Photo of Lady whatsit taken outside Les Harris' Triumph business in Devon in 1987. Les started his spares business in the early 70s and was actually a bidder for the intellectual property rights to Triumph when the Triumph business was liquidated in 1983. His 'Racing Spares' bid for the Triumph name was not successful, the other unsuccessful bidder was an Indian Consortium. The winning bidder was John Bloor (the now owner of Triumph Motorcycles). Bloor was advised that the Triumph trademark and associated rights could be challenged due to lack of use so a strict 5-year licence agreement was made with Racing Spares (Les Harris) to produce Triumph T140 models. Seen as the saviour of the British motorcycle industry Les was invited to Buckingham Palace and the Houses of Parliament. His premises were visited by many celebrities including the then Prime Minister in 1987. His wife said that he was very proud of these visits. At the end of the licence period Les produced some Matchless bikes and maintained his spares business which is continuing to supply very high quality spares to this day. Les is no longer with us, he left us behind in his smoke in 2009. My local steel works was closed due to her, my birthplace was turned into a ghost town, I saw what happened to families. When I moved to London for work I told them - when arguing about the miner's strike - that it would be their turn soon. And it was. Just a little bit of history for ya'll rather than the usual BS about the Triumph Bloor "rescue".
Mmm, as an ex coal miner, I hate that Cnunt Scargill and his henchmen more, pulled the pants down of many proud working men, although perhaps more gullible than I thought at the time, you live and learn!!!
