So who’s been? How good is it?
My son got me a guided tour for two people for my birthday 
I have asked my regular riding buddy and he is up for it. It’s about four hours ride avoiding motorways, which is far more interesting, but it looks like the tour is only 90 mins, so we thought we would stay over, have a few beers etc. Then a villager said he is also going, staying over and also going to the National Motorcycle Museum which sounds a cracking idea.
Do you need to book the NMM or just turn up? Which bits are must see?
I haven’t done the factory tour but @Motopulcino and I stopped off at Hinckley on our way home from Silverstone a couple of years ago for a look around the museum. That’s definitely worth a visit and doesn’t cost anything.
The NMM is also well worth checking out. You don’t have to book but allow enough time to have a good look around. There are (I think) 6 halls and they’re full of bikes. I was so impressed I became a member. 
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Cheers Saul. Looking forward to it!
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I did the factory tour about 25 years ago so it’s going to be very different now, if you search the other forum I seem to remember a few guys have been in the last few years. At one point I believe it was not much more than a warehouse tour, but I believe Triumph are bringing more manufacturing/assembly back to Hinckley so you might be lucky in seeing something interesting. The Visitor Centre is worth a look in any case.
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I agree. I live fairly close by and have been more than once. First time I didn’t realise the museum bit had an upstairs.
Review from Jan 2022
Hi all did the tour today.
I see Ians name mentioned before. He was my tour today. Really nice chap.
I found the tour very informative.
Starting from the beginning of the tour you enter the first warehouse where all of the bikes are packaged up and ready to go. I’d say it was at max 40% full. Ian explained certain details about the way certain bikes are packaged in particular Greece are different to many other places because of them being many islands bikes are boxed in recyclable boxes opposed to metal frames to avoid expensive return shipping fees. Also rockets are so long the front wheel needs removing so they are also in cardboard style boxes.
Moving onto the crankshaft room all crankshafts are forged elsewhere amd CNC’d in Hinkley. The staff were busy working at this on a Sun.
Moving further on you pass the R&D department, which is blocked off for obvious reasons. It appears to be a very large, rumour has it a lot of research etc is going into electric bikes however it is being held back until the infrastructure catches up.
From there we went into the paint room where there are spray booths for what seems to be a lot of fuel tanks. The line painting is also done by hand there. It is also the training hub for Thailand in the art of line painting. Its great to see everything is still do e by hand. This is because there is such a variation in meeds amd the programming of robots would be so expensive.
One think which caught my attention was a colour scheme on some pf the tanks and it turns out there are some special editions around the corner in the form of Breitling apparently. From the paint room we entered another warehouse where Triumph are transitioning to build all models in the uk on a production line by hand.
Their philosophy is to store complete bikes in bits and then build to order, this differs from prior posts on here. I think its fantastic as it will clearly open up doors for more uk jobs. Triumph clearly believe in it. They had some new tigers being built there are approx 4 stages amd each bike is built in around an hour or so excluding the seat and battery, mind boggling. I didnt see it in action but really want to go back to see it with my own eyes.
In the next warehouse they had as described priot a st triple on a stand wired up like Robocop. It is used to demonstrate how they stress test bikes. From memory Ian said they leave a bike running at its limit for 50 plus hours. There is a whole area out of bounds, which conducts these tests. I’m guessing due to health and safety plus other privacy issues is the reason as bikes apparently fail on a regular basis. I imagine at such temperatures quite catastrophically.There is also a section of shelving where the tested bikes are stored for several years before they are destroyed.
Continuing through the same warehouse you pass approx 8 bikes on their side stands.
They are well known bikes such as the 2 supercharged bikes and 2 turbo bikes of which carl foggarty rode. The tiger is also there which was rideen by a chap who rode around the world on it and now works in the Wales adventures part of Triumph. Sorry I have not had chance to read up on him.
From the production line there is a rolling road where the mewly produced bikes get a little fuel and are tested followed by a 50 point plus inspection. Finally they are then readied for packaging. There were lots of Tigers lined up for Germany. Finally we looped round down the original warehouse amd there were approx 12 bike on shelving owed mainly by the owner of triumph some all time classics. I also clocked a bike owned by David Beckham which was cool.
All in all I throughly enjoy the tour amd whilst the majority of the production wasnt in full swing I think it allows you to tale more time to observe finer details.
Once the tour had finished I walked around the museum. In here there is literally a goldmine.
The Tiger which jumped over a landrover and the Scrambler which daniel craig rode through the cobbled amd staired streets was there. I was lucky enough to be allowed to sit on it. There is also Daniel Craigs own Scrambler no 007 awaiting his collection in there.
Also bike from mission impossible 2, gut martins bike when he re emacted the stunt over the barbed demce, one of steve mcqueens bikes plus other famous race bikes.
For £20 you cam hardly grumble.
I will reutn when ots warmer on a week day hoping to see more of the production aspect.
Something I missed was the 3d printing room amd manual cnc machines all cnc staff undergo manual training to understand the practice opposed to just learning automated machines which ensures people remained skilled within the industry. Triumph clearly believe in professional development.
I’m sure there is more i can add however here is a shot of Daniel craigs bike pending his collection of it. P.S the 1millionth bike is also in the warehouse.
Thanks for reading thought id share whilst it was fresh on my mind.
In case anyone wishes to purchase one similar to Daniel craigs recent auctions fetch>22k which means the one from the movie and daniel craigs are a name a price…… Since then I think it sold at auction not sure wat price.
