1959 LEGENDS COLLABORATION FURTHER SUPPORTING THE DGR WITH ADDITIONAL FUNDRAISING PRIZES

TRIUMPH MOTORCYCLES & GIBSON PARTNER ONCE AGAIN TO DONATE THREE SIGNED GUITARS, EACH WITH A ONE-OF-A-KIND CUSTOM PAINTED TRIUMPH LEGEND GUITAR CASE FOR THE DISTINGUISHED GENTLEMAN’S RIDE

 

Following the passionate response to the ‘1959 Legends’ custom edition Les Paul Standard Reissue guitar and Bonneville T120 motorcycle, Triumph and Gibson have partnered once again, to provide further support for the Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride, in the form of three additional guitars, each signed by a famous musician, and each with a custom painted guitar case inspired by a legendary Triumph rider. The “Saints of Speed” custom guitar cases will be painted by the world-renowned guitar artist James Willis.

 

Gentlefolk Prize (open to participants raising over $250 USD)

  • Epiphone ‘Inspired by Gibson’ J-200 guitar, signed by American country music star Big Kenny
  • Custom Triumph-inspired “Saints of Speed” guitar case, painted by James Willis

 

Highest Team Triumph Global Fundraiser

  • Epiphone ‘Inspired by Gibson’ SG Standard guitar, signed by Canadian musician Clayton Bellamy of The Road Hammers
  • Custom Triumph-inspired “Saints of Speed” guitar case, painted by James Willis

 

Spirit of ’59 Prize (open to participants raising over $59 USD)

  • Epiphone ‘Inspired by Gibson’ 1959 Les Paul Standard guitar, signed by English rock legend, Billy Duffy of The Cult
  • Custom Triumph-inspired “Saints of Speed” guitar case, painted by James Willis

 

Donated to support The Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride, in its global charity efforts to raise awareness and funds in support of men’s mental health and prostate cancer, each of the Epiphone ‘Inspired by Gibson’ guitars pays homage to a Gibson music legend and each comes with the signature details and features that made them famous.

The custom hard case that comes with each guitar will be painted by famed Nashville guitar artist, James Willis, as part of a new “Saints of Speed” numbered series of custom cases, each commemorating a legendary Triumph rider. Willis is a multi-bike Triumph owner and will be participating in this year’s Gentleman’s Ride on his Scrambler 1200 XC motorcycle.

Further celebrating the connection between music and motorcycles, the guitars will be signed by musicians that are also passionate riders, each participating in this year’s Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride. The Epiphone ‘Inspired by Gibson’ J-200 will be signed by American country music artist Big Kenny, of Big & Rich. The Epiphone ‘Inspired by Gibson’ SG Standard will be signed by Canadian recording artist Clayton Bellamy of The Road Hammers. The Epiphone ‘Inspired by Gibson’ 1959 Les Paul Standard will be signed by English rock musician Billy Duffy of The Cult.

These additional prizes allow the Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride to further support fundraising across the world by rewarding fundraisers in unique categories, including the annual Gentlefolk prize, eligible for participants which raise over $250 USD. New prize categories for 2022 will be the Spirit of ’59 category, for any rider which raises over $59 USD, and the Team Triumph prize, for the highest fundraiser that has joined the official Triumph team or a Triumph dealership’s fundraising team.

 

Triumph and Gibson Partnership

  • Inspired by the shared historic significance of the year 1959, with the legendary 1959 Gibson Les Paul Standard, the ‘holy-grail’ of guitars, and the equally iconic original 1959 Triumph Bonneville T120, the original British superbike and arguably the most famous name in motorcycling
  • Celebrating the timeless connection between music and motorcycle culture,
    and the passion that Gibson and Triumph designers share for beautiful design,
    precision, performance, and world-class craftsmanship
  • Driven from a mutual ambition to support the global charity efforts of The Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride, uniting motorcyclists through fundraising to support men’s health

 

