Triumph (TWN)
Encyclopedia
Siegfried Bettmann
Siegfried Bettmann was a bicycle, motorcycle and car manufacturer and initiator of the Triumph Motorcycle Company. In 1914 he established the Annie Bettmann Foundation to help young people start businesses Triumph became one of the most famous motorcycle trade-names of the world.-Early life:Born in...
founded the Triumph bicycle
Triumph Cycle
Triumph Cycle Co. Ltd., based in Nottingham, England, was a bicycle manufacturing company.-History:The genesis of what would become Triumph Cycle Company began during 1884 when Siegfried Bettmann emigrated to Coventry in England from Nuremberg, part of the German Empire. In 1885, aged 20 years,...
factory in Coventry
Coventry
Coventry is a city and metropolitan borough in the county of West Midlands in England. Coventry is the 9th largest city in England and the 11th largest in the United Kingdom. It is also the second largest city in the English Midlands, after Birmingham, with a population of 300,848, although...
, England, and in 1896 he founded a second bicycle factory in his native Nuremberg
Nuremberg
Nuremberg[p] is a city in the German state of Bavaria, in the administrative region of Middle Franconia. Situated on the Pegnitz river and the Rhine–Main–Danube Canal, it is located about north of Munich and is Franconia's largest city. The population is 505,664...
, Germany, under the same Triumph name. Both factories branched out into making motorcycles: the Coventry factory in 1902 and the Nuremberg factory in 1903.
In its early decades the Nuremberg factory produced models with the same 499 cc and 545 cc four-stroke engines as its sister plant in Coventry.
Confusion between motorcycles produced by the Coventry and Nuremberg Triumph companies led to the latter's products being renamed "Orial" for certain export markets. However in the 1920's there was already an Orial motorcycle maker in Lyon
Lyon
Lyon , is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at from Paris, from Marseille, from Geneva, from Turin, and from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais....
, France, so the Nuremberg motorcycles were renamed again as "TWN", standing for Triumph Werke Nürnberg.
After 1929 the English and German factories diverged, with the Nuremberg works making motorcycles with 248 cc and 269 cc two-stroke engines. After the Second World War Triumph made successful models including the 200 cc Cornet split single two-stroke and the twin cylinder 350 cc Boss. A split single has two cylinders but only one combustion chamber and spark plug. Triumph/TWN's production of split singles began with the BD250 in 1939 designed by Otto Rieze.
In 1956 Max Grundig
Max Grundig
Max Grundig was the founder of electronics company Grundig AG. He was raised by his parents in Nuernberg where he delayed his final school exams and completed training as an electrician. In 1930 he and a colleague opened a store selling radios under the name Fuerth, Grundig & Wurzer , generating...
took over the Nuremberg company, merged it with his Adler
Adler (automobile)
Adler was a German automobile and motorcycle manufacturer from 1900 until 1957. Adler is German for eagle.-History:The Adler factory produced bicycles, typewriters, and motorcycles in addition to cars...
motorcycle and typewriter
Typewriter
A typewriter is a mechanical or electromechanical device with keys that, when pressed, cause characters to be printed on a medium, usually paper. Typically one character is printed per keypress, and the machine prints the characters by making ink impressions of type elements similar to the pieces...
business and terminated motorcycle production under the Triumph and TWN names.