Triumph Speed Twin

The Triumph Speed Twin, designated 5T, is a standard motorcycle built by Triumph at its Coventry works and later at Meriden. Chief Designer and managing director Edward Turner launched it at the 1937 National Motorcycle Show as a 500 cc overhead valve vertical twin in a lightweight frame, and it is regarded as the first truly successful British parallel twin. It was lighter than many contemporary singles yet offered more power and torque, and several other British makers followed with 500 cc twins of similar layout. The Coventry factory was destroyed in a German air raid in November 1940, but after the war the Speed Twin was largely responsible for Triumph's recovery at Meriden, gaining a telescopic fork in 1946 and a headlamp nacelle in 1949. The 1959 5TA introduced unit construction of engine and gearbox, and production ended in 1966, while the unit 500 engine lived on in the Tiger 100 range.