Triple (pronounced trip-uhl)
(1) Threefold; consisting of three parts (matching or
not).
(2) Of three kinds; threefold in character or
relationship.
(3) Three times as great; multiplied by three (numbers or
quantities in general).
(4) In international law or international relations, as
triple entente, triple alliance etc, a treaty or some state of arrangement between
three states.
(5) In baseball (also called the three-base hit), a hit which
enables the batter safely to reach third base.
(6) In (ten-pin) bowling, three strikes in succession.
(7) In basketball, a three-point field goal.
(8) In curling, takeout shot in which three stones are
removed from play.
(9) In musical time or rhythm, having three beats in each
bar
(10) As triple crown, in various sporting competitions (Rugby
Union, thoroughbred racing, motor sport etc), a (sometimes informal)
acknowledgement of victory in three specific events (use based on the triple
crown (sometimes as triple tiara) once used for the coronation of the Roman
Catholic Pope).
(11) In internal combustion engines (ICE), an engine with
three pistons or rotors.
(12) One of three; a third (obsolete and the source of
some misunderstandings when found in historic texts).
(13) In programming theory, as Hoare triple, a description
of how the execution of a piece of code changes the state of the computation in
Hoare logic, consisting of (1) a command to be run, (2) a pre-condition that
holds true beforehand, and (3) a post-condition that holds true afterwards.
(14) In mathematics, a sequence of three elements or
3-tuple.
1325-1375: From the Middle English triple (there was also þripell),
from the Old French triple or the Medieval Latin triplare (to triple) from the Latin triplus (threefold, triple), from the primitive Indo-European tréyes.
Triple is a noun, verb & adjective, tripled is a verb, tripling is a
noun & verb, triply is an adverb and triplet is a noun; the noun plural is
triples.
In English, the Latinate multiplier “triple” is but one of many ways the value three (3) is in some way expressed or applied. “Three” is the highest value, single digit cardinal number, as an ordinal it’s “third” (the Latinate ordinal is “tertiary”), the adverbial form is “thrice” (or the more mundane “three times”, as a multiplier the term is “threefold” (also as “three-fold”), the distributive is “triply”, the collective “tripartite”, “trio” or “threesome” (ménage à trois a popular version which has tended to limit the utility of “threesome” for other purposes), the multiuse collective “triplet”, the Greek or Latinate collective “triad”, the collective prefix (from both Latin & Ancient Greek (the latter also had “trito”)) was “tri”, the fractional expression is “third” (the Latinate fractional prefix was “trient-”, the elemental “thrin” & “triplet” and a period of three years is a triennium. However, while there are weeks, fortnights & months, there’s no accepted term which express a measure of 21 days although three months is often described as “a quarter” although in the context of the nine month gestation associated with human pregnancy, the three month blocks are "trimesters" (first, second & third). The use in obstetrics extended to education and in systems where academic years exist in four semesters (or terms), there is also the "fourth trimester".
Originally an adjective, the noun emerged in the early fifteenth century. The use in baseball dates from 1880 while the various uses of triple-deck, triple-decker etc (a development of the earlier double-decker) for cakes, sandwiches, bunk-beds etc all came into use in the early 1940s. Triple-barrel carburetors were rare but did exist, Porsche for example using them on their flat sixes. Rugby Union in 1883 was the first to use “triple crown”, awarded in the UK to the side which won the three “home countries” (England, Ireland, Scotland & Wales) matches. That was based on the use of the papal triple crown (sometimes as triple tiara) then used for the coronation of the Roman Catholic Pope and was later picked up in US thoroughbred racing: The Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes, and the Belmont Stakes comprise the Triple Crown which was first officially awarded in 1919 although the term didn’t become widely used until the 1930s. In motorsport, despite the popular perception, it’s never been an official award and many branches of the sport have their own triple crowns, most barely known outside of the small circle of their cognoscenti. The three events which comprised the classic triple crown were (1) the Indianapolis 500 (first run in 1911), the 24 Hours of Le Mans (first run in 1923) and the Monaco Grand Prix (first run in 1929) and it’s been achieved only once. That was by Graham Hill (1929–1975) who completed the set at Le Mans in 1972 and although he and others have suggested the Formula One World Championship should be included instead of the Monaco Grand Prix, the original arrangement seems still the accepted triple crown.
