Triumph to launch motocross and enduro race bike lines

While Triumph has not yet shown us any photos of the machines, the company says "development is well underway on a comprehensive range of all-new competition" models. Triumph has added some star power to the drive into off-road racing by hiring Ricky Carmichael, the winner of 15 motocross and five Supercross titles, and Iván Cervantes, a five-time world champion enduro racer and International Six Days Enduro overall winner.

Triumph also plans to launch a factory race program and compete at the top levels of motocross and enduro racing.

"Today’s announcement marks the beginning of a new chapter for the Triumph brand, which everyone at Triumph is incredibly excited to be part of," said Triumph CEO Nick Bloor. "We are 100 percent committed to making a long-lasting impact in this highly competitive and demanding world, with a single-minded ambition to deliver a winning motorcycle lineup for a whole new generation of Triumph riders."

A new chapter, but no view of the new bikes (yet)

The "new chapter" talk is not just press release verbiage. Bloor is the son of John Bloor, who rose from a poor background to create a hugely successful homebuilding business in Britain before buying the remains of the original Triumph after the British motorcycle industry collapsed. In the three decades of Bloor's ownership, Triumph has grown steadily and last year delivered more than 75,000 motorcycles.

But all those motorcycles have been street-legal models. Sure, Triumph has gone racing before, from winning the Daytona 200 to the Isle of Man Supersport TT and British Supersport titles. Currently, Triumph supplies the engines for the entire Moto2 field in MotoGP. But all that racing has been on asphalt.

With that background, launching a motocross and enduro team at the world championship level is not just a new chapter, but also a huge new challenge. Look at any Lucas Oil Pro Motocross starting gate this year and you'll find seven different brands in both the 450 and the 250 classes. Rolling up as the eighth brand means going into one of the most competitive series in the world against a lot of manufacturers with vastly deeper experience.

Of course there's also a particular thrill to launching a new assault.

"Building something from the ground up is something that really is intriguing to me at this stage of my career," said Carmichael. "What is impressive to me is Triumph's dedication, and passion to develop a top-of-the-class product. Everyone that I have been involved with this project, from the engineers, design groups, R&D department, etc., have shown extreme passion for what they are doing and that is a recipe for success and something that I love being a part of."

What we have not yet seen from Triumph is even a glimpse of the new bikes in development. Of course we know they will generally follow the same formula as the other brands. Too many decades of development have gone into today's race bikes for any newcomer to enter and compete at the highest levels with a design that radically departs from the norm. Success comes from refining and innovating at the edges.

I have to say, Triumph's incursion into the off-road competition world is an audacious move and one I wouldn't have predicted. It should also be fun to watch.