TRIUMPH ROCKET THREE

[HIKO]

Hi Hi

Did you believe that the (thai made!!??) Triumph Rocket Three has a new and unique engine design offering an inline three cylinder engine. Forget some others did it a long time ago.

Sunbeam had a bike with a quite reliable inline two cylinder OHC engine with shaft drive already in the early 1950’s Pls also observe the Fatboy like front end with a mighty front wheel and the beautifully designed exhaust pipes. One cylinder more and a little bigger pistons and there you have the Rocket Three. The picture is from Rask Mc USA homepage.I once had a Sunbeam but no pictures left.

But there where other before Sunbeam. The Danish Nimbus made it even better than Triumph offering a 4 cylinder inline engine with overhead cam and valves. The valves and valve springs were visible and not covered and the lubrication was done manually. Maybe that was one of the reason for the very high oil consumption.

I was living in south Sweden next to Denmark in the 1950-1960’s and I still remember that the Danish Post Office used Nimbus sidecar machines for the daily post delivery.

Here in Pattaya is one Nimbus in traffic. Mostly you can see it close to Café Copenhagen in Soi Denmark. Go and have a look.

Nimbus 1934 - The Motorcycle that was called Gleaming Beams.

Background and history:

The Nimbus motorcycle was built by Fisker & Nielsen in Copenhagen between 1934 and 1960. F&N was mostly known for their excellent vacuum cleaener, Nilfisk, but they also built motorcycles. The telescopic front fork was invented by F&N and the Nimbus Model C was the first bike in history that was equipped with one. There are different oppinions about this though and the glory could actually be BMW's. The latter at least introduced the oil damped telescopic front fork for sure though. Regardless, today the telescopic fork is the rule of all motorcycles. A total of 12.000 machines were built and 4.000 of these are still on their wheels all over the world. Most of them are, of course, in Denmark though where many clubs and smaller firms are keeping the machines alive. Nimbus (latin for the Gleam of Beams or Halo) was used by everybody and you can encounter a wide range of special purpose machines (like the Animal Ambulance or the Anti Tank motorcycle with a 20mm automatic cannon mounted on a sidecar frame). Nimbus - The Motorcycle of Denmark, is loved by its owners and soon received the affectionate nickname 'The Bumblebee' for its cosy but rather discrete rumbling and humming engine sound.

Engine:
• Longitudinal in line four cylinder of 750 cc.
• Hemispherical combustion chambers.
• Overhead valves with a single overhead camshaft.
• Battery ignition system (6 Volts, 70 Watts)videos/eindex.htm
• 22/18 hp/4500 rpm with high/low compression pistons.
• Continous cruising speed: 90kmh.
• TEMPORARY maximum speed: 120 kmh (failure of cylinder 3 by overheating).
• Comfortable cruising speed: 80kmh

Transmission:
• 3 speed gearbox (originally stick shift and foot clutch)
• Gears cut straight (hence the 'howling' when engaged). Newer models can have angularly cut gears though.
• Shaft drive to the final gear in the rear wheel.

Measures:
• Total weight, empty tank but with a passenger seat: 185kg
• Tank capacity: 12.5 lit with 1 lit as spare
• Fuel consumption: 20 km/lit (50mpg)
• Sump capacity: 2 lit.
• Oil consumption approx 1000km/lit (1 quart/600 miles).
• Length: 2200 mm
• Width: 770 mm
• Height: 1100 mm

This page is dedicated to the Nimbus with the frame number 1312. 1312 indicates that it was the 12:th of all the Bumblebees ever built.
The motorcycle was owned by Test Master A. Rasmussen from F&N and it is possible that some of the Nimbus development work was done on this very machine.

This story is from Swedish Lars Persons, the owner of the 1312, homepage. Tackar sa mycket.!

HIKO

Ps. I know that many other also had inline fours before Nimbus, Henderson, ACE, Indian and Harley just to mention a few. When I have time I will surf the net to find more information and up date this story.

 

[H2oDunc]

Hiko there are a couple of Triumph factories in Thailand but they only make parts for the bikes. These are then shipped to the UK factory for assembley. There was talk of building bikes here in the future but as yet there are no firm plans. Some nice photos of the old bikes. Having had my rocket now for nearly a month I find the engine, well the whole bike really, awesome. The torque and power is amazing. The wife and I gave her a run down to Hat Yai for the Ride for peace bike weekend and she behaved beautifully.2 up with a load of luggage she sat at 130-140kph at just over 3000rpm and good fuel economy. Well impressed. Now just planning a round Thailand tour for next month, Can't wait. Stay upright Dunc[8D]

 

[HIKO]

H20

Britain rules and I don't want to ruin Your life but according to my information Triumphs are assembled in Chonburi. When they opened the second factory in 2006 that factory had an assembly line. According to the factory manager a third factory is planned and according to job application ads already 600 people are employed in Thailand of a total for the whole concern of about 1000 people (last figure not up to date). I am told that the Retro models already comes out from the Chonburi factory and soon or maybe already the Rocket Three will also come from there.