Triple sec liqueurs
First distilled as a commercial product in France, “triple sec” is the generic term for an orange-flavoured liqueur which, while rarely consumed alone, is one of the most widely used ingredients in cocktails and other mixed drinks. It’s this one of the “essentials” in any cocktail bar and the best-known triple sec is Cointreau. Curiously, there is no consensus about the origin of the term “triple sec” and the theories include (1) the reference in some of the early instructions for the production process to “triple distillation”, (2) the use of three types of orange peel (bitter, sweet & dried) or (3) the meaning “three times as dry”, the literal translation of the French sec being “dry”. The last, while obvious, is discounted by historians of the industry because Triple Secs have probably always been quite sweet. Whatever the origin, it’s now a universally used term for many orange liqueurs.
The Triple Alliance and Triple Entente were diplomatic arrangements formed in Europe in the decades prior to the First World War (1914-1918). The Triple Alliance between Germany, Austria-Hungary & Italy was signed in 1882 as a defensive system directed entirely against France. It was an integral part of the series of treaties and agreements variously negotiated or imposed by Otto von Bismarck (1815-1989; chancellor of the German Empire (the "Second Reich") 1871-1890) and needs to be understood in the way it interacted with other cogs in the Bismarck machine. That machine, a collection of inter-locking treaties and agreements (some of them secret) worked to further the interests of (1) the German Empire and (2) a general peace in Europe and was a good device in Bismarck’s capable hands but it proved lethal when less competent practitioners (who didn’t fully understand the implications) inherited the tool. The Triple Entente was between France, Russia and the UK and was formed in 1907; in the narrow technical sense it was not a formal military alliance but an “understanding” between the three to counter the growing power of Germany and the Triple Alliance. The Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria would become attached to the Triple Alliance with the onset of war although Italy initially remained neutral before (in what would continue to be an Italian tradition) switching sided in 1915 to join the Alliance. Both the Alliance and the Entente played their parts in the escalating tensions which culminated in the outbreak of hostilities which would trigger the chain reaction of declarations of war. Had Bismarck still been in Berlin, it’s unlikely things would have been allowed to assume their own momentum.
The word is used also as a modifier as required such as triple-barreled (used with three-element surnames and in various manufactured items but best known in shotguns), triple-headed (again widely used but probably still most associated with creatures from mythology, tripledemic (a term used in public health and epidemiology to describe the simultaneous outbreak of three epidemics or pandemics), triple fault (in computing a third (and fatal) error instance in a CPU attempting a graceful recovery from a double fault, triple jump (an athletic (track & field) event involving three different types of jump), triple goddess (a female deity who is either three goddesses in one or one who is triune (both three and one at the same time) and triple X syndrome (a chromosomal variation characterized by the presence of an extra X chromosome in each cell of a human female).
The papal triple tiara
Pius XII (1876-1958; pope 1939-1958) in the papal triple tiara, at his coronation, 12 March, 1939.
The papal triple tiara is a crown which
has been worn by popes of the Roman Catholic Church since the eighth
century. Traditionally it was worn for
their coronation but no pontiff has been so crowned since Paul VI
(1897-1978; pope 1963-1978) in 1963 and he abandoned its use after the Second
Vatican Council (Vatican II, 1962-1965).
The name tiara refers to the entire headgear and it has used a
three-tiered form since a third crown was added during the Avignon Papacy
(1309–1378). It's also referred to as
the triregnum, triregno or Triple
Crown. In a piece of one- (or perhaps
four-) upmanship, Suleiman I (Süleyman the Magnificent, 1494-1566, Sultan of
the Ottoman Empire 1520-1566) commissioned from Venice a four tier helmet to
show, in addition to the authority claimed by popes, he could add the symbol of
his imperial power. Often put on display
as the centrepiece of Ottoman regalia to impress visitors, there's no
documentary evidence the sultan ever wore the four layer tiara, crowns not part
of the tradition and, fashioned from gold and gemstones, it would anyway have
been extraordinarily heavy.
