Triumph: The Legend

Motorcycle gas tanks have borne the legend "Triumph' almost every year from 1902 to the present. No other bike is so archetypically British, few have endured so many ups-and-downs, and certainly none has entered the modern era in a state of such vibrant optimism.

Triumph - The Legend traces the events of nearly a century of motorcycle history, from the earliest days in Much Park Street, Coventry, to the high-tech plant that is Triumph's modern factory in Hinckley, Leicestershire.

From the first puny single with a bought-in Belgian engine, through Maurice Schulte's first all-Triumph engines, carly TT successes, the advanced four-valve Ricardo model of the Twenties to the ground-breaking Speed Twin and its many derivatives. Along the way we witness upheavals, trade slumps and takeovers, factory sit-ins and government bail-outs, utter despair and glorious re-birth.

The Legend may not be the smoothest ride in motorcycling, but it is an excellent tale.