1991 TRIUMPH TROPHY 1200
I bet you can remember the first time you cast eyes upon the first models to emerge from the new Triumph factory in Hinckley. I also bet – cautiously – that I cannot imagine your reaction to them. And, assuming that this actually happened, I bet you can remember your first ride on one of those slightly strange machines. Speaking only for myself, as a chap should, I remember both occasions very well indeed.
Back in early 1991, I had arrived at my then publishers’ palatial premises in Outer Manchester. As was my way, I was aboard my Norton Commander, the fully-faired watercooled rotary which was my faithful twowheeled companion back then. Parked outside the repurposed laundry (that was the palatial premises) was a brand-new and somewhat squat machine, with the word Triumph adorning its large fuel tank, and with ‘Daytona’ emblazoned upon its slabby side panelling. I stared at it, walked around it, and stared some more. Raised my eyebrows a little, in a subtle way, and waddled off to the office. I was underwhelmed, really. The bike looked oddly underwhelming, and not at all comfortable.
Worse was to follow. A staffer on a modern bike magazine had the Daytona on loan from Triumph, and wondered in a not at all innocent way whether I would pen a Second Opinion box for his story. After all, I was the only person in the magazine world who was so sold
