Few motorcycle companies have plans as ambitious as Triumph at the moment, as the British brand prepares to enter multiple new markets including motocross, develops electric motorcycles, and readies a whole range of entry-level single-cylinder bikes to be made in India. Now the company has applied for several new trademarks in the US and other territories that might hint at even more projects.
While Triumph has a history of holding onto trademark rights for historic names, even if they’re not in use, recent changes to US trademark law are aimed at getting rid of so-called “deadwood” trademarks, so companies are only meant to register names they genuinely intend to use soon.
The titles undergoing registration include “Hurricane” in the US, while paperwork for the title “Triumph Hurricane” has been submitted in the UK. For most, that title is associated with the 1972–73 X-75 Hurricane; the famous Craig Vetter designed triple based on the Triumph Trident and BSA Rocket 3. Developed specifically with the US market in mind, the X-75 Hurricane was originally intended to be sold as a BSA before the decision to use the name on the Triumph instead. A one-year-only machine, fewer than 1,200 were built but the Hurricane has gone on to be one of the most iconic Triumphs.
Anybody heard of anything on the Triumph Hurricane front?
I’m not sure I like the way Triumph is trying to cover every type of bike possible, jack of all trades springs to mind! I’d rather see them focus their efforts, make less models, better.
I dunno… most of their models are fairly standard technology. I am really impressed at the quality of their machines now, but it’s well-established manufacturing technology.
The future earnings will come from innovation and new vehicles, and it’s very risky to put all of that investment into just a few models.
JLR and Triumph are two examples of where British innovation is really showing - all it took was some faith and proper investment.
JLR have reliability issues because in my view they innovate too much between models, but their vehicles are top-class and more than compete with Mercedes, BMW and the rest.
Triumph machines seem to me to be up there with the best. If they can keep that up, they could become a world-leader in motorcycles… then get bought up by a German or American company.
Thats the thing, it all boils down to money. I do agree they are at the top of their game, they have been expanding the range now for a good few years but I cant help feel all the resources they are pouring into new ventures could be better spent improving and fine tuning what they already have. There are a few areas where I would like to see improvements, more so in the roadster range than anywhere else.
