Brian Jones (motorcycle designer)

Last updated

Brian Edward Jones
Born31 August 1928
Died4 March 2001 (2001-03-05) (aged 72)
Coventry
NationalityBritish
OccupationMotorcycle designer
Spouse(s)Connie, Mabel
ChildrenKatherine, Rachel, Meg

Brian Jones was a motorcycle designer and engineer born in Gloucester, United Kingdom in 1928. Notable for his contribution to the original design of the Triumph Bonneville, he died in Coventry, on 4 March 2001. [1]

Contents

Career

Brian Jones was born in Gloucester and began his career in the motorcycle industry with an apprenticeship with Douglas Motorcycles in 1951 before moving to the English Midlands to work with the BSA company who were the biggest motorcycle manufacturers in the world at the time. He also worked at the Norton Motorcycles factory where he decided to become a motorcycle designer. Norton's Managing Director at the time was legendary designer Bert Hopwood and the company was controlled by Associated Motor Cycles. [1]

Leaving a struggling AMC/Norton, Jones moved to Triumph where he worked with Doug Hele [ citation needed ] on the 650 cc Triumph Bonneville T120. Watching the Thruxton 500 endurance race for production motorcycles he saw the factory rider Percy Tait come into the pits after an hour on the track and plunge his blistered hands into a bucket of water. Jones worked with Hele on improvements to the chassis which resulted in a victory in the 750 cc Production Class at the 1969 Isle of Man TT. [1]

In 1976, the Triumph factory, with a government loan, was taken over by the workers after the new owners, NVT, had wanted to close it down. Jones had by then left to work for Lockheed. The then-chairman of the workers' co-operative, Dennis Crowder-Johnson asked him to return to Triumph, however, and Jones came back to help improve their only product, Triumph's 750 cc motorcycle, consisting of the Triumph Bonneville T140V and Triumph Tiger TR7V models. As Director of Engineering, he ensured the Bonneville's continued export to the vital USA market by making it compliant with ever-stricter emissions laws (the T140E), (finally) introduced electric starting (the T140ES) and, with Bernard Hooper's design, developed an anti-vibration framed model (T140AV).

Jones also developed variants such as the economy 650 cc Triumph TR65 Thunderbird, the dual-purpose Triumph Tiger Trail (TR7T,) the eight-valve Triumph T140W TSS with Weslake and with Triumph Motorcycle America's Wayne Moulton, the Triumph T140 TSX. Jones was also involved in the development of the prototype 900 cc water-cooled, double-overhead-cam (DOHC) 'Diana' twin that the struggling co-operative hoped would attract outside investment in a last-ditch attempt to save their business. However, by 1983 the co-operative closed and Triumph was then bought by John Bloor with full motorcycle production of a new range only restarting in 1991 at Hinckley.

Triumph T140 Bonneville built under licence by LF Harris with significantly more Italian and German component parts but here also with aftermarket silencers. Harris Triumph T140E Bonneville 750cc.jpg
Triumph T140 Bonneville built under licence by LF Harris with significantly more Italian and German component parts but here also with aftermarket silencers.

In the meantime, Les Harris of Newton Abbot was licensed by Bloor to build the Bonneville at his works in Devon and recruited Brian Jones to oversee the new operation. Production was limited by the inability to export to the USA due to prohibitive product liability insurance rates. As well as the Bonneville production, Jones designed a 500 cc Rotax-engined Matchless single-cylinder model that did well in the UK but was never exported in volume. Bonneville production at Newton Abbot ended in 1988 and although the Matchless was successful Jones did not want to work in Harris's spares business and moved to a new incarnation of the Norton company at Shenstone, Staffordshire. [1]

Related Research Articles

Triumph Engineering Co Ltd was a British motorcycle manufacturing company, based originally in Coventry and then in Meriden. A new company, Triumph Motorcycles Ltd, based in Hinckley, gained the name rights after the end of the company in the 1980s and is now one of the world's major motorcycle manufacturers.

Matchless British motorcycle and automobile manufacturer

Matchless is one of the oldest marques of British motorcycles, manufactured in Plumstead, London, between 1899 and 1966. A wide range of models was produced under the Matchless name, ranging from small two-strokes to 750 cc four-stroke twins. Matchless had a long history of racing success; a Matchless ridden by Charlie Collier won the first single-cylinder race in the first Isle of Man TT in 1907.

Triumph Thunderbird motorcycle by Triumph

The Triumph Thunderbird is a British motorcycle that was introduced by Triumph in 1949 and produced in many forms until 1966. The name was used three more times for new and distinct Triumph models.

