The History of Triumph Motorcycles Posted By : Mark Jubbs
The History of Triumph Motorcycles began In 1885 when Siegfried Bettmann left Germany to live in England. At the age of 20, Bettman started a company, S. Bettmann & Co. Import Export Agency, which was based in London. Originally, S. Bettman and Co sold bicycles, which the company simply bought and then sold under its name.
In 1886 Bettmann realized that a shorter, snappier name was likely to grab more attention and subsequently changed the name of the company to the "Triumph Cycle Company." In 1887 the name was change yet again to the "New Triumph Co, Ltd.," but for sales purposes, the name remained "Triumph." Another German native, Moritz Schulte, became Bettman's partner in 1887.
Schulte thought that Triumph would do better as a manufacturing company, rather than as a company which simply bought and then sold bicycles. In 1888 Bettmann built a factory and Triumph began producing its first bicycles. A second factory was opened in Bettman's home town of Nuremburg in 1896.
In 1902, Triumph made its first motorcycle which consisted of a bicycle fitted with a small engine. Triumph sold over 500 motorcycles that year, but all of its motorcycles were based on the designs by others. In 1904, the first motorcycle based on a Triumph design was produced and in 1905 Triumph started selling motorcycles of completely original designs. These motorcycles proved fairly popular and Triumph sold over 250 in just a few months.
Triumph's success continued to grow and it produced over 1000 motorcycles in 1907. Shortly afterwards, there began to be a confusion between motorcycles manufactured at the English and German factories. The German models were renamed Orial, but since France already had a company named "Orial," the German Triumph motorcycles were also renamed, and were sold under the "TWN" label.
World War I was a bonanza for Triumph, as they produced over 30,000 motorcycles for the war effort. Triumphs were known to be reliable and the Allies depended on them. After the war, Bettman and Schulte disagreed about the direction Triumph should take and Schulte left the company. In 1920 Bettman acquired a car factory and Triumph began producing cars as well as motorcycles. Sales were brisk, with factories capable of producing 30,000 machines a year working at capacity. In the 1920s Triumph became the one of the biggest manufacturers of cars and motorcycles in Britain.
Triumph suffered and struggled during the Great Depression and sold off various pieces of the company. The German division was sold, later to become Triumph-Addler, and the bicycle manufacturing sector was sold to Raleigh. The Second World War saw the factory in England bombed into uselessness, although some of the machinery was salvaged.
Triumph began exporting as many as 70% of their machines to the U.S. to help its finances improve. For several years demand in the U.S. market seemed endless and Triumph could not keep up with the demand for its machines. However, Triumph could not compete with the ingenuity of the Japanese models when they began exporting to the States.
After this crippling set of events, Triumph became a member of Norton-Villiers-Triumph, and then changed hands again before being rescue by Jon Bloor, who has allowed Triumph to establish its place in history by gaining the title of the longest continuously-producing motorcycle manufacturer.
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