Triumph takes on the giants

By JOHN HUTCHINSON

Motorcycle manufacturer Triumph is moving up a gear in an effort to capture a significant share of the international market's most competitive sector - ultra high-performance 600cc road machines.

The British company's bid for the supersports market underlines its ambition to establish itself as a major quantity manufacturer of desirable, high-quality motorcycles.

Its expertise will be put to the test as it sets out to ensure its new TT600 bike matches and surpasses the top sports models produced by the Japanese giants, Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki and Yamaha.

Until now the 600cc sports sector of the world market has been dominated by the four Japanese companies, which have enormous technical knowhow and facilities.

Engineers at Triumph's Hinckley headquarters are convinced their latest creation is a winner.

Unlike all other Triumphs, the TT600 uses an entirely new engine, neither adapted nor developed from other models in the range.

The result is a very high specific power-output motor designed to spin at up to 13,500 revolutions a minute and develop about 80kw, giving the machine a top speed of about 270 km/h.

Triumph also uses fuel injection rather than carburettors on the new machine, an industry "first" in this sector and a development that Triumph's Japanese rivals are certain to study.

The fuel system, developed by Birmingham-based specialist Sagem, uses an electronic control module to draw information from sensors positioned around the engine and in its cooling and air-intake systems.

The unit calculates precisely the degree of ignition advance and fuelling requirements for all engine speeds and loads.

This system carries diagnostic functions similar to those required by California to ensure that any malfunction in the system is logged, along with engine data, from the moment the fault occurred.

This stored data can then be retrieved by a Triumph dealer, ensuring any engine fault is quickly diagnosed and fixed.

Advanced engineering has also focused on the machine's air-intake system, which includes a large 8.5-litre "air box" with expansion chambers in the intake ducts to ensure the engine is fed just the right amount of air for all conditions.

Twin-intake mouths beneath the TT600's headlamp draw in dense, cold air at speed, improving cylinder efficiency and increasing power.

The new lightweight pistons, each with a mass of 145g, carry a coating of pure tin, which acts as a lubricant during the running-in phase.

Triumph also uses a new plasma-nitride process to harden engine crankshafts. Crankcases are fabricated using a high-pressure die-cast system, the first time this technique has been used on a Triumph engine.

The TT600's crankcase and external covers are designed to minimise noise, and the crank primary drive gear is shaved rather than machined for reduced noise.

Engineers have worked the weight of the new bike down to 170kg. The new twin-spar aluminium frame and rear subframe weighs just 12.6kg, and has been built in cast and extruded aluminium to ensure long-term strength and integrity.

Even the drive-chain sprocket on the rear wheel was redesigned to make it 200g lighter than previous Triumph sprockets. Its cast aluminium wheels, too, are among the lightest on the market.

The company says the aluminium top and bottom fork yokes and steering stem also reduce the TT600's steered mass, providing excellent steering response and feedback to the rider.

If Triumph's bold move pays off, the company will have justified its investment in the machine, which includes a bigger production plant to expand overall output from 19000 bikes a year to 50,000.

Success for the TT600 will also elevate the new Triumph operation close to the position its British predecessor enjoyed four decades ago, at the technical and commercial forefront of the world's motorcycle industry.

Triumph expects to build about 4000 TT600s this year. Already, advance orders account for much of the first year's production.