The Revival of The British Legacy

Norton continued supplying parts, and BSA and Triumph had a few attempts at a new start, but it has been in the last 10 years that the British marquees have found legitimate niches, largely based on nostalgia, but ultimately unique in each brand. Triumph, of course, has made the most successful comeback with not only the return of the namesake, but with great performance achievements. Triumph, I would say, invented the hooligan class with the Speed Triple and reinvented the Power Cruiser class with the Rocket III. Norton seems to be appealing to a diehard fan base with a design that stylistically deviates very little from the most famous Norton bikes of the past. Vincent is coming back with a retro design but a very sleek and chic presentation. Royal Enfield mass produces motorcycles in India that, until recently, looked nothing like the Enfields of the past. Instead, they were marketed to the overpopulated streets of India where small horsepower motorcycles are a mainstay of transportation. They have recently come out with models to market to the Western world, but they are only about 500 cc. Finally, we come to the BSA. The BSA has an interesting approach at this stage in the game. They custom build a motorcycle to your liking. The bikes are generally sold one at a time from the small factory instead of through large distribution channels.

It is an exciting time in the British motorcycle market. We all hope that the factories are being calculated in their strategies and efficient in the execution. Indian Motorcycles went bankrupt just as they finished development of their beautiful new motor. We want to see all these companies make it and continue to advance the cause we are all so passionate about.

Visit our weblinks page and look for the Factories section where you'll find the websites for all the revival factories of the British motorcycle makers. By the way, have you figured out what bike is featured above? It's the new Vincent Black Shadow. Enjoy!