Management believed that Honda were
concentrating on small engined machines
and the sudden arrival of the Honda 50 4
sent shockwaves through the firm, and
the global motorcycle market. Triumph
released the first of the Rocket 3 and the
Triumph Trident models, and although
faster than Japanese counterparts, they
were plagued with problems that were now
not being seen as some necessary part of
motorcycling life’. Su uki, amaha and the
Kawasaki brands also delivered, and the
writing was on the wall.
A 3 million loss in 19 1 saw Triumph
being held by the company that owned
other British brands Norton, AJS, Matchless,
Francis-Barnett, Velocette and Villiers. From
that moment on crisis after crisis alongside
industrial action caused a long hiccupping
slide towards another collapse in 19 .
A governmental bailout of millions of
pounds saw Triumph once again delivering
another winner with the 19 Silver Jubilee
Bonneville, becoming the biggest selling
motorcycle in Europe. But it wasn’t enough.
Triumph sputtered along until 1983, when a
52 KIWI RIDER
final bankruptcy once again closed the doors.
Enter a plasterer turned building developer,
by the name of John Bloor. He was one of the
largest single builders of homes in England
and he turned up at an auction of the old
Triumph premises, eyeing it up for a building
development. He decided to purchase the
Triumph marque at the bargain basement
price of 150,000 from the o cial receiver.
And the rest is comparatively recent history.
Bloor delivered a remarkable turn around of
the company’s fortunes, resulting from over
80 million being injected into completely re-
engineering everything - following a number
of years studying the Japanese production
methods.
During the years from 83-88 a license was
granted to Les Harris to produce Triumph
bikes, principally the 50, known as the
Devon” Bonnevilles. Les was known as the
saviour of the British Motorcycle Industry’ for
keeping that continuous Triumph production
running through those years. And with over
80 British marques becoming defunct in the
20th century it was no easy task.