One of the great names in motorcycling, Triumph, might have occasionally gone out of production, and its factory was shut down completely in 1983, until resurrected by construction magnate John Bloor (he bought the name and whatever else was left for $100,000), but Triumph never went out of style. For the past several years they've even begun to flourish, with the company paying attention to trends worldwide and, much like Harley-Davidson, realizing, understanding and capitalizing on and exploiting the value of nostalgia, building machines which in appearance and even sound hearken back to an earlier time, to 1959 perhaps, which was the best year in history of British motorcycling, but with modern mechanicals and electronics which makes bikes like Triumph dependable, along with already being good-looking, in that retro sense, and, of course, fun to ride. (Logo above - Triumph's current logo, beginning in 2005; Photo below - 2008 Triumph Sprint ST).
Many of us of a certain age, who grew up in a time when the machines from a particular Asian nation were just getting started with very serious sales in the US, which continue to this day, had our very first rides on a bike with either an American or British pedigree. These were, for the most part, and looking back with our perfect 20/20 hindsight, truly horrendous machines to use to learn how to ride a motorcycle. Heavy, unreliable and with poor handling, Harley-Davidson and Triumph, BSA and Norton bikes allowed the student to perfect a riding technique which out of necessity included the "best way to pick up a bike once it had been dropped while waiting at a traffic light", as well as the proper way to, using foot pressure, get one of the two pistons into its TDC (top dead center) position, the better to make the beast start using the kick start method. They machines were almost always twins (with the occasional single-cylinder thrown in for good measure and even more torture for the rider).
When kick-starting a bike, the rider is trying to start the "flame propagation" procedure in just one cylinder, no matter how many cylinders total. So, with a 500cc machine, for example, in a twin configuration, the rider was kicking 250cc's at a time; when Japan's four-bangers came out, they were easier to kick-start, as the rider was kicking only 125cc's worth of the engine. Triumph's unique use of three cylinders (Triples, they were called, and demons they were and still are continues to this day. Japan's Kawasaki brought out their own triples in the mid to late '70s, and they were some of the meanest, nastiest bikes ever built. So ill-handling were they that Kawasaki eventually put steering dampers on them). (Logo - Triumph's 100 year anniversary logo, 1902 to 2002).
Also, there was generally no other way to start the bike; no electric start as a regular feature. Those 
that did come with this wonderful new technology, which had been in-use on cars and trucks for, oh, at the time, only 65 years or so (electrical engineer Charles F. "Boss" Kettering developed an electrical self-starter first used on the 1912 Model 30 Cadillac) often had the feature incorporated into their name (1977's T140ES Bonneville Electro Triumph motorcycle). Some of these machines had large displacements, which meant kicking-starting them and having your foot slip off the kick pedal could result in a truly interesting "rebound" or "kickback" strong enough to either break the rider's right leg and/or ankle and/or throw the rider off the bike, sailing some 20 feet into the air, with the motorcycle left in a heap. Messy affair, that.
With all that said, who can resist the allure of a new Triumph? This from the same UK industry which produced rotary-engined motorcycles for both the police and general public, just to keep things "interesting" on the Motorways (Norton), and the 1981 Triumph T140LE Royal Wedding Bonneville in honor of Prince Charles and Diana. Someday I'll post my road test of the Suzuki RE5 rotary, the single scariest machine to ever hold a human passenger. But that nostalgic feeling definitely exists, especially among those of us who learned to ride on a Triumph Tiger Trail (750cc, pre-electric start). We'll let the folks from Triumph tell their own story of their machine, because frankly, how could we write anything better than a PR release which includes the words "keen" and "sublime" in the same sentence, and "delighted" in the opening paragraph? (Logo - Our favorite, Triumph's logo from 1932 to 1933, it reads, "All over the world").
Without further ado, the 2008 Sprint ST, which is for sale only in the UK, in their own words:
"TRIUMPH LAUNCHES 2008 SPRINT ST
Triumph
Hinckley, Leicestershire, United Kingdom
For 2008 Triumph Motorcycles is delighted to announce the release of an updated version of its acclaimed touring champion, the Sprint ST. The bike, which was originally launched in 1999 and last updated in 2005, has been a consistently popular member of Triumph’s UK line-up.
A direct response to customer feedback, the changes for 2008 are subtle but serve to enhance the outstanding performance of this superbly versatile motorcycle. The new model features a steel fuel tank, enabling the use of a magnetic tank bag, whilst the footrests have been modified and now employ a more durable rubber for prolonged wear. The headlight performance has also been markedly improved.
Renowned for its superb handling, powerful engine and unrivalled reliability, the Sprint ST has won a host of accolades since its launch and has come to represent the very pinnacle of sports touring refinement. Just last year, it beat off competition from 12 other bikes to win German motorcycle publication, Motorrad’s, 50,000km endurance test.
Available from January, the 2008 Triumph Sprint ST costs £7,999 (USD$15,897) otr. An ABS version is also available at £8,599 (USD$17,089) otr. Colour options are Pacific Blue, Graphite and Tornado Red.
For those keen to experience this sublime machine for themselves, a free test ride awaits at most Triumph dealers." (end of release) (Logo - What may be Triumph's first logo, 1902 to 1906).
Now, didn't we tell you? Would Harley ever use the phrase "whilst the footrests"? Though (probably) not 
intentionally so, the phrase "The headlight performance has also been markedly improved" brings back memories of the dreaded UK electrics firm, Lucas, whose nickname for ages has been "Prince of Darkness". There are the great Lucas jokes, such as "Lucas headlamps have three positions; dim, flicker and off" and "Smoke coming from a Lucas-equipped machine is nothing to worry about; it is merely a leak", and many more. It's said that sarcasm needs a bit of truth in order for the joke to be understood; in Lucas' case, and speaking as the ex-owner of a Triumph Spitfire sports coupe, the truth in Lucas "irony" jokes is more than just a "bit".
What is also special about this release is that in the US, one of the strictest rules of PR is that one should "never repeat the allegation", because that only reminds people of the original charge. The classic example of this rule is Richard Nixon's declaration of, "I am not a crook". That sound/picture bite will live on in infamy. Anyone who sees it, even centuries into the future, will assume Nixon was a crook (and they'd be right). Likewise, Triumph is reminding everyone in this release that, apparently, the older version of this bike had a poor headlight, and the bike's footrests wore out quickly and were poorly placed. But when all is said and done, there's a lot to be said for corporate honesty (something Richard Nixon would not have understood).
The British motorcycle industry will always be remembered and appreciated for one particular thing, and this is a positive, a good way to end this story: The penchant for coming up with some of the best names for their companies and the individual models made by those companies. (Logos courtesy www.sorenwinslow.com).
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