A representation of the triregnum combined with two crossed keys of Saint Peter continues to be used as a symbol of the papacy and
appears on papal documents, buildings and insignia. Remarkably, there’s no certainty about what
the three crowns symbolize. Some modern
historians link it to the threefold authority of the pope, (1) universal
pastor, (2) universal ecclesiastical jurisdiction and (3) temporal power. Others, including many biblical scholars,
interpret the three tiers as meaning (1) father of princes and kings, (2) ruler
of the world and (3) vicar of Christ on Earth, a theory lent credence by the
words once used when popes were crowned: Accipe tiaram tribus coronis ornatam, et
scias te esse patrem principum et regum, rectorem orbis in terra vicarium
Salvatoris nostri Jesu Christi, cui est honor et gloria in saecula saeculorum
(Receive the tiara adorned with three crowns and know that thou art father of
princes and kings, ruler of the world, vicar on earth of our Savior Jesus
Christ, to whom is honor and glory for ever and ever).
Lindsay Lohan triple-pack DVD bundle.
Documents in the Vatican Archive suggest by 1130 the
papal tiara had been modified to become a conventional (and temporal) symbol of
sovereignty over the Papal States. In
1301 during a dispute with Philip IV (Philip the Fair, 1268–1314, King of
France 1285-1314), Boniface VIII (circa 1230–1303; pope 1294-1303) added a
second layer to represent a pope’s spiritual authority being superior to an
earthly king’s civil domain. It was
Benedict XII (1285–1342; pope 1334-1342 (as the third Avignon pope)) who in
1342 who added the third, said to symbolize the pope’s moral authority over all
civil monarchs, and to reaffirm Avignon’s possession. A changing world and the loss of the Papal
States deprived the triple crown of temporal meaning but the silver tiara with
the three golden crowns remained to represent the three powers of the Supreme
Pontiff: Sacred Order, Jurisdiction and Magisterium.
Not since 1963 has a pope worn the triple crown. Then, the newly-elected Paul VI,
at the end of his coronation, took the tiara from his head and, in what was
said to be a display of humility, placed it on the altar. In a practical expression of that humility,
the tiara was auctioned; the money raised used for missionary work in Africa
although, keeping things in house, the winning bidder was the Archdiocese of
New York. Popes Benedict XVI (1927–2022;
pope 2005-2013, pope emeritus 2013-2022) and Francis (1936-2025; pope 2013-2025)
received tiaras as gifts but neither wore them.
Benedict’s, in a nice ecumenical touch, was made by Bulgarian craftsmen
from the Orthodox Church in Sofia, a gesture in the name of Christian
unity. Benedict would have appreciated
that, having always kept a candle burning in the window to tempt home the
wandering daughter who ran off to Constantinople.
The Mercedes-Benz triple rotor Wankel
The original (although there was a prototype rendered in the tradition of functional brutalism) Mercedes-Benz C111 with triple rotor Wankel engine (1969).
Triple cylinder engines in cars were something of a niche in the early post war years but of late they’ve achieve a new popularity, improvements in electronics and combustion chamber design meaning three cylinders can now achieve what once required four and even with an equivalent displacement their efficiency is inherently greater because of the reduction in internal friction. Obviously compact, they’ve proved an ideal power-plant in hybrid vehicles. One quirky triple was the Mercedes-Benz C111 which first appeared in 1969 with a 1.8 litre (110 cubic inch) three-rotor Wankel engine, something then thought to have a great future; it seemed at the time a good idea. The C111, although produced in a small run and finished in some cases to production car standards was only ever a test bed, not only for the doomed rotary engine but also developments in suspension design, anti-lock braking (ABS; Anti-Bloc System) and safety engineering. The gullwing body really was designed by an Italian-born stylist but so long had he been in Germany that Teutonic ways had entered his soul so the C111 was less lovely than what might have emerged from a studio in Turin but at the time it still caused a stir, even though finished in what the factory called “safety orange”, their standard high-visibility paint for prototypes and test-beds. Later versions were fitted with a four-rotor Wankel, a variety of diesels and even a 4.8 litre (292 cubic inch) V8, the fastest of the rotaries said to be capable of 300 km/h (188 mph) while the V8 version (C111-II-D) in 1976 set a new closed-course record on the Nardò Ring in Italy, clocking in at 403.978 km/h (251.815 mph).
