Triumph sprung hub

Design and development

Edward Turner designed Triumph's sprung hub in 1938. The design was inspired by Dowty hubs with suspension within them, as used in the fixed landing gear of Gloster Gladiator fighter aircraft.{{Cite book |editor-first=Reginald Arthur |editor-last=Beaumont

Frank Baker, the head of the Experimental Department at Triumph, tried to convince Turner that the handling of Triumph motorcycles at the time the sprung hub was available was potentially dangerous at speed, to the point of having himself filmed while riding one of them on a test track at speed. Turner ignored Baker's efforts and continued with the sprung hub.

Reception

Turner had intended to introduce the sprung hub with Triumph's 1940 motorcycles, but the outbreak of the Second World War prevented this; the sprung hub was ultimately introduced in 1946. The Mk. 2 version replaced the original in 1951. While the original version was provided with a grease nipple, the Mk. II version had no provision for greasing, with the factory grease packing expected to last for 20000 mi. The sprung hub was the only rear suspension offered with Triumph's parallel-twin motorcycles until 1955.

Legacy

The sprung hub is remembered as one of the first motorcycle products to have a safety warning cast into its housing, warning of the risk of dismantling the spring housing inside the hub and releasing the powerful springs. It is also remembered for inadequacy, being described as "a pain in the rear end" and "one of the weirdest and worst rear suspension systems of all time".

References

Citations

Bibliography

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