The 1990 Trophy Design Concept - Character and Individualism

Triumph Motorcycles Limited presented their first range of machines at the Cologne Show in 1990. They had produced a succession of test machines and prototypes in the years before this to create a real-world-rider's machine. The Trophy 1200 was the ultimate expression of this philosophy at the time of the launch.

The main advertising image showed a machine in metallic Charcoal Grey. Other options were metallic Caribbean Blue or Lancaster Red. 

The contemporary 'king of grunt', Yamaha FJ1200, was shaded by this new machine's 125PS (123HP) and 99NM (73 ftlb). The numbers only go so far to express the way this machine delivers thrust across the range of working engine speed. The motor was designed to deliver torque for whiff-of-a-throttle overtaking at A-road and motorway speeds. Effortless and exhilarating performance for its time, kicking strongly at 4000 rpm (approx. 60mph) and 6000 rpm (approx. 90mph).  

The Hinckley factory and headquarters is just a short trip down the A5 from the Foss Way in Leicestershire and Warwickshire. This is a fantastic legacy of Roman road-building practice that runs through the heart of England. It is largely straight but deviates around natural features of the landscape where necessary, rolling up and down with the curvature of the hills. It runs through forests and fields, crossing all types of other road ways, as it runs from Exeter to Lincoln. The surface is often rough and bears the scars of agricultural traffic. It is real.

 The Fosse Way presents all types of challenge for the road rider and the Trophy cut its teeth in this environment. I've heard about and seen Triumph test riders up and down the Foss Way on several occasions.  Not just on a Spanish race track in summer, or a closed test road and dyno room in Tokyo.

In its original form, it's 123 HP and 73 ftlb at 6500 rpm made for a great balance for people who ride. People like me. Some time in 1993, from chassis number 004091 onwards, the Trophy 1200 was refashioned as a large torque-laden touring bike with higher 'bars and lower footrests.

In fact, the 1200 engine itself was sent in two opposite performance directions.  Option A was towards a thunderous sporty monster as the heart of the new Daytona 1200, with a peaky 147PS (145HP) and 115NM (85 ftlb) at 8500 rpm - just 1000rpm shy of the red line. The chassis was as the former Daytona 1000: low clip-on style bars and a sports fairing. Option B was with a fat 108PS (106HP) and 104NM (77 ftlb) at 5000 rpm - right in the middle of the rev range - to power the rebranded 'Trophy 4'. The Trophy 4 had raised bars and lowered footpegs, modest paint schemes and aimed squarely at a touring role. Both the Trophy 4 and Daytona 1200 are great bikes in their own ways but can't function as well as do-it-all machines. Maybe the ideal situation is to have one of each ... In either case, these changes meant that the original attempt to achieve a balanced machine for all-round sports-touring versatility was significantly weakened. Maybe even lost ...

To my mind, the move towards a specialisation of roles came at the expense of precisely the combination of abilities that the design team had planned for so carefully over the preceding decade. Anyway the point is that, to my mind, the Trophy 1200s in their original guise were a great compromise - flat bars, high pegs, willing motor: good times!