The Bite Magazine - Spring/Summer 2022 - Issue 31

A fter moving to England from Germany in 1885, Siegfried Bettmann imported bicycles from Europe and sold them under the name of S. Bettmann & Co. The following year, he changed the name to Triumph, followed by Triumph Cycle Company in 1897. Alongside his business partner, fellow German Moritz Schulte, they produced a range of bicycles from their new headquarters in Coventry, England. Incidentally, they also sold sewing machines before concentrating solely on bicycles, motorcycles and cars. Bettmann and Schulte made their first motorcy- cle, Triumph No. 1, in 1902 which had a 2.2 Minerva engine purchased from another company. Following the success of their first invention, the two men began producing their engines. During the First World War, Triumph Cycle Company were contracted to supply Type H ‘Trusty’ 499 cc motorcycles to the Allied military service in 1915. Out of the 57,000 air-cooled single-cyl- inder motorcycles, it is believed that only 30,000 saw active service during the war. In 1921, Triumph entered the car industry by acquiring Dawson Car Company. Its first production was the 1.4- litre Triumph 10/20 designed by Lea-Francis, a British motor manufacturing company that also began its incep- tion by building bicycles. Triumph changed its name again in 1930, this time to Triumph Motor Company after they started making cars, in addition to motorcycles. The last car they produced was the Triumph Acclaim in 1981 before it was replaced by the Rover 200. Again, Triumph was called upon to manufacture military motorcycles during the Second World War producing around 50,000. Its Priory Street factory was destroyed in the Coventry blitz in 1940, so they used temporary prem- ises in Warwick until the new plant in Meriden opened in 1942. Eighteen years later, Triumph was acquired by Leyland Motors which then merged with British Motor Holdings in 1968 to create the British Leyland Motor Corporation. With the demise of Triumph Engineering, previously Triumph Motor Company, in the early 1980s, the company was acquired by John Bloor in 1983 who renamed it Triumph Motorcycles Ltd. In 1995, they launched a motorcycle clothing range and in 2010, became leaders in the cruiser market following the launch of its first 1600 cc parallel-Twin belt-driven bike. Two years later, Triumph celebrated its 110th anniver- sary by releasing the 1215 cc Tiger Explorer and Tiger Trophy adventure bikes. Today, luxury Swiss watchmakers Breitling celebrates its Top Time watches and Triumph’s Speed Twin motor- cycle in a collaboration inspired by 1960s café-racer culture. It is said in the mid-1960s when auto racing was having its heyday, a whole subculture had sprung up around ‘café racers’, and stylish motorcycles were used to transport their riders from hip café to hip café. Breitling founder Willy Breitling set to capture the speed- driven style of the day with a completely new take on the timekeeper. Top Time, an unconventional chronograph, quickly became the watch choice for a sporty in-crowd of men and women equally drawn to the watch’s bold propor- tions. Breitling’s 41 mm Top Time Triumph watch has a distinctive brushed finish in the bow-tie motif nick- named ‘the Zorro dial’. Triumph is also launching 270 co-branded motorcycles - the Speed Twin Breitling Limited Edition - whose buyers can purchase a special owner’s version of the Top Time Triumph with a sunray dial and engraved casebook featuring the individual number of the bike. The Speed Twin Breitling Limited Edition’s colour scheme complements the dial of the Top Time chron- ograph and is inspired by the Triumph immortalised in the legendary 1953 biker movie The Wild One. Its high- er-specification, fully adjustable Öhlins piggyback twin rear suspension units combine all the latest generation Speed Twin performance, capability and technology for the greatest Speed Twin ride ever. It has a billet-ma- chined aluminium clutch and alternator embellishers bitewatches