Triumph

The collapse of the British auto industry is a case study in how to go from a nation of builders to a nation of consumers. And while labor and management both played key roles in running the whole thing into the ground, the engineering departments weren’t exactly yanking back on the control stick, either. Sure, there were a lot of cars coming out of the U.K. that looked good and featured some clever thinking, but there were more than a few components and subsystems that tended to self-destruct, even with proper routine maintenance.

The electrical systems and components made by Lucas Industries are the poster children for this spotty reliability. Why else would they be the subject of countless jokes? But one of the unsung heroes(?) of British mechanical malfeasance was only ever installed in one model of car, yet its craptastic-ness was emblematic of the whole industry’s slow, sad circling of the bowl. We speak of (in case you didn’t look at the title) the Triumph V8.

While burying the speedometer deep into the triple digits in a car is exciting (and something you should only do on a track…obviously…), doing the same thing on a motorcycle ratchets the excitement up exponentially. And going wide-open on a street bike? Even more knuckle-bleaching, as the big-inch engine bellows between your legs and the avalanche of angry air – undiluted by a full fairing – attempts to throw you off the bike and throw the bike off the pavement.

Here are 20 two-wheeled tarmac scorchers guaranteed to thrill.

As speed junkies, usually when it comes to cruisers we recognize the aesthetic appeal and appreciate the technology, but always seem to gravitate back towards the sportbike genre. However, every now and then one of these heavyweight contenders crosses over to the streetfighter category and we have to take pause. The 2010 Triumph III Roadster is a perfect example. This bike has the distinction of being the "world's largest capacity motorcycle" featuring an updated version of Triumph's 2.3-liter three-cylinder 2,294cc engine. Torque has been upped 15% to a whopping 165 lb-ft. With this bike weighing in wet at 807 pounds, this should make for a more than ample power-to-weight ratio.

Today, the North Coast Triumph Association hosted its 18th Annual British Car Show at Shaker Square, in Cleveland, Ohio. The event was located on the green space inside the inner quadrants of the historic district and featured a wide variety of classic, vintage and modern vehicles of UK origin. There was a nice mixture of brands such as Jaguar, Aston Martin, Austin Healey, MG, Lotus, Triumph, Rolls Royce, Morgan and DeLorean.