Triple carburetors
When submitting to the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (the FIA; the International Automobile Federation) the application to homologate the 275 GTB/C for sports car racing, there was some glitch in the factory’s administrative processes because the document certifying the existence of a six-carburetor option for the 275 GTB wasn’t part of the paperwork enclosed. That meant the 275 GTB/C could appear on the grid only with triple carburetors so to compensate, Ferrari had Weber produce a run of 40 DF13 units which in addition to their higher flow-rate featured lightweight magnesium bodies instead of the aluminium housing and were distinguished also by the distinctive, rearward-facing inlet trumpets. As might be expected, original Weber 40 DF13s now command a premium price. Twelve 275 GTB/Cs were built and the model was a turning point in being the last Ferrari built for racing to use the classic Borrani wire wheels. Such had been the advances in tyre technology that by 1966 the grip generated transferred stresses so acute that in extreme conditions the spokes could break, a tendency exacerbated by the wheels’ additional width (7 inch front 7½ rear); there were accidents. Such was the concern the two 275 GTB/Cs built as road cars were factory-fitted with aluminum-alloy wheels although the lovely Borranis continued to be made available for the later and much heavier 365 GTB/4 (Daytona, 1968-1973) and 365 GTC/4 (1971-1972), the factory cautioning they were suitable only for road use. In truth, using a 275 GTB/C on the road was a dubious proposition because, as a weight-saving measure, the body panels had been fabricated in thin 20-gauge aluminium; about half the thickness of the metal used for the road cars, it could be dented just by being touched and the dainty bumperettes (which offered at least some protection on the other variants of the 275 GTB) were wholly fake and merely affixed to the panels with no underlying structure.
1960 Jaguar XK150S 3.8 (left) and schematic of typical installation of Jaguar's auxiliary enrichment thermo-carburetor (right).
The last in the XK series (XK120 (1948-1954), XK140 (1954-1957) & XK150 (1957-1961)), the Jaguar XK150 debuted with a version of the twin carburetor 3.4 litre XK-Six used since 1948. Increased weight had blunted the XK150's performance, something not wholly off-set by the slight increase in power coaxed from the engine and in 1958 the option of an "S" specification was made available as the XK150S, restoring the pace of the earlier cars, the raised output achieved with a revised cylinder head and triple carburettors (seen earlier in the 1950s on the C-Type, D-Type & XKSS). The final and fastest of the species was the 3.8 litre version of the XK150S, introduced in 1960; the engine in essentially this configuration would later be shared with the early E-Types (XKE) and Mark X, the triple carburetor arrangement carried when the 4.2 litre versions were released in 1964. The triple carburetor engines were in 1968 withdrawn from the US market because the anti-emission regulations made the cost of certification prohibitive although, while in North America buyers had to be content with twin-carburetor units, the triples continued for RoW (rest of the world) vehicles exported to other places or sold in the home market. When the last of the six-cylinder E-Types was made in 1971, that was the end of the line for the triple carburettor Jaguar. It is however misleading to suggest the XK150S, E-Type and Mark X/420G were the only series-production Jaguars with triple carburetors because on some cars during the 1950s & 1960s, the factory fitted a smaller electromagnetically controlled “auxiliary carburetor” which augmented the main pair, making starting easier. The unusual arrangement acted as a choke but it was a complicated solution to a simple problem and, while performing faultlessly in testing, in the real world with gas (petrol) of varying quality and in different climatic conditions, it sometimes proved troublesome and there were owners who gave up and installed a conventional choke.
