Triumph Visitor Experience October 2020 What has changed? Plus Bonneville build off bikes. 

Ha ha yes, deafened by James Bond. Thanks for watching

Wow!

Difficult to disagree. I think many customers got upset because Triumph were not open and upfront about the Thai manufacturing some years back. I only properly found where my 2013 Tiger 800 was built by using the serial number. The dealer back then preferred you to think it was British built.

Thanks Richard, it is well worth a visit especially if you can book a factory tour (2021) Best wishes Carol and Richard

I think the proper Triumph experience would include the complete factory tour (not currently running) we did it a couple of years back and really enjoyed it. They wouldn't let me take a camera in there but it was interesting seeing all the different models on one line. Don't know if its changed now with the bulk manufacturing happening in Thailand. Thanks again for taking a look at our vids

I completely agree with you, we are Triumph fans and Carol loves her Street Triple. It does seem amazing when I hear some Brits say they aren't buying a Triumph because they are made in Thailand but are then happy to buy a Ducati, BMW or Japanese which could have been made anywhere and zero revenue back to the UK. Appreciate you taking the time to comment

Its not the fact that they aren't made here, its the way they charge top money for 'British Heritage' bikes. Ever thought about Thai vs UK build costs? BMW charge less for their 800's and state where they are made. The other little niggle is their customer service if you have a problem. Hope you don't have to find out. Before you go off on one I do own some Triumphs so have a tiny little bit of experience of them.

@@paulcosgrove6160 Hello Paul, I'm not going to go off on one, lol. The thing is they aren't a massive outfit like the Honda, Yamaha and Bmw's of this world, what they have achieved since the 90's from scratch is quite frankly amazing, so if they play on their British Heritage to gain some market share then to be honest, it's fine by me. They will still be making the TFC's in the uk and have invested heavily in design and research, again here in the UK, so the mindset behind the ethos is British. At the end of the day it's how they market themselves to maintain market share, I don't object to that. A friend purchased a vw car and it was built in Brazil, but you still get the Vorsprung Durch Teknik style ads... All bikes are expensive, I personally think the fit and finish of the Triumphs now are very good and they have placed themselves in the premium end of the market to try and make a margin and hopefully prosper because they are never going to be able to have the sales and economy of scale of the larger marquees. However I notice that the newly announced Trident has been priced competitively and I hope that it does really well for them and they can steal some market share off the MT07 and such like. I would imagine Thai build costs are much lower due to labour cost, as would the land cost where they built the factory, and also maybe they got some help from the Thai government to open a factory there, I also suppose there could be advantages in selling the bikes into different markets from Thailand getting around import export tariffs and such. I don't think that Mr Blore is a Stuart Garner style operator, what I'm seeing is new model after model being designed and brought to the market by a small company who are punching above their weight and if that necessitates Thai built machines for them to make a margin so that it keeps the nice ladies and gentlemen in the factory and visitor centre in the UK in a job, then it's fine by me. As it happens I've just bought a Tiger 800 Xca after previously owning a first generation 800xc in the past. I paid 10K otr and it came with full luggage and other bits and bobs admittedly it's an outgoing model, but I doubt very much I could have got a Bmw 800 to similar spec for anything near that, not that I would have gone for one as I much prefer the looks and the triple engine and soundtrack over the German twin... I have had problems in the past with a 2015 model year 1050 speed triple and they didn't seem to quibble or fob me off, maybe I was lucky? There are good and bad dealers about and also the time of year you take the bike in for warranty work helps if you can wait for your fix that is, your dealer is much more likely to pursue a warranty claim in the winter months when they are kicking their heels than the summer months when they are running about like nutters. They also have a certain time limit to do the jobs and it's not as profitable for them to pursue warranty work if the workshop is flat out on non warranty stuff which would be more lucrative to them. It shouldn't be like that I know. I'm under no illusions that Triumph are the best or most reliable bike in the world as they aren't, but I find that they handle well and I like the styling of them and find them really comfortable so that is the main reasons I continue to ride them and support the British designed bike. Right, dinner time over back to work, sorry for the long post...

I agree, difficult to begrudge the entrance fee, it's just that we visited so many times for free from the day the place opened. We will continue to call by when allowed, thanks for watching the vid.

Definitely worth a look, thanks again for stopping by the vid.

Yep unfortunately many people felt that way. I hope it didn't spoil your enjoyment of owning and riding too much.

Thanks for stopping by and commenting. I do still think Triumph could have saved alot of criticism if they had been more open about their Thailand manufacturing earlier on. Myself my wife and I know many others were given very vague answers by the dealer network about the origin of the Triumph bikes we bought over the previous decade. Turned out my Speed Triple was a Hinckley bike. Carol and I do feel we want to support British jobs and industry and if you look back about a year in the vids we were trying to buy a Norton ( it didn't go well!) That's why we've been so disappointed to hear of the redundancies at Hinckley, I do know some very good skilled people have been let go. I don't know why Triumph don't offer a Hinckley built version of their bikes at a premium price and then see how patriotic us Brits are....... are we actually willing to pay more for the same product built here? I suspect when confronted with two prices for an identical product most would take the cheaper option. Whatever happens I still want Triumph to be a success story, let's hope Nick Bloor and co are making the right decisions.

