Early triumph history, up until WWII

Early history of triumph which was founded in 1885 by Sigfried Bettman in his early 20s he would partner with moritz schulte the company started off making sewing machine and bicycles expanding into motorcycles in 1902 and getting into automobiles in 1920 really cool episode

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founded in Coventry England in 1885 the S betman and company was founded by sigree betman in his early 20s bman sold bicycles as well as sewing machines in 1886 bman was looking for a better name for his company the company would change their name to Triumph cycle Company the company got a cash infusion from Dunlop pneumatic tire company became Batman’s partner in 1888 Schult would work at WM Andrews bicycle company to gain information into the bicycle business the first Triumph bicycles were essentially rebranded bicycles purchased from WM Andrews and sold in 1889 the Andrews bikes were sophisticated machines for their time it would cost a fortune to build a bike such as the Andrew bike from scratch safety bike designs would become the designs of the 1890s thanks to the standardization and increased components bman and Schult would be able to produce their own bicycles and bicycle parts in 1902 Triumph would offer their first motorcycle or motorbike which were powered by a 2.25 horsepower Belgium manura engines which that company also produced produced motorbikes as well and just sold engines to various other companies for their motorcycle and or motorbike engines eventually Triumph would Switch and Go to the jaap or engines their very first motorcycle was called the model one and was produced from 1902 through 1904 in 1905 Triumph would introduce the second model which was produced in 1905 with Triumph’s very own engine making this the first year that it was all Triumph Triumph’s engine was a 363c displacement single cylinder side valve engine that produced three horsepower and was designed by Charles halfway 250 were produced Triumph would win the single class in 1908 TT races on the Isles of Man by that time Triumph was a leading contender in the world of competition motorcycle racing production was up to around 1,000 motorcycles per year from 1908 through 1909 the model 474 was produced it used a 474c single cylinder engine with a single speed transmission model TT was the first Triumph without pedals it used a 500c single cylinder and was produced from 1909 through 1914 a little bit of a side note caveat from doing some research all the gears from all the different sites that I’ve checked are different so take the gears with a grain of salt the model Roadster came in 1910 and was produced until 1913 displacement was up to 500cc single cylinder single speed optional rear hub clutch to Freewheel 14 displacement was 550c backed by a three-speed stury Archer rear hub Triumph would Supply the Aly lies with motorcycles during World War I with an allnew model the Model H with an engine displacement of 499cc single cylinder making four horsepower and backed by the sturmy Archer 3-speed counter shaft gearbox operated by hand lever more than 30,000 Triumph model hes were produced by the end of World War One in 1918 the Model H was known as the truste which also was Triumph’s slogan in the 1910s trusty Triumph the Model H would be produced until 1923 Triumph would produce 57,000 model hes after World War I bman and his partner Schult had a bit of a falling out Schult wanted to replace the bicycles which they were still producing with automobiles Schult would leave the company in the early 20s in 1921 bman would would start producing automobiles he bought either the Hillman or Dawson car company sources conflict on what car company he bought perhaps he bought both of them to produce the 1020 the company would change its name to Triumph Motor Car Company in 1930 and would be bankrupt by 1939 it was acquired by standard Motor Company standard Motor Company would be acquired by British Leland Motors in 1960 and would be re tired the mark would be in 1984 BMW would acquire the rights in 1994 but getting back to the motorcycle part model SD was introduced in 1920 and produced until 1926 SD stood for Spring Drive it was a 550cc single backed by a three-speed gearbox in 1921 Triumph would build an absolute Legend the Ricardo Ricky or the model R it was commissioned and also named after triumphs engine expert they would take a 499cc engine and would add more valves to it four valves on a single cylinder which were overhead valve instead of side valve It produced an incredible 20 horsepower and it was capable of speeds of 70 mph it was produced from 1921 through 1928 introduced in 1925 and was available until 1926 the model P it used a 494 CC side valve engine single cylinder it was the most affordable single cylinder bike that was on offer with a price of 42 which would be like you spending $4,170 in the year 2024 under cutting all of the competition it was followed by the model n in 1926 Triumph would offer a semi-automatic oil pump built in there was a secondary hand pump for anyone that didn’t trust the mechanical pump wired on the tires to replace the bead Edge allowing lower tire pressure for better ride the rear brake was also integrated into the Hub instead of using the rim brakes the model n was only made for one year 1927 it was replaced by the model NP for 1928 in 19 30 Triumph would offer a smaller displacement bike called the model X or the junior it was one of the first bikes ever to have unit construction where the engine and gearbox were combined powered by a 173.04 to some sources say it goes until 1934 like I said with the triumphs every Source you go to has different years for the different models by 1931 Triumph offered 10 models they offered a new range of inclined machines which were single cylinder engines that were angled the more common term sloped model wo which was a 249cc design and it was Triumph’s first 250cc bike model W which was also 249cc single port and was cheaper than the w o WL 348c side valve engine all of them came with three-speed gearbox for speeds were available as an option after 1932 Triumph struggled during the Depression years they had a German subsidiary that was independent company and they had to sell it off to try to stay afloat that company would merge with Adler to become Triumph Adler in 1932 Triumph would sell bicycle plant to Raleigh bicycle company bman was forced out as chairman and left the company all together in 1933 Triumph’s first twin came in 1933 as the Triumph 61 often referred to as the parallel 6 the twin cylinder engine had a displacement of 649 CCC making 25 horsepower at 4500 RPM four-speed manual hand shift or for shift was available in 1935 it was good for 80 to 85 mph designed by Val page the 61 was a commercial failure for Triumph with only 600 being produced from 1933 through 1936 Jack slanger took over in 1936 which was also the same year Triumph started exporting to the United States slster would change the company name to Triumph engineering company l TD introduced in 1936 Triumph Tiger designed by Edward Turner and was Triumph’s new line of lightweight 6-cylinder bikes model names ranged from Tiger 70 80 90 the model numbers represented top speed when World War II broke out in 1939 the tiger evolved into the Triumph 38w in 1937 Triumph introduced an allnew 500cc speed twin model designed by Edward Turner the bike featured overhead valve vertical twin engine in a lightweight frame it was the first successful British parallel twin and would become the standard for all twins that followed 498 CC parallel twin it was good for 27 horsepower at 6,300 RPM it was backed with a four-speed manual transmission with chain drive Triumph Speed twin was produced from 1937 through 1940 World War II happened and then they picked back up in 47 through 66 on November 14th 1940 a German air raid took place over Coventry England known as the Coventry Blitz it leveled much of the city as well as the Triumph plant Triumph would resume production at a new Factory in Meridian where they would make the tiger 100 which was a twin cylinder bike Triumph would build bikes for the allies during World War II producing 40,000 motorcycles for the military but as they say that’s another episode for another day all right now it’s time for would you rather and these these aren’t fair but which one would you rather have 1924 Triumph Ricardo or 1937 Triumph Tiger 70 or 1930 Triumph model X Jr I’m going to leave this here for a minute if you need more time feel free pause the video on to the second scenario 1935 Triumph parallel twin 61 or 1937 Triumph Speed twin or 1940 Triumph Tiger 100 once again going to leave this here for a minute if you need more time feel free pause the video on to Name That Tune first person to get both the name of the band and the song title correctly in the comment section we’ll have their comment pinned to the top of it thank you all so much for coming out and watching this if you’d like to get in touch with me shoot me a comment in the comment section below I read and answer all comments posted I’ll say that for selfworth I just say that if you post a comment I will definitely read it or drop me a line at what unitor like yahoo.com thank you all so much for all the information that you guys bring to this car community and until next time to do