The early carburetors were all single throat (later also as “choke” or “barrel”) devices and almost all were gravity-fed; it wasn’t until the 1930s the first two-barrel (then called a “duplex”) units appeared. That design was such an advance because the duplexing allowed “fuel separation” manifolds which more accurately sent the mixture to the most distant cylinders; the adoption if this technology in 1934 allowed the output of Ford’s then new “flathead” V8 to rise from 60 to 85 horsepower (HP). Buick in 1941 created what was, in effect, the first four-barrel system by installing two two-barrel units, the second becoming active only when the throttle had been opened far enough to operate the progressive linkage. The advantage of that was economy of operation because the additional fuel-burn happened only on demand; it was an approach Detroit would use (in gradually diminishing numbers) until 1971. Four-barrel carburettors which operated on the same model appeared at scale in the 1950 and became an industry standard, some even installed in pairs on the high-performance vehicles. Ideal in many ways for the V8 layout, the problem for the manufacturers was the engines grew at a much greater rate than the carburetors and while the dual four-barrel configuration was suited to some, a better compromise for many was to use triple two-barrels. Pontiac and Oldsmobile chose that path in 1957 and Chevrolet and Cadillac followed in 1958. Ford flirted only briefly with the triple two-barrel before switching for a few years to dual four barrels for their high performance V8s, their first venture in 1958 when three were bolted onto the big, heavy 430 cubic inch (7.0 litre) MEL V8 although in that form it appeared only on one Mercury for that single season. As higher-volume four-barrel carburetors became widely available, the rationale for the triple option faded and Chevrolet ceased use for all but the full-sized line and the Corvette; the last triple carburetor Corvettes were built in 1969. Chrysler was last to adopt the idea and the last to offer it, Trans-Am themed 340 cubic inch (5.5 litre) Plymouth ‘Cudas and Dodge Challengers made in 1970 while the 440 cubic inch (7.2 litre) (advertised variously as “Six Pack” by Dodge and “Six Barrel” by Plymouth) was available in several models between 1969-1971 (it's said six 1972 cars were so configured) although its last appearance was in the Jensen SP, the last of which was built in 1973. Jensen's experiment had at the time seemed a good idea because, with the engines outlawed in the US, they obtained the surplus stock at an attractive price but in the Interceptor's smaller engine bay and equipped with air-conditioning (something Chrysler never coupled with the triple carburetor engines), the SP proved troublesome and production was terminated, Jensen not taking up to option to buy the remaining stock,
"Triple" is used of many things: Lindsay Lohan and her lawyer in court, Los Angeles, December 2011.
Of taillights and exhaust tips
1957 DeSoto Adventurer Convertible.
DeSoto's signature triple stacked taillights were a footnote in Detroit's macropterous era of the late 1950s, the style making possible the distinctive vertical arrangement. Chevrolet would for years make triple taillights a trademark of their more expensive lines (although, apart from the odd special built for the show circuit, they resisted the temptation to add a third to the Corvette (the additional rear apertures on the abortive 1963 Corvette Grand Sport (GS) were for air extraction)) but they appeared always in a less memorable horizontal array. DeSoto's motif was Chrysler's most successful use of the fins but it wasn't enough to save the brand which was crowded out of the mid-priced market, not only by competition from General Motors (GM) and Ford but also by intra-corporate cannibalization, squeezed from below by Dodge and from above by Chrysler's new Newport line. Demand for DeSotos collapsed and that 3034 1961 models were built in late 1960 happened only to use up the large inventory of the few parts still exclusive to the brand. The last of the line, heavily discounted, were not sold until well into 1961 by which time DeSoto was a single-model range and any loyal customer unable to be supplied with one after stocks were exhausted was rewarded instead with a similarly configured Chrysler Newport, a notch up the corporate hierarchy. The 47-day production run of the 1961 DeSotos was short but it was longer than that of Ford's doomed 1960 Esdel, 2864 of which left the production line over 34 days late in 1959.
More sharing of stuff than before: 1960 DeSoto Fireflite four-door hardtop (left) and 1960 Chrysler New Yorker four-door hardtop (right).
