Revealed: Leicestershire motorcycle brand’s fastest-declining models

The Triumph name has a long and storied history in the motorcycle world. While its origins date all of the way back to the early 20th century, the brand found a new lease of life in the early 1990s when it was reborn in Hinckley, Leicestershire.

Hinckley became the heart of a bold revival, blending Triumph’s rich heritage with new manufacturing and design styles. From this new base, Triumph propelled itself into a new era of motorcycling excellence.

Its long legacy of producing iconic bikes means there are more than 200,000 Triumph bikes currently under UK ownership, which is a 56% increase from just ten years ago.

But while the brand is booming among UK owners, there are some beloved models slowly saying goodbye to British roads. New research from Bikesure, a specialist bike insurance broker, has combed through the latest licensing figures from the Department for Transport to reveal which Triumph models are experiencing the biggest decline in owners compared to ten years ago.

The fastest-declining Triumph motorbike models

Based on the largest percentage decline in UK ownership now vs ten years ago (2023 vs 2014)

1. Tiger 800 XC ABS: -15.4% decline in ownership
2. Rocket III Touring: -14.4%
3. Tiger 800: -13.1%
4. Rocket Classic: -12.7%
5. Street Triple: -12.2%
6. Spring 1050: -10.9%
7. Sprint 1050 ABS: -10.7%
8. Speed Triple 1050: -10.7%
9. Tiger 800 ABS: -9.9%
10. Daytona 675: -9.4%

Within this list are three models from the Tiger 800 Series, which were produced between 2010 and 2020. The cross-country Tiger (800 XC ABS) saw the biggest decline (-15.4%) in the past decade, while the base model (Tiger 800) also ranks third (-13.1%) in declining ownership. Beyond the 800 Series, the Tiger model lineage dates as far back as the 1930s, with notable riders in its timeline including musician Bob Dylan, travel writer Ted Simon and Prince William.

Versions of the Triumph Rocket III are also seeing sharp declines in ownership. Five models from this series were manufactured between 2004 and 2017, but it is the Rocket III Touring model which ranks second of all Triumph models for its drop in owners over the past ten years.

Triumph began developing the Rocket III Touring in 2004 to target the large cruiser market in the United States. This type of bike is far more popular overall and in relative terms in the US compared to the United Kingdom’s taste for motorcycle styles.

Other notable Triumph motorcycles seeing a decline

Bikesure’s research also notes that the Triumph model that is closest to extinction from UK roads is the Triumph TT600. Produced between 2000 and 2003, this was the brand’s attempt at entering into the fuel-injected middleweight category, which is the world’s most competitive class of motorcycle.

With a predicted extinction year of 2033 for this model, based on its average quarterly licensing decline, Bikesure’s research suggests the TT600 didn’t capture enough hearts of British motorcyclists to endure beyond three decades like many of its other classic models have.

Elsewhere in their research, Bikesure analysts uncovered that some Triumph bikes have registered UK owner numbers close to single digits. While none of these models have recently declined in ownership, three editions of the Triumph Daytona have no more than 18 owners each: the 900 (1993), T310 (1994) and Centennial (2002), plus the Bonneville Thruxton SE has just 28 registered owners for models released in 1965 and more recently between 2010 and 2012.

Many remaining versions of these models will be deregistered under private ownership, but fans of the Triumph brand who want to admire more of their bikes in real life can take a trip to the Triumph Factory Visitor Experience in Hinckley.

To discover more about which motorbikes are closest to extinction from UK roads, visit Bikesure’s research here: www.bikesure.co.uk/motorbike-extinction/2040/