The Triumph Hurricane represented a paradigm shift in motorcycling manufacturing, as it was the world’s first factory custom motorcycle. The brainchild of Craig Vetter (well known as a motorcycle designer and manufacturer of custom motorcycle fairings) and Don Brown (General Manager of BSA), the Hurricane was created when Brown called Vetter up on a secret project to create a better looking British triple. Triumph already had their Trident, and the similar BSA Rocket III, but both bikes were commercial failures in the United States despite the fact that they were decent bikes. Most people attributed this failure to blocky styling which left buyers cold and didn’t encourage anyone to spend extra money compared to bikes like the Honda CB’s.
The bike was ready to be released as a BSA, however BSA was about to go bankrupt. So it was badged as a Triumph in 1972, and was almost immediately killed off in 1973 after stricter American noise standards couldn’t be met. Want to learn more about the Triumph Hurricane? Check out Classic Bike Guide’s write-up of this wonderful bike. Or, even better, Craig Vetter has a story on how this bike came to be here on his website.
This specific Triumph Hurricane has just 3,345 miles and is claimed to be one of the best remaining examples. It’s all original and comes with a tremendous amount of paperwork, including the original dealer purchase card, PDI form, sales brochures, a story book with design drawings and a matching Vetter helmet. The original owner kept it in his house and apparently just started it once a year.
Find this Triumph Hurricane for sale in Sunbury on Thames, United Kingdom with an opening bid of $37,141
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