We often hear the words “premium brand” bandied about by people. I would say Triumph is considered a premium brand,certainly by themselves. I also frequent TTF and see quite a lot of discussion around technical and quality issues. Recently a chap posted about his gearchange being faulty. Long story short, the dealer told him he had a worn gear selector among other things. Another member intimated that could involve a bill well over 1500 smackers. And this on a 24,000 mile bike. That’s abysmal. When l think back l have seen many issues that may or may not have been rectified by Triumph-warped discs, squeaking brakes, corroding rims and spokes etc etc. So my question is, are forums giving us an imbalanced view of product quality or are Triumph having our leg up a bit? 
I think you are correct In saying that there are many issues highlighted on forums, but I’m not sure that it provides a true picture of quality across a brand and I mean all brands not just Triumph.
In my experience people tend to post their problems on forums, however there are many owners that don’t post on or are members of any forums so I don’t think you get a representative picture.
I’ve purchased four new Triumphs in the past four years (still have two of them) and I’ve been very impressed by all of them in terms of their style, quality and reliability. But no, I don’t view Triumph as a particularly premium brand
Thinking about it, I don’t view any mainstream motorcycle brand as standing above all the others when it comes to desirability. Perhaps Ducati, but then only the Panigale or Streetfighter V4’s. The rest of their range I don’t view as any more desirable than their competition.
I’m not really sure what “premium” actually means. Norton is a manufacturer whose products I think are desirable whilst being generally inferior to the competition, so in my mind that makes them premium. I certainly don’t think reliability plays any part in it - you only have to look at German cars, which are usually considered “premium”, yet always appear near the bottom of any reliability or customer satisfaction surveys.
That is a great question.
I’m one who goes after the bike that I want to fit the role that I need it for. The Speed Triple I have currently does that exactly.
When I bought my MV back in 2005 it was because I loved the look and the image that that bike had at that precise time. It was an ambition fulfilled. Was it because it was considered Premium, I’m not sure but it does give me a pride of ownership that no other bike ever has.
It was iconic at the time it was released and to this day it still has something about it that very few bikes have. The only other bike that ( to my mind anyway) has the same status is the 916 Ducati.
But to answer your question, I don’t think Triumph has Premium status but I do love their products and think that they are doing amazingly well .
Long May that continue.
Premium branding to me is high-quality, superior craftsmanship, often associated with exclusivity, and status… therefore, usually, a more expensive brand.
While Triumph may have a foot in the door with their high end products, they remain in the corridors of mid-range.
But the only Triumph I’ve owned was a significantly second hander, but very usable and fun… so I’ve no complaints!!!
I think you are spot on with that statement.
A friends father used to work at Smiths clocks in Watford who made the instruments for a lot of car brands back in the 80’s.
He said that of all the manufacturers that they used to supply, Volvo were the most fastidious with how they wanted their instruments made and the durability that they required.
At that time Volvo were making their name for building durable, prestige vehicles. Their cars went on and on ….
But they went broke trying to keep that same durability and class whilst other brands were cheaper and less durable but sold a lot more cars…
I see quite a few cost cutting exercises creeping in over the last few years.
The t100 I bought didn’t come with the radiator guard or the fork gaiters of the previous gen.
The new speed triples dash is woefully slow and lumpy which would suggest its made of cheaper slower electrical components.
They went to a plastic tank on the last street triple update.
They done away with the twin clocks in favour of a cheap looking unit on the new speed twin RS.
None of these things say premium to me and if it is an exercise to keep prices down, will thats the opposite of premium isn’t it?
Hasn’t the term “premium” just evolved into a description of any manufacturer that isn’t one of the big four Japanese companies? I’m thinking particularly of BMW, Ducati and Triumph but probably not Royal Enfield to be fair 
People that are happy with a product tell a few people, unhappy customers apparently tell on average about 36…
I think most people tend to associate “premium” with exclusivity as much as quality.
So Triumph enlarging its model range, customer base and sales volume reduces its exclusivity and IMO “premium” status (even if quality is high - or not)
A victim of its own success?
I don’t understand the meaning of premium these days.
Back in the early 2000’s I considered premium to mean reliable, did not rust, fast, comfortable, didn’t break the bank to run, looked and sounded amazing
In my opinion my Yamaha R6 with the Delta box iii in 2003 fit that criteria.
I considered the 600rr/f to be similar.