BSA Rocket 3/Triumph Trident 1960s/1970s British motorcycle made by Triumph Engineering, Meriden

The Triumph Trident and BSA Rocket 3 was a technically advanced, high-performance roadster motorcycle made by Triumph Engineering and BSA from 1968 to 1975, and sold under both the Triumph and BSA marques. Alongside the Honda CB750, and later the Kawasaki triples, it brought a new level of sophistication to street motorcycles, marking the beginning of the superbike era. The Honda CB750 overshadowed the Trident to be remembered as the 'first superbike', in spite of the Triumph Trident actually debuting before the Honda by a few weeks.

Triumph Bonneville motor cycle

The Triumph Bonneville is a standard motorcycle featuring a parallel-twin four-stroke engine and manufactured in three generations over three separate production runs.

Norton Villiers Triumph (NVT) was a British motorcycle manufacturer, formed by the British government to continue the UK motorcycling industry, but the company eventually failed.

Edward Turner British motorcycle designer

Edward Turner was an English motorcycle designer. He was born in Camberwell in the London Borough of Southwark, on the day King Edward VII was proclaimed King. In 1915, Turner had his first ride on a motorcycle, a Light Tourist New Imperial.

Matchless G80

The Matchless G80 is a single cylinder 500 cc British motorcycle built by Associated Motorcycles (AMC) between 1946 and 1966. During the 1950s and 1960s, the main export product for AMC was the AJS/Matchless range – the road bikes were very similar, often with only the badges distinguishing one marque from the other; the equivalent AJS being the Model 18.

Doug Hele British motorcycle engineer

Douglas Lionel "Doug" Hele was a pioneering British motorcycle engineer with Triumph and other firms: BSA, Douglas and Norton. He was born in Birmingham in 1919 and died in Hagley, Worcestershire on 2 November 2001.

Triumph Daytona 600 two very different motorcycles

The Triumph Daytona 600 is a name given to two different motorcycles.

Triumph T140W TSS

The T140W TSS was the last motorcycle model made by Triumph Engineering at their Meriden factory.

Triumph Motorcycles Ltd English motorcycle manufacturer

Triumph Motorcycles Ltd is the largest UK-owned motorcycle manufacturer, established in 1983 by John Bloor after the original company Triumph Engineering went into receivership. The new company, initially called Bonneville Coventry Ltd, continued Triumph's lineage of motorcycle production since 1902. They have major manufacturing facilities in Thailand.

Triumph TR65 Thunderbird

The Triumph TR65 Thunderbird is a motorcycle made by the Triumph worker's co-operative at the Meriden factory from 1981 to 1983. The TR65 was a reintroduction of the Triumph Thunderbird model name first used on the original 6T Thunderbird of 1949. A short stroke model, the Daytona 600 was designed in 1983 but not produced.

Norton Dominator

The Dominator is a twin cylinder motorcycle developed by Norton to compete against the Triumph Speed Twin. The original Dominator was designed in 1947 and 1948 by Bert Hopwood, who had been on the Speed Twin design team at Triumph. Available for sale from mid 1949, this design set the pattern for Norton twins for the next 30 years.

Triumph Tiger Trail

The Triumph Tiger Trail was a motorcycle model manufactured by Triumph Motorcycles at the Meriden factory. The Tiger Trail was made from 1981 to 1982 in both 750 cc (TR7T) and 650 cc (TR65T) capacities, and under 180 examples were built. Emission regulations precluded export to the USA but otherwise the model was available to all Triumph's other markets particularly in many British Commonwealth nations and western Europe.

Triumph Bonneville T100

The Bonneville T100 is a motorcycle designed and built by Triumph Motorcycles Ltd in Hinckley, Leicestershire, UK.

Triumph Bonneville T120

The Triumph Bonneville T120 is a motorcycle originally made by Triumph Engineering from 1959 to 1975. It was the first model of the Bonneville series, which was continued by Triumph Motorcycles Ltd. The T120 was discontinued in favour of the larger 750 cc T140 in the early 1970s.

Leslie Frederick Harris was a Torquay businessman and motorcycle enthusiast who resurrected the Triumph Bonneville for a few years in the 1980s. Born in 1939, he was described as the "saviour of the British motorcycle industry". Invited to Buckingham Palace and the Houses of Parliament, in 1987 he was visited by the Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. He died in February 2009, aged 69.

Triumph Bonneville T140 Motorcycle

The Triumph Bonneville T140 is a standard motorcycle with a 750 cc (46 cu in) capacity engine that was designed and built by Triumph Engineering at Meriden near Coventry.

Norman Hyde Motorcycle development engineer

Norman Hyde is a British motorcycle development engineer, racer and world record holder.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Reynolds, Jim (10 May 2001). "Brian Jones". The Independent. Archived from the original on 15 February 2011. Retrieved 28 February 2009.