Thanks Paul, I did think you would have mixed feelings on this one. I probably already mentioned to you before about our awful dealings with the Nottingham Triumph dealership's so called service department but in the end I still want Triumph to succeed. Carol loves her so far completely reliable Street Triple but we do understand why folks feel upset about the Thai manufacturing, especially when they were not being up front about it.

Well I would have said pop around for a coffee if you were heading there, we are only 20 mins away from the factory. Unfortunately you cannot plan anything at the moment. I feel really bad for the staff there, they had only been back 3 weeks, now will be forced to close again. Thanks for watching and keep safe. Cheers.

@@Banditmanuk Thanks Richard! 😀

Hope they go for the season ticket idea, definitely make me use the cafe more often. I feel a bit bad moaning about £6.00 but Carol and I called around at least once a month in the summer. Don't know if you've done the actual factory tour but its really interesting and worth booking for next year if you've never done it.

Yes sorry Richard the Bond music was grim, especially if you are trying to film. That combined with the phasing on the LED lighting. It did get quieter when we went upstairs in the experience. Thanks for viewing the bit you did. Cheers.

Thanks for watching Jay

Thanks Eric, you're right if the fee helps the people working there I don't really have an issue. All the staff at the experience were great. Don't think the Trophy ever really matched the BMW RT and the same stands for the Tiger 1200 against the GS. I really rate the Sprint, think I preferred that to the latter Sprint GT with the lower exhaust. It's a shame that generally those types of sports tourers have gone out of fashion, replaced by taller adventure style bikes. Think my Carol paid just over 7K for her current Street Triple 675 which I thought was good back in 2015. Hopefully the Trident marks a return to value for money bikes that reflect cost savings by manufacturing in Thailand.

I completely agree, I'm guessing it must be bad for the staff there, the place only reopened about 3 weeks ago and almost certainly forced to close again under the new government restrictions. Hope everything isn't too bad for everyone affected by redundancy there. Best wishes from both Carol and I.

Yes I know really £6.00 isn't that much and the guy in the shop said it cost about £10K to put on the current exhibit. It just used to be a very regular stop off on the bikes for us, a coffee and a wander around the experience. Be interested in seeing the Enfield set up as well, think they and Norton have picked up some of the talented staff let go by Triumph.

@@Banditmanuk I think the Haynes museum was £16 each and didn't have many bikes at all.

We used to stop many times here before lockdown, maybe if they sort a season ticket for us locals?? Maybe free entry if you turn up on a Triumph bike? I'm glad it's still here and open, thanks for watching.

@@Banditmanuk - you``still get to use the cafe i suppose, 4 free ❗❔

@@peterfallows6802 Yes Peter, when it eventually re opens after lockdown mk2 you can use the cafe for free and the shop upstairs. It's just the exhibit and actual factory tour you need to pay for.

No problem, think walking is all we're going to be doing for a while now. Hope you are keeping well 👍

@@Banditmanuk yes, sadly. Although I only own bikes, so will still be riding to work etc. Very well thank you 😊 take care you two!

@@Saddlebags73 Nice, 👍 As a self employed landscape gardener sadly I don't think I can use my bike for work. Perhaps it's time for Transitvanmanuk! (Good job I double checked the spelling, it corrected to Transvestitemanuk)

@@Banditmanuk 🤣🤣🤣 bloody brilliant! I wonder which one would gain more subs. I assume your line of work will be able to function fairly normally through lockdown?

@@Saddlebags73 Yep I've worked all the way through. I do like to take it a bit easier through the winter though. Normally we would clear off to Gran Canaria to ride there but that's not happening. We also had plans to take our bikes down to Southern Spain in December or Jan in my van but that's now unlikely to happen.

Yes the Bond music was way to loud but nothing we could do. I'm not aware of Triumph being 'in trouble' but they have definitely laid quite a few staff off at the Hinckley factory. They make all the prototype bikes, development bikes and build some of the TFC bikes there. Sadly as far as I'm aware all bulk production is now done abroad.

That's a very good question that I'm not able to answer. I would e-mail Triumph directly and simply ask if its possible, you never know. Thanks for watching Nick.

6 quid mentioned as we visit often and it was formerly free. Every Triumph motorcycle on the road will have been designed, prototyped and short production runned at Hinckley. All the TFC bikes for UK will be assembled here. All the profits from Thailand manufacturing come back to the UK where they pay UK tax. Virtually every motorcycle manufacturer builds bikes in multiple locations including all the Japanese. Difficult to understand your anger as Thailand production has been ongoing many years. Anyway thanks for the comments and take care. (The very worst motorcycle I've ever owned was an Italian built Ducati Multistrada 1200S)