Sports Cycle

The Four Stroke : Inline Triple Engine !

Eventually, the British responded to the Japanese invasion and introduced a new engine design, the inline triple. In many respects, this was just a Speed Twin with an extra cylinder grafted on, but it featured some unique characteristics, notably its compactness. British twins gained their reputation for being fine-handling motorcycles in large part because their compact engines allowed designers to tuck everything in, leaving very few hard parts to scrape the pavement during high-speed antics. With the triples, designers went to great lengths to retain that compactness.

An inline triple is an engine with three cylinders placed in a row.

Although promising, these bikes had too many problems to save the British motorcycle industry. Anyone who wants to learn how not to conduct business would do well to study the development of the Triumph Trident and BSA Rocket 3. A design firm with no experience in motorcycles was hired to style the bikes, resulting in bizarre-looking machines. Mechanically, the new bikes also failed. Although the engines were powerful, they proved unreliable in service, victims of underdevelopment.

After the styling of the new bikes was universally rejected by motorcycle buyers, Triumph redesigned the Trident (BSA had gone out of business by that time) and gradually worked out the mechanical bugs, but it was a waste of time. By then, Honda had already introduced its CB750 four-cylinder bike, and in doing so, effectively stripped the British of any influence in the motorcycle market.