If you looked at the frame numbers of the bikes that Britbikes had when they started all the retrobikes where from Chonburi on loan and all where missing frame numbers. Only the Rocket Three had a frame number and from the VIN code you could see that is was made at Hinckley UK.

But this is nothing bad. Actually having visited the old Triumph factory in 1970 and Honda Thai factories in the 1990's I think that a 6000 Baht a month Thai worker does a better job on the assembly line than an English lazy cigarette smoking strike frequent assembly line worker with ??? Pound salary....(hopefully no hardline English Union Worker reads this!!)

Another job post for Triumph is how they can deal with the "image" problem Made in England is from an image point not the same as Made in Thailand. Actually it is quite amusing to see how Triumph is "hiding" their Thai "roots". On their oficial homepage Thailand is only mentioned as a place where they have an office, not a word about two factories with over half of their work force...Britain rules....

You can also see other "signs" of hiding. Some badgets on the engine where there used to say "Made in England" or "Made in Britain" now only have a Britain or England word after the Triumph logo...Britain rules...

I also got very interested, when seeing that the bikes exhibited at Britbikes did not have a frame number yet. Is it really so that Triumph Thai send the bikes to Hinckley and they make the frame numbers there. If so will the VIN code say that it is made in Ebgland at the Hinckley Factory or in Thailand at the Chonburi factory?? Hopefully somebody at Triumph reads this and gives a good explanation. Britain rules...

Just to give an idea about the outrage of the Triumph users read the RAT (Triumph owners homepage) who saw from the news papers that Prince Andrew opened up the Triumph's newest factory in Chonburi."Now I can buy a Honda as well" "I bought a Triumph because I thought it was british made" etc. Triumph factory did not comment on the new factory on their home page....Britain rules....

According to my Info and by looking at Job ads the first factory in Chonburi did frames, swing arms, wheels and exhaust systems for Triumph and the new factory assembles bikes, do chrome coating on engine parts, paints the bikes, do machining on engine parts ( I don't know where the parts are casted)

Some day when I get motivated I will dig further in this subject to find out the truth about "made in England" not because I care and I am quite convinced that Harley is even more "far East made" than Triumph but don't tell that to a Harley owner

HIKO

"PROUD OWNER OF A US MADE HONDA VALKYRIE" let it be that all the workers at the Ohio factory are Mexican.... That is GLOBALISATION

 

[JohhnyE]

Hiko - I've been riding Triumphs since 1969 and while never had a Hinkley Triumph I agree with everything you said. I even have a "brand new" 1981 Bonneville Royal Wedding Special sitting in my garage in Thailand.
I believe it's common knowledge that any part or complete bike made in Chonburi is better than the same "Made In England". It does present a dilemma for Triumph and how they deal with increasing production in Thailand will be interesting.
However your comment about the lazy workers in England may be true but let me tell you, dealing with 650 Thai workers every day as I do, presents it's own unique and at the very least equally significant if not different problems. After11 years dealing with that I'm not sure which I'd prefer.which I'd prefer!
Tne factory I manage

 

[HIKO]

HI JOHHNY,

Thank you for the nice feedback. My Triumph experience is 2 years older. My first Triumph was a TT100 1963, the first model without a car style ignition on top of the engine. The bike was very bad from he start and I destroyed the rest by buying a Daytona kit for it. Many horsepowers but mostly in the garage waiting for new spare parts... My next try was a brand new Triumph Trophy.It was delivered with Yamaha YDS-3 mufflers due to our crazy noise regulations in Finland at that time and you can imagine the horse power loss with those 2 strokers mufflers. Ok I modified it with Paul Dunstall mufflers ( is Paul still alive?). two Amal carb manifold, alu front fender, some crazy brake cooling rims around the front hub, an air intake for the front brake (with the only result that when raining the brake didn't work), a beautiful Paul Dunstall glass fibre tank (causing daily carburator cleanings from glass fibre shit) clippons (causing a very painful driving site) a racingstyle glass fibre saddle (causing a soar arse after just sitting down and a wet arse after any rain) and many many other fantastic accessories which you thought and believed were very good...But maybe today I can confess that it was all rubbish. Common for all was that starting from the bike everything was "Made in England" The next Triumph experience I rememeber was the sand storm washed Saudi Triumphs that ended up in Finland after 10 years in the dessert unpacked.

OK I confess that I was a little naughty by purpose when examining the labour force in England. Anyhow when I visited the factory in England in 1970 the workers were smoking while working and had plenty of time to chat with us but at the Thai Honda factories in the 1990's the style was different.

I can anyhow understand that managing 650 Thais on a daily basis must be awfull. I Think I have problems allready with my Thai Wife and daughter... OK just a joke. Anyhow I think that you can use a much more authoritan management style here than in Europe. Here a boss is a boss in Scandinavia where I used to work a boss was somebody who you negotiated with until it was to late to do the work.... But I know that other problems can appear when dealing with Thais.

