The Complete Book of Classic and Modern Triumph Motorcycles

256 pages hard cover ISBN: 978-0-7603-4545-0 RRP: $75.00 Published by Motorbooks Available from Pitstop (1800 622422) www.pitstop.net.au With more than 35 motorcycle books to his credit, New Zealand-born Melbourne resident Ian Falloon certainly knows his subject, although this is his first on a British marque. This latest effort is a large format, coffee table style book that is adorned with excellent photographs; many Melbourne identities, in both the private and commercial sectors, provided motorcycles for the camera. It would be hard to break new ground on the subject of Triumph’s history, and this book does not delve into the pre-1937 era to any great extent, but what the author refers to as the “classic and modern” scene is all in here, beginning with the ground-breaking Speed Twin of 1937 and running right up to the present day bikes, the so-called Hinkley Triumphs. One day these machines will be considered classics too, and a future generation of restorers will benefit from the book’s year-by-year changes to individual models in terms of paint and specification. Dotted throughout the book are pieces on notable Triumph owners and personalities, including the Speed twin’s designer Edward Turner, Marlon Brando and his infamous steed from The Wild One, haunted thespian James Dean, who bought a new T110, and soon after, a new TR5 Trophy in 1954, and inevitably, Steve McQueen as both an enthusiast and a serious competitor in off-road events.