I struggle to answer that question now, so why?
I’m older, bikes have exponentially increased in value v wages, gap in price between brands appears narrower, complex technology = more expense to repair, more expensive bike doesn’t necessarily = reliable, bikes look less attractive, adventure bikes are very popular which doesn’t appeal to me.
Items that do mean premium to me now is the quality of brake system and suspension.
If I could pick any bike what would it be?
I came close to a BMW S1000RR recently.
It has a premium price tag, questionable reliability such as carbon wheels cracking, expensive to run, strangled by the latest eu emission requirements, looks great, semi comfortable, handles really well, doesn’t sound great.
It should be premium but following my own experiences amd research it’s a premium name and price but not a premium bike.
Is Triumph premium?
Triumph used to pride themselves with the number of premium components on their bikes. I’ve only owned 1 Triumph the more serious issues have been Triumph part failures, bike is fairly well priced, looks good, handles fairly well, pretty much same price to service as a bike with double the engine size, mine has not been reliable, quality genuine aftermarket parts, sounds great.
Other than reliability Triumph is more premium than my experience with BMW.
I don’t have any experience on newer Yamaha’s so can’t comment on whether I deem Yamaha less premium now.
The internet plays a huge part in influencing a persons perception of premium now.
I think we should raid Motorcycle Live, go round the stands and get our virtual knives out and have a mass debate on the Triumph stand
On a slightly more serious note premium is different things to different people. Some Jap owners would see reliability alone as being premium even if the bike itself was rather dull.
I see it as innovative design using premium components leading to a bike you want rather than need, of which looks pay a big part. That means Italian. It also means good customer service and that’s German. This leads to inflated prices which applies to both of the above
I’m not sure that ‘premium’ means anything very useful in this context, being a largely subjective judgement. To my mind, Triumph has some very good and very attractive designs and is of decent quality construction, but is not any more ‘premium’ than the Japanese makes that are also mass-produced in the Far East. I was deeply unimpressed by their failure for years on end to fit Street Twins with a longer wiring loom to fix the notorious chafing problem at the headstock that caused trouble for so many owners. I am also unimpressed by their long term fitting of poor quality Chinese/Brazilian Pirellis to new bikes, causing some squeaky bum experiences on road surface grooves. Building down to a price is understandable, but isn’t ‘premium’ behaviour. I love my Triumph, now that I have sorted it out to my liking. Nice bikes, yes, but not what I would really call premium.
I think ‘Premium’ has come to mean a mass produced product which ‘people’ think is better than the general competition, which has a high level of ‘posh’ about it, is often German or at least European - in cars you might be thinking of Rolls Royce, Bentley, Mercedes or BMW. British cars that might sneak in there could be Jaguar and Range Rover. I don’t think it really relates to reliability or being the best. Basically it’s about impressing the neighbours!
How would that translate to motorcycles? Looking through a list of motorcycle brands I would suggest equivalents might include - Harley Davidson, Indian, Ducati, BMW, Aprilia and MV Agusta with Triumph being the British brand which could sneak in there.
Japanese brands would probably equate to VW/Audi products as being seen as well made and more reliable than the rest - an assumption which may not always be accurate!
Norton would be something like Aston Martin etc., a small production specialist vehicle.
It is just about being ‘one up on the Jones’s’ who drive a Ford or a Vauxhall!!
I suppose an easy summary to that would be - you pull up on your new bike and the neighbour says…
On a Honda - “nice.”
On a Triumph - “NICE!!”
So yes, Triumph is probably a premium brand. 
I think perhaps with bikes, it’s more about premium bikes in a market segment rather than a manufacturer across the board.
Although I don’t view Triumph overall as a premium brand, I do view the Rocket 3 as a premium motorcycle.
I view the Ducati Panigale and Streetfighter as premium models in the Sports bike and Super Naked sectors, but the Monster and Scrambler (while nice) aren’t special.
Most people would probably consider (rightly or wrongly) that the BMW GS1300 is a premium bike in the Adventure sector along with the Multistrada, but the rest of the BMW range is worthy but average.
I don’t think it’s about impressing the neighbours, as your average neighbour couldn’t tell the difference between a CF Moto and a Ducati.
The motor trade has a track record of introducing ‘Premium’ vehicles. The introduction of the Lexus brand by Toyota, DS brand with Citroën etc. They tend to be the same vehicles but better badges.