HIKO

 

[mikerust]

Hiko,

A friend of mine way back when had a Sunbeam and still has it somewhere. We could never afford or find the correct rear ballon-like tire so we used to use a car tyre.[:0]

One day while going home for lunch my friend was approaching the crossroads in the middle of the village. Stopped at the crossroads was another friend in his company's Morris 100 van. Thinking to scare my friend, who had the right-of-way, the van driver feigned a pullout into the junction, miss judged it resulting in the bike hitting the van jsut behind the passenger's door. The bike rider sailed over the top of the van and landed bruised but unhurt on the road.

For those who don't know the Sunbeam is a "substantial" motorbike.
So the damage report is as follows. Bike had a dented front mudguard and headlight surround, the van had a large dent, a bent chassis and the engine pushed into the radiator.

 

[monsterman]

Bonneville models are assembled in Chonburi and some Rocket 3 s I have been in there and seen the production line,

I like the rocket 3 but for me it is too big and heavy I would buy the speed triple if I did not have the Ducati.

 

[tropicaljohno]

For all you Triumph enthusiasts, below are 2 adverts in our local paper, Phuket Gazette, you can read adverts online.

Headline ? TRIUMPH TROPHY 900 1998
Posted?Friday, March 16, 2007
By?Big Twin Phuket
Email?Click here to contact the Advertiser
Location?Phuket City
Mobile Phone:???????????? 081-979 5680?
Message ?Stunning condition, in metallic blue, only 1,900km from new, the Bike has been showing in a private museum in Bangkok. Just serviced by Triumph it is as new and must been seen. Only 425,000 baht. Call K. Santi on???????????? 081-9795680 , Big Twin Phuket. ?
?
?
?
?
?
Headline ? 1957 TRIUMPH THUNDERBIRD
Posted?Wednesday, July 04, 2007
By?Suchart
Email?Click here to contact the Advertiser
Message ?Excellent condition - newly painted and overhauled the engine. Please contact me for further details. ?
?

 

[Klaus]

When I first heard of a 2.3L inline three Triumph I thought: "What have those boys been smoking?" Who would like to ride a 750 pound tractor with a car engine on two wheels?
But I just finished reading the first test at www.motorcycle-usa.com and it seems like they did pull it off to build an extremely strong cruiser that's easier to handle than it looks and even gives a sportbike a run for its money. And they were just a couple of steps ahead in the 'cc race'; the Japanese seem to outdo themselves there with 1400, 1600, 1800 and 2000cc. Suddenly a 3-cylinder 2.3L cruiser makes sense, but only if the whole package works. And it seems it does. . .
Some people ride a Boss Hoss with a 5.7L V8. . .

 

[JohhnyE]

Hiko - having lived my youth on British Bikes I can say one thing - I would never want to remember those days of riding when I compare with the bikes of today.
I once rode one of my Bonnevilles 3,000km in 4 days - lucky I was only 25 or so. It would kill me today. For me now everything new and modern IS BETTER than it was in the 1970's whether that's bikes,cars,TV's any consumer item and while I still have my 1981 Bonneville here in Thailand I wouldn't ride it more than 80k's or so. Those who still drool over restorations and restoring old bikes or cars are dinosaurs IMHO. Modern is king.

 

[Klaus]

I agree, Johnny. It's one thing to drool over a beautiful old Norton Commando or a '65 Mustang or some such, but owning, restoring and keeping one running is quite a different story. But I'm glad others do it otherwise there wouldn't be any to gawk at . . .
It's ironic that just around the turn of the century, when we were entering the 21st century, the "nostalgia-boom" broke out with old/new VW Beetles, Mini Cooper aso - a big success, old styling, new technology.

 

[monsterman]

I have owned 2 Hinckley triumphs a 1992 900 trident and a 1997 900 Thunderbird both were triple and excellent machines if a little top heavy.
Last year i also tuned a 2001 Bonneville for a friend it has a great engine but and we managed to increase HP from 58bhp standard to 74hp but the chassis and brakes needed improving we fitted progressive fork springs and IKON shocks and upgraded the front brake to a 4pot unit. a great bike now.

 

[JohhnyE]

Monsterman - how are you measuring HP in Thailand? I believe you are in Pattaya?
As far as I know there are no Dyno's in Thailand for bikes!

 

[HIKO]

Monsterman are you sure you put IKON shocks or was KONI shocks???? HEHE

Anyhow I have seen a Dyno at Red Baron in Bangkok but I never see them use it,Motozone/ Xtreme bike advertise that they have one and last year there was a long running ad of one Dyno for sale here in Pattaya. I don't know where it ended up. I also think that on this site there was a topic about Dynos in CM not so long ago.

HIKO

 

[monsterman]

The bonnie I worked on was in Brighton , Sussex UK , we Dyno tested it at Sussex rolling road and fasttech.

There are 2 Dyno's in Pattaya but one is for private use only and belongs to Castrol labs. the other is owned by Ron Anero of Jammer and is a mobile unit but I have not seen it for a year or so.That may be the one HIKO saw for sale.