Note the New Yorker's larger rear window. Remarkably (by today's standards), the Chryslers of this generation offered two different designs of rear glass, the extra surface-area described in the brochures as the “Extra-large rear window” and it was a time when such flourishes were a matter purely for designers and accountants whereas now it would require a separate programme crash-testing several vehicles. The big glass was standard on all two-door hardtops & New Yorker four-door hardtops and optional at various times on the Saratoga, Newport and Windsor four-door hardtops.
1961 Chrysler brochure (page 7).
The phrase "EXTRA-LARGE REAR WINDOW" really did appear (capitalized) in the brochures and the simplicity in the description wasn't always typical of the advertising copy of an era during which words like "vista", "panoramic" or "dioramic" might have been expected when extolling the virtues of having more glass. In the same (1961) brochure, the plain-speaking language may be compared with "FLIGHT-SWEEP DECK LID", used to describe the fake spare tyre cover the agency further explained was a "smooth sculptured circle" which added "a distinctive finishing touch". In the wild, the "flight sweep deck lid" was tended to be called the "washing machine lid" or "toilet seat". "Flight-Sweep" was an allusion to a pair of concept-cars Chrysler sent around the show circuit in 1955 and they genuinely did have the spare tyre housed under the mounting although the complexity of the assembly would have seen it vetoed by the accountants as too expensive for mass-production. When "Flight Sweep" was used as an advertising hook for the 1956 range, while some of the styling cues from the show cars did appear the "toilet seat" did not but it was a feature (many suggesting, even then, a blemish) between 1957-1960 when it was fitted as standard on some of the higher-priced lines and an option on others. There were buyers who chose the option so the "toilet seat look" must have had some appeal.
By 1959 the writing was on the wall for the once popular DeSoto and the 1960 range would prove its swansong, the last of the breed barely modified Chryslers and the only real hint of the past was the taillight's triple frets. On the DeSoto the ridges were a modest attempt to retain brand identity but in optics such things have a purpose and are known as “Fresnel lenses” or “Fresnel ribs”, the name from French civil engineer Augustin-Jean Fresnel (1788–1827), remembered for his research into optics which led eventually to the near-unanimous acceptance of the nature of light being a wave (he was half-right but light was later proved to possess a wave-particle duality). His more enduring Fresnel lens used the catadioptric (reflective/refractive) principle and what the “stepped” design did was extend the reach of lighthouse beams, doubtlessly saving the lives of many seafarers. Fresnel’s invention was a refinement of the dioptric (refractive) stepped lens, a concept first published by the French cosmologist and mathematician Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon (1707-1788) and Fresnel’s enhancements better distributed and directed the light, improving visibility from longer distances and a greater range of angles.
By 1960 (left) the DeSoto's taillights were a shadow of the way the triple-stack motif had been defined in 1959 (right): This juxtaposition is DeSoto Red Tail Lights in Black and White by Paul Ward. Many designers probably will prefer the later interpretation but there's a charm to the triple stack.
1969 Dino 206 GT by Ferrari in Azzurro Metallizzato (left), 1974 Ferrari 365 GT4 in Rosso Corso (centre) and 1975 Ferrari 365 GT4 BB in Verde Germoglio.
Unexpectedly, in the early 1970s, Ferrari had a flirtation with triple taillights and they doubled-down for the 365 GT4 BB (better known as the Berlinetta Boxer), adding a pair of triple tail-pipe apparatuses (thus a count of six rather than the usual four) for the 4.4 litre Flat-12. Before the decade was out it must have been decided four of either was enough and the factory decided for a while (mostly) to stick to the classics: as designs like the Dino 206 GT illustrate, less can be more. Since the BB however, Ferraris have also appeared with two and three tailpipes (some in the 1970s had but one) and in the twenty-first century many cars come with just a minimalist pair of taillights. Ascetically, no arrangement works as well as the traditional template: four lights, four pipes.
The fetish of motorcycle exhaust systems
1980 Laverda Jota 1000 (3-into-2, far left), 1973 Suzuki GT750 "Water Buffalo" (3-into-4, centre left), 1972 Kawasaki 750 Mach IV (H2) (3-into-3, centre right) and 2017 MV-Agusta Dragster 800Rc (3-into-3, far right).
