L F Harris
L F Harris (International) Ltd
Using today’s technology we make yesterday’s motorcycle parts with tomorrow’s precision and quality
L F Harris (International) Ltd was originally founded in 1973 by Les and Shirley Harris, initially wholesaling spare parts for the great classic British marques of BSA, Triumph and Norton to the motorcycle trade.
Following the demise of the Meriden Triumph Motorcycle cooperative, we made a bid for the Triumph name from the receiver. Although we were unsuccessful in this bid we subsequently obtained a license to produce classic Triumph motorcycles. A motorcycle rider since the age of sixteen when he rode his first BSA, Les’ dream of manufacturing a British motorcycle came to fruition in 1983.
For five years we manufactured the classic Triumph Bonneville 750cc twin carburettor and the Tiger 750cc single carburettor motorcycle under licence from our factory in Newton Abbot, Devon, England and sold them all over the world. The first prototype was ready for testing in July 1984 with the first motorcycle being sold in February 1985. The final Bonneville left the factory in March 1988. We did not renew the licence.
Les’ dream and subsequent production of motorcycles ensured that Triumph can claim to be the oldest continuous production motorcycle in the world.
We had already started production of the Matchless G80 motorcycle in 1987, which was based on a Rotax 500cc engine. Unfortunately, the economic recession of the late 80s/early 90s put paid to the viability of producing the Matchless and production ceased.
After production of the motorcycles came to an end we increased our manufacturing facility within the site at Newton Abbot, adding auto machines and tube benders. This allowed us to manufacture an increased range of parts from nuts and bolts to most of the engine components and of course our renowned handlebars and exhaust pipes. Tooling and dies previously purchased from suppliers to the old Triumph factory are still in use by us today.
In 2008 we moved our factory, warehouse and offices to our current site in Torquay, Devon. Sadly, Les passed away in February 2009.
We continue to make spare parts for classic Triumph, BSA and Norton motorcycles utilising today’s CNC technology and continually invest in upgrading our engineering machinery to ensure that we make yesterday’s motorcycle parts with tomorrow’s precision and quality.
Our precision made parts are made to original factory tolerances and are supplied directly to the classic motorcycle trade only.
L. F. Harris (International) Ltd have been proud sponsors of the Royal Corp of Signals White Helmets Motorcycle Display Team since 1983. Their fitters, with technical help and parts that we supplied, built the motorcycles they rode in their shows until they disbanded in 2017.
You can be sure when purchasing parts from L. F Harris (International) Ltd that they are backed with decades of experience and are of consistent excellent quality.
