The Triumph Legend 964cc and Legend 741cc are British

motorcycle A motorcycle (motorbike, bike; uni (if one-wheeled); trike (if three-wheeled); quad (if four-wheeled)) is a lightweight private 1-to-2 passenger personal motor vehicle Steering, steered by a Motorcycle handlebar, handlebar from a saddle-style ...

s developed by Les Williams, the former Triumph racing manager. After the commercial demise by 1975 of

Triumph The Roman triumph (Latin triumphus) was a celebration for a victorious military commander in ancient Rome. For later imitations, in life or in art, see Trionfo. Numerous later uses of the term, up to the present, are derived directly or indirectl ...

at Meriden Works and Norton Triumph (

Andover Andover may refer to: Places Australia *Andover, Tasmania Canada * Andover Parish, New Brunswick * Perth-Andover, New Brunswick United Kingdom * Andover, Hampshire, England ** RAF Andover, a former Royal Air Force station United States * Andov ...

) together with the closure of the Triumph race shop, L.P. 'Les' Williams established a private business catering for spare parts and performance upgrades for the BSA and Triumph triples. Geoff Duke funeral cortege 2 cropped Slippery Sam

Geoff Duke funeral cortege 2 cropped Slippery Sam

He also created replicas of

Slippery Sam Slippery Sam is a British production class racing motorcycle from the early 1970s that used a carefully prepared version of the 750 cc Triumph Trident ohv (pushrod) three-cylinder engine. The "Slippery Sam" name was acquired during the 1 ...

, a road race machine and five-time TT race winner in the production-class which retained road equipment. Whereas Slippery Sam was race-styled with road equipment, Williams developed a new model with updated equipment, styled as a general sports-tourer with single/dual seat options. The "Legend" models were specials, each based on rebuilt complete donor T160V

Triumph Trident The Triumph Trident is a Straight-three engine, three-cylinder motorcycle of either 750 cc or 900 cc capacity. These bikes were produced from 1991 to 1998 at Hinckley, Leicestershire, England, by Triumph Motorcycles Ltd, the successo ...

machines, using three cylinder pushrod engines with five-speed

gearbox A transmission (also called a gearbox) is a mechanical device invented by Louis Renault (who founded Renault) which uses a gear set—two or more gears working together—to change the speed, direction of rotation, or torque multiplication/r ...

and electric start. The machines were completely re-made using many new parts, but were based on earlier-registered machines from the factory's pre-1975 production which were older than the appearance suggested. Braking was uprated with a Lockheed hydraulic system using twin discs at the front and single rear. Many were tuned for maximum performance to specific customer requirements, and between the early 1980s and 1992 a total of sixty Triumph Legends were built - although Les Williams received hundreds of orders following articles in Classic Bike (UK) and Cycle World (USA). Triumph Legend 741cc 1975

The Triumph Legend name was later resurrected by

Triumph Motorcycles Ltd Triumph Motorcycles Ltd is the largest UK-owned motorcycle manufacturer, established in 1983 by John Bloor after the original company Triumph Engineering went into receivership. The new company, initially called Bonneville Coventry Ltd, contin ...

, of

Hinckley Hinckley is a market town in south-west Leicestershire, England, administered by Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council. Hinckley is the third largest settlement in Leicestershire, after Leicester and Loughborough, and is about halfway between L ...

, England for a version using their three-cylinder 900 cc

overhead camshaft An overhead camshaft (OHC) engine is a piston engine in which the camshaft is located in the cylinder head above the combustion chamber. This contrasts with earlier overhead valve engines (OHV), where the camshaft is located below the combustio ...

engine, entitled Triumph Legend TT.

References

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Legend A legend is a genre of folklore that consists of a narrative featuring human actions, believed or perceived to have taken place in human history. Narratives in this genre may demonstrate human values, and possess certain qualities that give the ...

Motorcycles introduced in the 1980s

See also

References