Triple cylinder engines have been a feature of motorcycle engines for decades and different manufacturers have taken various approaches to the exhaust systems, an item which exerts upon riders a special fascination. It’s not unusual to fit single systems (3-into-one) but there are also some which “siamesed” the central header pipe, the derived pair joining the two outer pipes to duct into two mufflers. Unusually, Suzuki for a while offered 380, 550 & 750 cm3 machines with 3-into-4 systems, the central header again “siamesed” but with the novelty of terminating the two pipes in separate mufflers, thereby emulating the appearance of a four-cylinder machine. It was a curious arrangement which Suzuki abandoned and other manufacturers choose not to follow (although there had been after-market suppliers which concocted 2-into-4 systems which exchanged the "advantage" of "the look" for the drawback of additional weight and needless complexity). Greatly at the time, Suzuki must have valued symmetry.
1973 Kawasaki H2 Mach IV 750 (left), 1975 Triumph X-75 Hurricane (centre) and 2020 MV Agusta Dragster 800 RC 75th Anniversario (right).
Somewhat earlier, asymmetry hadn’t frightened Kawasaki which used pragmatic 3-into-3 engineering for their range (250, 350, 400, 500 & 750 cm3) of charismatic, highly strung two-strokes, one pipe to the left, two to the right and it was a distinctive feature which, although sometimes seen on the track, remains rare on the road. In the same era, Triumph on their X75 Hurricane took 3-into-3 asymmetry to its logical conclusion, its three pipes arranged in a radically upswept stack on the right. It looked dramatic and was much admired but didn’t catch on although there’s been the odd revival, the Italian house MV-Agusta adopting the look and engineering a particularly aggressive interpretation on their Dragster 800RC. The Italians can make even exhaust pipes artistic statements. When the Guggenheim Museum in New York staged The Art of the Motorcycle exhibition (October 2001-January 2003), one featured machine was the MV Agusta F4, and there was a focus on the way its four pipes exited rakishly from the tail section.
1969 Triumph Trident T150.
So there have been triple-cylinder motorcycles with exhaust systems configured as 3-into-1, 3-into-2, 3-into-3 & 3-into-4 but the early versions of the Triumph Trident and BSA Rocket 3 (1968-1975) offered a unique take on things with a design which had the three headers ducted into two mufflers, each of which terminated with three exhaust stubs so it can be described as a 3-into-2-into-6 which seems one layer of complication too many. The styling on the early Trident and Rocket wasn’t well received and was revised for 1971. Neither motorcycle was a commercial success because they arrived too late; had the pair been released in 1966 as was planned, things might have been better because genuinely they were fast and offered a level of refinement beyond the parallel twins which for years had been a mainstay of the British industry. As it was, within weeks of their debut, Honda’s epoch-making 750-Four was on the market, a generation (or more) advanced compared with the competition and when the Kawasaki 900 later followed, even the (slight) performance advantage enjoyed by the British triples vanished.
2022 Triumph Rocket 3 GT in triple black.
When Triumph announced the Rocket 3 in 2019, most attention was on the numbers, the 2458 cm3 (150 cubic inch) triple being the largest displacement engine available in a motorcycle and the (163 ft-lb) (221 N⋅m) torque generated also industry leading, topping even the big Ducatis and the straight-six BMW. Triumph since 2004 been at the top of the displacement tree with the Rocket III’s 2294 cm3 (140 cubic inch) engine and the updated model was very much a modernization exercise, something which may account for the decision to switch from the traditional Roman numerals to a digitally compliant “3”. Being a triple there were of course options for how to handle the exhaust ducting and for the GT model Triumph opted for the asymmetric on the model of the old Kawasaki two-strokes rather than reprise its own X-75 Hurricane of nearly half a century earlier. Unlike Kawasaki, Triumph didn’t make asymmetry a signature feature, choosing to route the third exhaust, almost inconspicuously, just under the swing-arm on the left side, a curious juxtaposition with the visual statement of intent made by the two on the right. Doubtlessly the engineering behind the decision was sound and to add a bit of high-tech bling, some Rocket 3’s had carbon-fibre exhaust tips and most conspicuously they were carbon-fibre.
