A motorcycle described as one the UK’s rarest classic motorbike has been donated by its owner to the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu. The Triumph Daytona Super III is 30 years old having been registered in 1994.
The bike was ridden recently to the Museum by owner Steve Lemoir from his home in Bristol. It has been owned by Steve for the last 27 years and having had 6,000 miles on the clock when he bought it and on his final ride to Beaulieu it just clocked over 49,000 miles.
Triumph only ever intended this bike to be a limited-edition model and built just 805 of them. It was on sale between 1993 and 1996, so sales were never hurried, but those who took the plunge enjoyed a Cosworth-tuned engine with more aggressive cams and flat-side carburettors. It also had bigger brakes to help reel in the engine’s 115bhp. There are some unique parts to the model including carbon fibre silencers, carbon fibre front mudguard, carbon fibre rear hugger and 2 carbon fibre clock infill panels, and 6 piston front brake callipers. The bike is in an immaculate condition but has a few non-original parts such as the rear indicator stalks and brake disks and a centre stand.
Steve Lemoir says, “I was 39 when I bought the bike but now, many years later, I have decided it was time to move it on. On holiday last year I visited the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu and loved the bike collection, so this prompted me to consider donating the bike to a museum. Gladly my offer was accepted by Beaulieu.
“I bought it because I wanted to support the new Triumph enterprise started by John Bloor. The first bikes were produced in 1991 from a new factory in Hinckley, Leicestershire. Many of the bike components were made at the factory including the engines. All assembly was at the Hinckley factory. These bikes have a small Union Jack on each side fairing as a nod to being made in Britain. My bike was made in the Hinckley factory before most Triumph bike production and assembly was moved overseas.
“I did lots of work on the bike to get it as original as possible to be displayed in your museum. I replaced the original low bars, fitted new fairing bolts, fitted the seat cowl, replaced the carbon silencers which I had stored for safe keeping and did other detailing work.”
National Motor Museum Vehicle Curator, Patrick Collins says, “We’re delighted to have been donated this rare Triumph Daytona Super III. The Daytona was in direct competition with the Honda Fireblade at the time and seen as the British answer to fulfilling the market for a full-on contemporary sports bike. The bike has acquired a bit of a cult status, and with its striking Racing Yellow paint work, it will be a great addition to our motorcycle gallery which showcases the history from the first motorised two wheel vehicles to the fastest production motorcycle sold.”
Details of the motorcycle collection at the National Motor Museum are available at https://nationalmotormuseum.org.uk/collections/vehicles/
In addition to the permanent gallery in the Museum there is more on offer this year at Beaulieu for bikers. A new addition to the events calendar, the Beaulieu Bikers’ Day will be on Saturday 6 July, and on Wednesday 21 August, for the fourth and final Classic Grille evening of summer 2024, in the grounds of the National Motor Museum, will be a Superbike Night themed motor meet-up that every motorcycling enthusiast will love. Details are at https://www.beaulieu.co.uk/events/
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