I've read that scooters were hogging much of the commuter-bike market at the time when the Twenty-One (and the other enswaddled "bathtub"-style Triumphs: the T110 650 and the T100 mentioned in the ad) were released, and the enclosed bikes were meant to compete with them. Cleanliness; smooth lines; not having complex and quaint-looking, slightly forbidding mechanical doodads and subassemblies right out in the casual observer's face.
The ploy didn't work, because scooters were simply better at being scooters and enthusiasts liked looking at the aforementioned doodads. They wanted "proper" bikes, not bland pudgy half-scooters.
4 comments:
Why does that look odd?Samsonite suitcase comes to mind.
I've read that scooters were hogging much of the commuter-bike market at the time when the Twenty-One (and the other enswaddled "bathtub"-style Triumphs: the T110 650 and the T100 mentioned in the ad) were released, and the enclosed bikes were meant to compete with them. Cleanliness; smooth lines; not having complex and quaint-looking, slightly forbidding mechanical doodads and subassemblies right out in the casual observer's face.
The ploy didn't work, because scooters were simply better at being scooters and enthusiasts liked looking at the aforementioned doodads. They wanted "proper" bikes, not bland pudgy half-scooters.
There was everything a sense suitable for the English weather,
scooters can't do everything better.
I've added a link for an article in Motorcycle Classics on the Triumph Twenty one.
Post a Comment