Branding news: Design choice - Triumph Rocket III

by Jon Ingall, Managing partner, Archibald Ingall Stretton, Marketing 19-May-04

If you work in London, I'll wager you have either stood on the Tube or sat in traffic dreaming of a better route to work. Short of a helicopter, the search for alternative transportation leads inevitably to two wheels.

Assuming you don't possess a death wish, a bicycle can quickly be ruled out. Slightly further up the food chain is the medium of choice for media types, the scooter. It's certainly the stylish option, in a Roman Holiday kind of way, and offers more protection from the elements. But hit a pothole and you'll soon see the downside of those tiny wheels.

There's always a ludicrously fast, garishly coloured sports bike, but these require an osteopath to reposition your back after you dismount.

So we're left with 'touring bikes'.

Here lies one of the great British brands: Triumph, and its stunning Rocket III. Launched this spring, it is the first production bike to break the two-litre barrier. It is huge, with sensuous chrome pipes and purposeful twin headlamps. Triumph believes that, even two-up, 'it will accelerate faster than pretty much anything on the road'.

If James Dean were alive, he would want one. Better still, if he crashed it into a car, it's a fairly safe bet that the car would come off worse.

Design: In-house.