Monday 11th January 2016

Happy new year for Triumph

Triumph welcomes in 2016 in style

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Triumph must be sorry to see the end of 2015 as the British firm's growth took a rather pleasing turn for the better. The company posted profits of £2.3m during 2014/15, considerably better than its £8m loss the year before, even if that was due to investment costs as much as anything.

They're busy boys at Triumph!

For those who still view Triumph as a small player, consider these numbers. The firm has an annual turnover of £341.3m and an impressive 85 per cent of the 53,272 bikes it manufactured in 2015 were sold abroad. However, buried within the press release on the company's financial fortunes was one very interesting line: "The coming year will see the launch of an unprecedented number of exciting new models across the company's range..."

After a lacklustre few years, and the disaster of the 250cc single that was developed and then canned, Triumph appears to be back on form. For each of the last two years it has invested over £25m in R&D and, with the likes of the new Bonneville range, we are seeing the fruits of this investment. What's next in the pipeline? There are clues. 

Looking good for a parts bin special

Special Edition Street Triple Rx Black
To liven up the financial stats Triumph also announced a new Special Edition of the Street Triple Rx. The Rx is essentially a Street Triple R with the back end of a Daytona 675 to give the bike a more aggressive look. Last year we all assumed this 'parts bin' new model was a case of Triumph trying to clear Street Triple stock ahead of a rumoured new model. But it never arrived. 

That it's doing it again with a limited edition Black model only fans the flames of speculation relating to a new Street Triple. Last year we saw a plethora of special edition Bonneville and Speed Triple models before the revised versions were released for 2016 - will the same happed in late 2016 with the Street Triple? 

Whispers continue about an increased capacity model to take on the Yamaha MT-09. The Tiger 800 has already demonstrated the 675 engine can happily go bigger in capacity - and with ride by wire and traction control. Whatever the reasons, the current Street Triple Rx is a brilliant bike and the Black model is in dealers now for £8,599. And while you are there...

February 11 could be busy for Triumph

Street Twin national launch
Triumph has set a date for the national launch of the firm's new Street Twin. This water-cooled retro will be officially unveiled at Triumph dealers on February 11 with test rides, clothing offers and various competitions and prizes. The event kicks off in the evening with individual dealers organising their own activities and test rides. Go to Triumph's website to find your closest outlet. The fly in the ointment is that the bikes have already sold like hot cakes (Triumph has ramped up production to meet demand) and you might face a bit of a wait should you order one.

 

[5ohmustang]

Over here in the states Triumph are premium bikes, viewed on part with BMW's. The tiger's are well loved in the adventure community.

[sc0tt]

Turnover for vanity.

Those are some tight margins.

[moanthebairns]

sc0tt said:

Turnover for vanity.

Those are some tight margins.

When can we expect you on the apprentice?

[Fleegle]

sc0tt said:

Turnover for vanity.

Those are some tight margins.

Money ploughed into R&D, tooling on new models....all eats into the profits. Also why would you 'show' large profits only for the Govt to chip away at it with Corporation Tax?

[Speed addicted]

I like Triumph, I'm on my third one. I'm glad that they're moving ahead with new models as the Bonneville was well due a revamp and the new 1200 looks lovely.

Hopefully they'll keep going in the same direction for some time.

[moanthebairns]

Fleegle said:

sc0tt said:

Turnover for vanity.

Those are some tight margins.

Money ploughed into R&D, tooling on new models....all eats into the profits. Also why would you 'show' large profits only for the Govt to chip away at it with Corporation Tax?

Ken, what are they like, being the biggest British motorcycle manufacture since 1902, keeping 1600 odd people in a job every year.

Living off the vanity of Dean, Presley and McQueen for years. Posing gits, designing bikes that raised the bar in their class.

[dukeboy749r]

5ohmustang said:

Over here in the states Triumph are premium bikes, viewed on part with BMW's. The tiger's are well loved in the adventure community.

Really? That's positive to hear. being that the Explorer aped the GS and the Trophy mirroring the R series from BMW - well imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

Mine has run well and still looks sharp. The biggest grumble is the occasional false neutral, so that can't be too bad on an seven year old bike.

[srob]

dukeboy749r said:

Really? That's positive to hear. being that the Explorer aped the GS and the Trophy mirroring the R series from BMW - well imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

Mine has run well and still looks sharp. The biggest grumble is the occasional false neutral, so that can't be too bad on an seven year old bike.

According to a quick Google, the Hinckley Tiger appeared in 1993, when BMW were still making their original GS range - that was the same since the 80s, if not 70s - and not a huge success or a common sight.

Triumph were well ahead of making offroad style adventure bikes mainstream before the Charlie and Ewan days that launched the GS onto the M4 commute

[smilo996]

They have and are doing a really great job. I would really like a 675 and who knows they might even produce a replacement for the 955 at some point.

[Speed addicted]

srob said:

dukeboy749r said:

Really? That's positive to hear. being that the Explorer aped the GS and the Trophy mirroring the R series from BMW - well imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

Mine has run well and still looks sharp. The biggest grumble is the occasional false neutral, so that can't be too bad on an seven year old bike.

According to a quick Google, the Hinckley Tiger appeared in 1993, when BMW were still making their original GS range - that was the same since the 80s, if not 70s - and not a huge success or a common sight.

Triumph were well ahead of making offroad style adventure bikes mainstream before the Charlie and Ewan days that launched the GS onto the M4 commute

They may have been in the big adventure bike market for years but I parked my explorer next to a GS the other day and there are some fairly stark similarities! Untill I saw them side by side I'd never really thought about it.
The 1050 Tiger was nothing like the GS but the 1200 and 800 as pretty similarly styled.