Triumph 3½hp
World War I was a turning point in motorcycle development, forcing improvements in reliability and durability. But one machine had already proven itself up to the challenge...
Triumph is probably regarded as the most solidly British marque of all UK manufacturers – but in fact the company founders were German. Siegfried Bettmann started trading in 1885, dealing in sewing machines, before moving on to capitalise on the bicycle boom. He chose the ‘Triumph’ brand name because it was a word understood around Europe, providing international appeal.
In 1887 Bettmann was joined in partnership by a young countryman and engineer, Mauritz Schulte. They decided to begin manufacturing rather than simply retailing bicycles and in 1903 expanded into motorising their cycles, fitting engines bought-in from Minerva, Fafnir and later JAP. From 1905 Triumph began producing their own 300cc engines. Both valves were now mechanically operated and the crank ran on ball (rather than plain) bearings. The unit was fitted into a new frame with duplex front downtubes and, in an attempt to publicise the new model, celebrated motorcycle journalist Basil H Davies (aka ‘Ixion’) was persuaded to take one on a six-day, 200 miles per day test. The first attempt failed, with the frame breaking and rapid engine wear, but in a second attempt the bike managed to clock up nearly 1300 miles, so the test provided good publicity as well as highlighting design weaknesses.
Subsequent to the test, a new frame was designed, with the twin downtubes replaced by a single tube of larger diameter. One of the restricting factors on engine size and performance was road shocks transmitted through a completely unsprung chassis, and another 1905 improvement was Triumph’s own design of sprung front fork. Unusually,
this had a horizontal spring with the wheel pivoting back and forwards more than up and down, but it worked well enough to remain a trademark feature for the next 20 years. With these refinements, the 3hp Triumph became one of the most reliable machines on the road.
‘IT EARNED A REPUTATION THAT GREATLY ENHANCED THE ‘TRUSTY TRIUMPH’ IMAGE’
Rising to 450cc for 1906, Triumph’s success attracted the interest of cycling pioneer Harvey Du Cros, the man who made the money out of John Dunlop’s pneumatic tyre. Du Cros invested heavily in the company, which relocated to new premises in Priory Street, Coventry in 1907. That year also saw the first Isle of Man TT race, and while Rem Fowler’s Norton-peugeot is widely recalled as the first TT winner, there were twin and single-cylinder classes in the race – and the single class was won, at a faster speed than Fowler’s twin, by Jack Marshall on a 475cc Triumph.
There was further success in reliability tests. In June 1908, Arthur Bentley (whose brother WO made the cars) rode his Triumph from Land’s End to John O’groats – the legendary ‘End to End’ – in 41 hours, 28 minutes. In 1909, Ivan Hart Davies’ Triumph reduced the time to 33 hours, 29 minutes, returning the following year to smash his own record to a jaw-dropping 29 hours, 12 minutes.
1910 saw the Triumph reach a full 500cc and it was offered as a tourer with pedals, rear hub gears – a sturdier version of the three-speed bicycle type, including an internal clutch – or as a stripped TT model, pedal-free with singlespeed belt drive from crank to rear wheel. That year, Albert Catt attempted to cover 2000 miles in six days on his fivehundred. Although he only managed 1882.5, he had gamely picked November for his attempt , so as well as foul weather and miles of night riding, he had to endure two crashes and a big-end seizure – which he freed off and repaired at a local blacksmith’s – en route.
However modest these achievements may sound to 21st century ears, the Coventry machines gained enough satisfied owners to earn the nickname ‘Trusty Triumph’.
The reward came in late summer of 1914, when Captain CV Holbrook, at the Purchasing Branch of the War Office, submitted an order to Priory Street for 100 motorcycles to be shipped to France as soon as possible. These were the first of what would add up to over 30,000 of Triumph’s Model H 550cc to claw their way through the mud and shattered roads of an unprecedented human conflict.
Like so many of the world’s great successes, the H was nothing unusual – just a solidly-built 550cc version of Triumph’s successful engine, linked by chain to the new Sturmey-archer three-speed countershaft gearbox, with a pulley to drive the rear belt. This gearbox, with a conventional multiplate clutch, was more robust and easier to maintain than the previous hub gears – both essential requirements for war service – and the Model H earned a very high reputation that greatly enhanced the ‘Trusty Triumph’ image and benefitted sales in the coming peacetime.
That Triumph had spent the decade ahead of the game was later covertly recognised by the Sunbeam MCC, when a cut-off date was devised for the annual London to Brighton Pioneer Run. Entries had to be no newer than 1914 – and even 1914-built 1915 models are excluded. It’s said the reason was to cut the Model H out of the picture, because its practicality marked a new era in motorcycle development. That has to be some kind of compliment...