Siegfried Bettmann founded the business that became Triumph, with Mauritz Schulte helping move it into manufacturing. Motorcycles appeared at the start of the twentieth century. Triumph became a major British producer, supplied machines in wartime, created the Bonneville as a transatlantic performance icon and was later reborn around a modern Hinckley factory and modular three-cylinder ranges.
Motorcycles / Manufacturers / Triumph
Motor Museum · Motorcycles · Since 1902
Triumph
Triumph links Britain’s early motorcycle industry to the Bonneville, café-racer culture and a modern three-cylinder performance identity.
1902motorcycle era begins
United Kingdomorigin
3featured bikes
6catalogue bikes
Origins
Siegfried Bettmann and Mauritz Schulte
Read the manufacturer through the machines that changed its engineering, racing, design, market or cultural meaning.
Featured bikes
Three turning points.
The featured layer picks the motorcycles that most clearly changed this manufacturer’s technology, market or identity.
Bonneville T120
1959 · classic
Bonneville T120
The quintessential classic Triumph and a central object in café-racer, custom and popular motorcycle culture.
Trident T150
1968 · roadster
Trident T150
A technically important late-classic British response to the rapidly escalating superbike era.
Speed Triple
1994 · roadster
Speed Triple
One of the bikes that defined the modern streetfighter/naked performance category.
Museum catalogue
Bikes through time.
Each bike is treated like a museum object: what it was, why it mattered and where it sits in the manufacturer’s wider story.
1950s
1960s
1990s
2000s
2004–2017 · muscle
Rocket III
The original Rocket III made its enormous 2.3-litre three-cylinder engine and long wheelbase the centre of the riding experience.
Why it matters: A deliberately excessive production motorcycle that redefined the scale of the power cruiser.
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Rocket III
2006–2017 · supersport
Daytona 675
The Daytona 675 used a compact three-cylinder engine to offer a different balance of torque, size and sound from the four-cylinder 600 cc supersport norm.
Why it matters: A distinctive British answer to the intensely competitive middleweight supersport class.
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Daytona 675
2007–present · roadster
Street Triple
The Street Triple combined Daytona-derived three-cylinder performance with upright ergonomics and relatively low mass.
Why it matters: A major modern Triumph success that made the middleweight naked triple a category reference.
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Street Triple