Description
Triumph 1914 4HP 550 cc type “C” Roadster 3 speed Sturmey Archer frame # 218743 engine # 30061 YTI
The first Triumph motorcycle appeared in 1902.
It was equipped with a Belgian Minerva engine.
In 1903 and 1904 JAP and German Fafnir engines were employed and by 1905 Triumph’s own engine, designed by Charles Hathaway, was in use. Winning the single cylinder class in the 1908 TT races on the Isle of Man gave an enormous boost to sales of Triumph machines.
The cubic capacity of the engine grew from 363 cc in 1905 till 550 cc in 1914.
High quality of finish and workmanship were always very strong points with Triumph; year by year details in the design were improved.
Some of the “ important improvements” ( as the company put it) listed in the 1914 catalogue were: 85×97 engine giving 550 cc, curved frame giving very low saddle position, semi-automatic drip feed lubrication and wider tank.
No less than seven models were catalogued: three Roadster models, three TT roadsters and a TT racer.
Impressive long distance records underlined the reliability of Triumphs: Harry Long rode a 1911 Triumph for 40,037 miles in 44 weeks; Ivan Hart-Davies set the End-to-end record of 886 miles in 29 hours and 12 minutes and Albert Catt rode his 1911 Free Engine model for six consecutive days to reach a distance of 2557 miles in May 1911, to name just a few remarkable feats.
The YTI code on the engine tells us that the assembly month was December 1913.
The Brown & Barlow carburettor is a correct fitting for 1914 Triumphs.
This !914 model, the last Triumph of the veteran era, is in largely unrestored condition.
In the seventies it had its moments of glory as a TV star in “Wings”, “Frenshaw’s People” and “Thomas and Sara”.