The T150 emerged from a joint BSA-Triumph development program, both manufacturers responding to the displacement escalation Japanese manufacturers were driving in the late 1960s. Engine production ran at BSA's Small Heath factory; Triumph Trident models were assembled at Meriden. The BSA variant — the Rocket 3 — used a slanted engine in a double-loop cradle frame; the Triumph used vertical cylinders in a single-downtube frame. The engineering was otherwise identical.
Displacement was 740 cc from an air-cooled OHV straight-three, bore and stroke 67 mm × 70 mm, producing 58 bhp at 7,500 rpm at 9.5:1 compression. Approximately 27,480 units were produced across both brands before manufacturing ceased in 1975.
The T150's defining competitive moment came at the 1971 Daytona 200. Dick Mann won on a BSA Rocket 3; Gene Romero finished second on a Triumph Trident; Don Emde took third on another BSA Rocket 3. The British triples swept the podium at the most prominent road race in American motorsport — a result that established the platform's racing credibility before broader market pressures closed both brands' futures.
The Trident 660 is Triumph's entry into the naked middleweight sector, competing against the Yamaha MT-07, Kawasaki Z650, and Honda CB650R. The prototype was unveiled at the London Design Museum on 25 August 2020; the production version was released to the press on 30 October 2020.
The engine derives from the Daytona 675 lineage with substantial revision — 67 new components including crank, pistons, cylinder liners, cylinder head, and cams, with a shortened stroke of 51.1 mm versus the Daytona 675's 52.3 mm. The result is a 660 cc water-cooled DOHC triple producing 81 PS at 10,250 rpm and 64 Nm at 6,250 rpm. Wet weight is 189 kg with a 805 mm seat height and 14-liter tank. The package is calibrated for accessibility without sacrificing the triple's characteristic sound and midrange delivery.
Standard specification includes rain and road riding modes, switchable traction control, non-switchable ABS, and full LED lighting. An optional Bluetooth module enables phone, navigation, and action camera integration.
Fifty years separate the T150 and the T660, but both are British-built triple-cylinder motorcycles positioned as credible alternatives to Japanese performance. The T150 was Triumph's bid to match the Japanese on power in 1968; the T660 is the brand's modern accessible entry built around engine character the fours cannot replicate. Motor Cycle News, reviewing the original Hinckley Trident 900 in 2010, wrote: "the three-cylinder motor was distinctive, flexible and robust." That description applies equally to both generations of the name.
[[bsa-rocket-3|BSA Rocket 3]] — the T150's platform twin, 1971 Daytona winner
[[triumph-bonneville|Triumph Bonneville]] — Meriden parallel-twin alongside the T150 era
[[triumph-daytona-675|Triumph Daytona 675]] — the T660's engine ancestor
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