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Really brilliant write up. Glad you had a good time.
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Cheers for that @Timboo Great write up and just adding to the anticipation! Will probably be end of Feb or March before I get there, wouldn’t want to get the Speedy wet😃
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Ta bare in mind 1 yr old so lots may have changed. I think mid week visits may give a better insight into the production aspect as it was closed at weekend. Also the new production line may have been implemented by now beyond the Tiger.
I will definitely go again. Look out for additional special bikes on the racking on the way out before you leave owned by the odd celeb.
You get out of tours like that as much as you put in. I’m hopeful the shelves will be stacked for when people go now post covid ish.
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Fair point about weekdays 
Let us all know when you go Dawsy, could be a meet up at the Triumph coffee shop/ Triumph museum. Especially if it’s Spring time/ bike season again…
I did the tour and thought it was a great trip out. Well worth the entry fee and it’s a place that is still evolving so each trip you see something different.
Great Xmas present…!
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Yeah will get it sorted and post on here
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It’s about 75 minutes from here … But I guess as you’re an award winner , I should make the effort… 
If you’re planning on stopping overnight I would suggest finding a B&B or hotel with secure parking, there are a lot of bike thefts in the area and when the largest female bike meet took place there a good number of bikes were stolen overnight from hotel carparks 
Wow thats not good at all, just horrible. I take for granted the short rides I do and not really leaving my bike unattended I feel for those who tour and stay away. Hope the thieving t**ts will stay away from Triumph Hinkley.
@Oldskool I expect nothing less than the red carpet. I will send you my rider requests 
I knew about the ladies event nightmare @HelmutVisor Shocking. I was thinking maybe staying in Matlock or somewhere like that. Recommendations welcome 
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Let us know what you think of it. With pictures. You know the drill. 
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It sounds like the Hinckley Visitor Centre and tour are getting better all the time after what seemed to be a rather poor period when all the ‘offshoring’ seemed to be reaching a point where the factory was little more than a glorified office and warehouse with some technical functionality. I exaggerate - slightly - for comedic effect.
I went on one of the very first factory tours in, I think, early 1992. In those early days it seemed to be a “thank you very much” or “this should convince you” gig for people that had bought or were hoping to buy a new bike, and was managed by the factory through the dealerships. I went on my Trident 900 (which I still have) with a group from BRIDGE in Exeter and I think there were 7 of us including two BRIDGE salesmen. We were met in the foyer of the then new factory; shown into the boardroom and served with coffee and biscuits whilst awaiting the arrival of Bruno TAGLIAFERRI - THE MAN. He was brilliant - friendly, knowledgeable, honest and open about the whole venture. Most of all though he radiated confidence about TRIUMPH the factory, the brand, its past, present and most importantly the future. His influence and service (almost 30 years) to Triumph must, IMHO, have been a huge factor in the success of the brand. We had a great question and answer session with him and a briefing on what we could expect from the tour and were then shown around almost the whole factory (two “finishing” areas were off limits to the public because of the ‘secret’ nature of what was being done and H&S). We were allowed to speak to the line/machine operators where it was possible to do so, though nobody wanted to have their work or our progress through the tour seriously disrupted. The highlight, for me, was the hand pinstripers - just amazing!
I know things have changed with the tour but the idea of a forum meet up - official or otherwise - at the factory sounds like a great idea and, weather dependant, I’d certainly try to get there for a tour/meeting. Long way on a Mk. 1 Speedy, mind!
On the subject of the National Motorcycle Museum I would urge anybody - EVERYBODY - with any interest in the history of motorcycling in Britain to visit the museum. The museum is, fundamentally, the result of one man’s passion for British motorcycles and was, I think, initially built out of the personal funds of a Midlands business man, Roy RICHARDS and, as such, was privately owned. I think it now has a Trust status.
I remember in the early days of the museum - the mid ‘80s, I think - you could become a museum ‘supporter’ via an annual subscription with the paid option of having “bought” one of the building’s bricks which would have your name on it! I had two - not greed, one was for a very close, American friend who shared RICHARDS’ passion for Nortons and who has been with me to the museum a few times on his various trips to the UK. Unfortunately, all of that changed in the fateful night in September 2003 when the museum was gutted by fire, deemed to be caused by a carelessly discarded lit cigarette. A number of unique exhibits were destroyed and most of the bulding was gutted or damaged by the fire and/or the water used to fight it. That was devastating with many unique and irreplaceable exhibits being completely destroyed and many more being extensively damaged.
There were, of course, many appeals made for funds to rebuild and replace the building and the exhibits that were lost, and the rebuilt museum re-opened less than 2 years later. It continues to this day to be the only motorcycle museum in this country and possibly the world that is dedicated to the products, past and present, of the British motorcycle industry. JEEZ, sounding a bit advertorial here - for which, my apologies. But I am a passionate supporter and lover of the place and have been a paid -up “Friend of the Museum” since the scheme was introduced. Well worth it, IMHO, and, even if you don’t use the full value of your annual subscription, the funds are used to support and maintain a first class and unique enterprise that has, I believe, a meaning to most of us.
Any road up, meduck, enough already - I don’t want to completely hijack this thread with a BOF’s fading memories of “them good ol’ days”. A return to a present day HINCKLEY tour and a possible meet with other forum members would be a really worthwhile day (or two) out … assuming the forecast is dry!
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+1 the comments about Bruno, similar experience possibly a year or two after you, the man left an impression.
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