Behold: a unicorn. Less than 1,200 of these were ever made. Designed specifically for the American market but inherently unable to succeed there, this bike is, in a way, an encapsulation of the weird and tumultuous period of British motorcycling history in which it was made.
Fast and uniquely styled, the X75 Hurricane is the sort of bike most of us will only ever see in a museum. At time of writing, bids are at $28,100, with the reserve still not having been met. I’m not surprised. The last time an X75 Hurricane appeared on Bike-urious (six years ago), the asking price was close to $27,000.
In a lot of ways, the X75 Hurricane is, in fact, a BSA Rocket 3 ─ driven by the same 740cc air-cooled three-cylinder engine, delivering roughly 58 horsepower. As the story goes, when the Rocket 3 was first introduced to BSA’s American management team in 1968 they were unimpressed. This was problematic, because the land of the free was a vitally important market. No love from Americans meant no money, and that was something for which the BSA Group (of which Triumph was part) was desperate.
So, the manufacturer turned to Craig Vetter, a designer who would go on to have an outsized impact on motorcycling. An example: his aftermarket fairing kits are arguably responsible for the Honda Gold Wing as we know it today (The Gold Wing was initially launched as a naked bike, but owners were so addicted to adding Vetter fairings that Honda adopted the look and changed moto touring forever).
Vetter came up with a prototype Rocket 3 in 1969 but British management (you know, the same guys who were busy driving their own company into the ground) rejected it as being too trendy. They changed their tune, however, when images of the prototype appeared a year later in an issue of Cycle World and were met by an enthusiastic response.
Plans were made to release the “Vetter BSA Rocket 3” in 1972. But then BSA went under and got folded into the short-lived Norton Villiers Triumph operation. Because reasons (in other words, I can’t find any clear explanation), the bike became the Triumph X75 Hurricane.
The bike was slated for a limited run, which came to an abrupt halt when Triumph realized it would not meet American noise regulations. As far as this particular example is concerned, according to the seller it is “just the way it was in the 70s, besides the gas, oil, fuel lines, and replacement tires.”
“Everything on this motorcycle is original,” the seller says. “The motor is original to the frame and every component of the motorcycle, from the forks to the carbs to the wheels to the bodywork, is exactly how it was shipped from the factory.”
With only 1,835 miles on the clock, this X75 Hurricane is for sale in Villa Park, Illinois, here on eBay.