Collection of Guenther Wuest In 1883 Siegfried Bettmann moved to Coventry, England from Nuremberg, Germany. Bettmann starts an import-export company. He imports German sewing machines and also sells bicycles badged with the name “Bettmann.” Bettmann changes the name of his company to New Triumph Co. Ltd. (Later it will be changed again to Triumph Cycle Co. Ltd.) His principal investor is John Dunlop, a Scottish veterinarian who, albeit briefly, holds the patent for the pneumatic tire. Nice idea, too bad he didn’t really have it first! (Another Scot, R. W. Thompson, was the real inventor.) In any case, Dunlop is the first to successfully commercialize the invention. A German engineer, Mauritz Schulte, joins Triumph. He convinces Bettmann that Triumph should design and produce its own products. Triumph is a privately-owned British company with over 100 years of history. Triumph has always had its own distinctive character and a history of creating bikes that become design classics since they first came to market in the 1900s. Like the rest of the British motorcycle industry, Triumph went out of business by the 1980s. But the brand was resurrected in the 1990’s by British industrialist John Bloor who has built a lineup of cutting-edge sportbikes to nostalgia-themed throwbacks. Triumph introduced a number of new models for the 1927 season, including a two valve sports machine to replace the 'Ricardo' and a sporting version of the model P, typed the 'Q', for those seeking less glamorous transport there was a new single cylinder side valve lightweight, the W. This machine is most notable for its unusual displacement of 277cc, adopted to maximize the engine size whilst remaining in the sub 220lbs tax bracket.

Schwalbe Marathon Plus after over 3,500 miles on a rear wheel, ridden daily on nail and glass infested streets. Cross section reveals just why nearly nothing (even a big nail embedded through the sidewall) can puncture this bad, heavy mofo.