Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
All the NEWS proudly brought to<br />
you by HJC HELMETS<br />
Where it all began: Prototype Triumph from<br />
1901 unearthed<br />
A veteran collector has restored the first-ever Triumph<br />
to running order – and it’s a prototype which predates<br />
the company’s official first production bike by a year.<br />
It’s generally accepted that the first Triumph<br />
motorcycle – a bicycle with a small engine fitted –<br />
was made in 1902. But that first model was actually<br />
preceded by a prototype in 1901, which has now been<br />
found and faithfully restored by Triumph collector and<br />
aficionado Dick Shepherd.<br />
Triumph and Dick knew that the 1901 machine existed<br />
thanks to press shots of it from the time taken at<br />
bicycle shows but no one could pin down where it had<br />
ended up.<br />
“One of the tour guides at the Visitor Experience told<br />
me that someone had been in whose friend had died<br />
and that they had this 1901 bike,” Dick explained.<br />
“Obviously we were a bit sceptical about the bike but<br />
I contacted the guy and asked him a few questions<br />
about special little parts and he had the right answers<br />
to the questions I was asking.”<br />
Dick was suddenly very interested but as lockdown<br />
was in full swing and the bike was in Ireland,<br />
he couldn’t get to see it in person. He sent a<br />
representative in his place and confirmed that it was<br />
the right machine, so got his cheque book out and<br />
had it shipped back to the UK before getting to work<br />
on the restoration.<br />
As you would expect for a 121-year-old machine from<br />
the vanguard of motorcycling, the operation wasn’t<br />
always straightforward, even down to what fuel to put<br />
in.<br />
“We knew it wouldn’t run on modern petrol because<br />
it doesn’t vaporise enough,” continued Dick. “A friend<br />
of mine has an early Minerva engine push bike and he<br />
told me to try brake cleaner. I thought he was having<br />
a laugh but I tried it and it worked! It was running too<br />
hot to begin with, so we had to play around with the<br />
exhaust timing.<br />
“The other problem was the drive belt. A lot of early<br />
bikes used V-belts but the Triumphs used twisted cow<br />
gut. Obviously, we couldn’t use that today so I thought<br />
we’d use leather. We wrapped the leather around a<br />
neoprene tube and joined it with an aluminium double<br />
umbrella. We had to take a quarter of an inch out at a<br />
time as we tested until we got the right tension.”<br />
Getting the bike running was one thing but stopping<br />
again was quite another as the push-rod cantilever<br />
front brakes aren’t up to much.<br />
These were swapped out by the time the 1902 bikes<br />
hit the market, which is a good thing as the engine<br />
had also grown from the three-quarter horsepower<br />
unit in the 1901 to a one-and-a-quarter horsepower<br />
unit. Still, despite its age and somewhat timid power,<br />
it’s capable of a surprisingly brisk pace.<br />
“I had it down at Brooklands on the banked circuit,”<br />
added Dick, “and someone noticed I was going pretty<br />
quick. We’re pretty sure it’ll do 30mph.”<br />
How cool is that?
Change language