cylinder bikes of the time. It's success left competitors scrambling to catch up by producing their own twin engines.

In 1938 the Tiger 100 was released. It was capaable of a genuine 100mph and continued to be produced, with a few revisions, all the way through to the early fifties. By the end of the 1950s a new model was desperately needed to keep up with the competition, fortunately Triumph produced a machine that more than fitted the bill.

The Bonneville T120 of 1959 was named after the salt flats on which a modified Triumph had recorded a top speed of 214mph in 1956. The records was never recognised but the controversy made the run famous anyway and Triumph were quick to capitalise on this.

Early Bonneville's were basically just Tigers with more powerful engines but the frames failed to cope so later models were given twin spar frames among other improvements. The Bonneville continued production all the way through to the 1980s although by 1985 time it was being built under licence as Triumph had gone into liquidation.

Fortunately the Triumph name did not die. John Bloor bought the company and developed a range of modern bikes which were released in 1991. Bearing some familiar names such as the Trident and three cyclinder engine layouts the new models were a success that has allowed the company to develop ever more sophisticated machines. Nowadays Triumph is able to genuinely compete with it's Japanese rivals making bikes like the 675. This lithe fast middleweight sports bike is a stunning achievement. With looks, performance and reliability you would expect from one of the big four this machine truly brings Triumph into the 21st century.