"I Hope My Judgements Have Been Vindicated..." Part 2

Well, here we are back at it with Simon Warburton. I keep forgetting to talk to him about the Ural…

Willie Mac: Ever think you would be where you are now?

Warburton: Not actually. When I was growing up the British motorcycle industry was pretty much dead. When I was up at the university I knew that John Bloor was working up the Triumph, but I didn’t have a clue. It was launched on a relatively small scale, just before I left for Spain. So, I sort of missed out on the first few years of Triumph. To be honest, after my years of travel and teaching, I thought I had lost my chance at getting back into engineering. So, I was very grateful to Triumph for letting me back in.

When I came back to the UK after living in Spain I actually studied to be a secondary school teacher, with the plan of moving abroad again. While I was in the UK working as a teacher, a friend of mine, from when I was taking engineering, started working for Triumph. He said I should try applying here. They weren’t too worried about you past experience.

Willie Mac: Do you personally own a bike, or just ride factory?

Warburton: I don’t really own a bike. I own a dirt bike. I had a Daytona for a couple years, but only put on about 750 miles a year. I have to ride factory bikes. I have a couple small children so don’t get to ride much. I ride during the week, to and from work, testing the bikes out.

Willie Mac: What is your favorite bike?

Warburton: That is a tricky question. I used to be a sports touring rider. I had a succession of Sprints and put a lot of miles in France, Spain, Italy, Germany and the UK. I used to cover between fifteen and twenty thousand miles a year. More recently, because I have the kids at home and I don’t go off covering distance anymore, it’s been track days on the Daytona. If I am riding around the streets, I quite like my Speed Triples. My wife started me reducing the number of bikes in my garage which was up to eight, at one time.

I’m a big fan of the Sprint ST, having owned two and covered a lot of miles in France and Spain on them. What I like best about the ST is that it’s comfortable and “long-legged”, meaning you can cover some serious distance easily, but it’s also agile and sporty enough to have some fun on the way.

Willie Mac: Other than motorcycles what occupies you life?

Warburton: I did mention two boys, aged three and five. They are great fun and take a lot of time. I’m quite fond of reading, read all sorts of stuff. Again, I don’t have enough time to do that. I’m a bit of a languages buff. I do like traveling and learning languages. To be honest, with this job, it’s all time consuming.

Willie Mac: What motivates you?

Warburton: That’s what life is all about. You’ve got to enjoy it. I have to enjoy what I’m doing. I guess it’s childish in a way, just riding motorbikes. I went through a phase fifteen, or twenty, years ago, “I shouldn’t be doing this. I shouldn’t be enjoying this. I should be getting around doing serious stuff.” If that’s what you enjoy doing, don’t be ashamed of it. Just go for it. It has been such a positive experience going anywhere on a motorbike compared to any other form of transport. You feel much more connected with the world around you. You experience it more, more natural experience.

Next time Simon will take us from motorcycle concept to the showroom.