British Industry!

For my sins I love motorbikes. You cannot beat the freedom or excitement of flying through the countryside at speed feeling at one with your sportsbike, or weaving through stationary motorway traffic chuckling at the fuming motorists stuck on the M3 near Lightwater. But deciding to buy one's dream machine is a not so simple. Should it be Yamaha, Suzuki, Kawasaki, Honda or maybe the exotic such as Ducati?

The answer is no. No No NO! And why not? Well I like to be different, and, more importantly, being British, I want to support British Industry - namely that marvelous firm, Triumph. Triumph I hear you cry? Didn't they go bust in the 80's? Well yes they did - primarily because they were too slow to cotton on to what motorcyclists wanted - high revving machines, not slow ponderous bikes, and so sadly, despite their best efforts, Triumph went under.....to be resurrected by a saint! John Bloor of Bloor Homes bought the name and set about producing modern motorcycles as well as the traditional bikes such as the Bonneville (without oil leaks). Since then, Triumph have gone from strength to strength producing Class beating motorbikes. The Triumph Sprint was voted the best Sports Tourer. The Speed Triple the best naked motorcyle, and the Daytona 675 the best 600 Sportsbike. And all this from a small British company that has a fraction of the R&D budgets of it's Japanese competitors.

Which brings me neatly to my motorbikes. The first (not a class beater) was the TT600. It did however have a revised engine (done by Triumph to dismiss critism of it's mid-range). This was my first bike, bought 3 days before I took my test in 2001. Fortunately I passed and remember the day I picked it up! It was awesome. Being a good boy I ran it is according to Triumph's (onerous) running in procedure. I also remember the day I clocked 1000 miles and

wound the bike up to it's full potential! Wow did I grin! 2 years later, I decided to move to something bigger, and went back to Fowler's in Bristol to buy another bike. The Daytona 955i. A thousand CC rocket which although heavier than my beloved TT600, had far more torque and did me proud for 2 years (including some awesome dual carriage way work at high speed)! However in 2005, Bike magazine published an article on the development of a new 600cc Class bike. I drooled. My palms got itchy. And all for a bike that would not be available until 2006. My feet took me to Fowlers yet again, and a small deposit changed hands. In March 2006 I took delivery of a class beating bike. The Daytona 675, and what a fantastic bike it is.....but there are now rumours of a new 1000cc bike.....I am getting itchy again! I can see a fourth visit to Fowlers - I hope they give me a decent discount for repeat business!