Gibson Guitars and Triumph Legends Custom Cases

  • Numbered “Saints of Speed” series custom guitar cases, each commemorating a legendary Triumph rider of the winner’s choosing, will be hand painted by famed Nashville guitar artist James Willis.
  • The Epiphone Inspired by Gibson™ J-200™ is a stunning homage to the King of the Flat-Tops - the world-famous Gibson™ SJ-200. Since its introduction in 1937 it has been the choice of "singing cowboys" like Tex Ritter and Gene Autry, as well as folk, rock and country royalty, including Emmylou Harris, Elvis, Jimmy Page, Bob Dylan, George Harrison, The Edge, and many more. Featuring a Super Jumbo non-cutaway solid figured maple body, solid Sitka spruce top, and two-piece maple neck with a mahogany centre strip, the Epiphone J-200 is built with all solid woods for outstanding tone. The visual elements have always been a big part of the J-200's appeal, and the Epiphone Inspired by Gibson J-200 includes a Moustache™ bridge with curved block inlays, Crown headstock inlay and Graduated Crown mother of pearl fingerboard inlays, and a J-200 style pickguard with two-colour graphics.
  • The Epiphone SG Standard from the new Inspired by Gibson Collection, recreates the legendary 1960s classic that powered the first generation of hard rock and heavy metal bands including The Who, Cream, AC/DC, and Black Sabbath. The guitar features the historic SG profile with “batwing” pickguard, a pair of Epiphone's Alnico Classic PRO™ humbuckers, and 18:1 ratio Epiphone Deluxe Tuners. This Epiphone Inspired by Gibson Original model also has the Kalamazoo headstock, rolled neck for a comfortable feel, GraphTech® NuBone™ nut, era-appropriate wiring, and CTS pots. Optional hardshell or EpiLite Case is available.
  • Made in partnership with the Gibson™ Custom Shop, the Limited Edition 1959 Les Paul™ Standard is Epiphone's stunning recreation of the rare vintage classic. Featuring a mahogany body with a maple top with a AAA figured maple veneer, comfortable 1959 hand-rolled neck profile with long neck tenon, aged finish, Gibson USA BurstBucker™ 2 & 3 humbucking pickups, Switchcraft® selector switch and output jack, CTS® pots, 50s era wiring, Mallory™ capacitors, non-beveled pickguard, new Epiphone Deluxe vintage tuners, and a vintage-style brown hard case. It also comes with an Epiphone Limited Edition metal medallion toggle switchplate.

 

The Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride

The 2022 Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride, which will take place on Sunday, May 22nd, represents a major milestone in Triumph’s sponsorship, marking 9 incredible years of support, with over 100,000 riders in over 900 cities across the world, raising over $31million USD for men’s mental health and prostate cancer awareness.

 

Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride
Prize Summary

Highest Global Fundraiser

  • ‘1959 Legends’ custom edition Triumph Bonneville T120 motorcycle and Gibson Les Paul Standard Reissue guitar
  • Hedon x DGR Kingpin Helmet
  • ELF Prize Pack

 

2nd Highest Global Fundraiser

  • Triumph Thruxton RS motorcycle
  • Hedon x DGR Hedonist Helmet
  • ELF Prize Pack

 

3rd Highest Global Fundraiser

  • Triumph Speed Twin 1200 motorcycle
  • Hedon x DGR Hedonist Helmet
  • ELF Prize Pack

 

Gentlefolk Competition 1st Prize (open to participants raising over $250 USD)

  • Triumph Bonneville Bobber motorcycle
  • Hedon x DGR Hedonist Helmet

 

Gentlefolk Competition 2nd Prize (open to participants raising over $250 USD)

  • Epiphone ‘Inspired by Gibson’ J-200 guitar, signed by country artist Big Kenny
  • Custom Triumph-inspired “Saints of Speed” guitar case, painted by artist James Willis

 

Highest Team Triumph Global Fundraiser (includes Triumph Dealer fundraising teams)

  • Epiphone ‘Inspired by Gibson’ SG Standard guitar, signed by Canadian artist Clayton Bellamy
  • Custom Triumph-inspired “Saints of Speed” guitar case, painted by artist James Willis

 

Spirit of ’59 Prize (open to participants raising over $59 USD)

  • Epiphone ‘Inspired by Gibson’ 1959 Les Paul Standard guitar, signed by English rock legend, Billy Duffy of The Cult
  • Custom Triumph-inspired “Saints of Speed” guitar case, painted by artist James Willis

 

 

For further information, contact:

 Triumph:

Adam VanderVeen

adam.vanderveen@triumphmotorcycles.com

 

Gibson:

Libby Coffey

lcoffey@primeprgroup.com

 

ABOUT TRIUMPH

 

  • First established in 1902, Triumph Motorcycles celebrates 120 years of motorcycle manufacture in 2022. For more than three decades, Triumph Motorcycles has been based in Hinckley, Leicestershire, and has produced iconic bikes that perfectly blend authentic design, character, charisma and performance.

  • With more than 81,500 motorcycles delivered in calendar year 2021, and over 700 dealers across the world, Triumph is the largest British motorcycle manufacturer.

  • This focus, innovation and engineering passion has today created a broad range of bikes suited to all motorcycle riders, including the stunning new Speed Triple 1200 RR, Tiger Sport 660 and Trident 660, all-new transcontinental Tiger 1200 and epic Tiger 900, world leading Rocket 3 R and GT, high performance Street Triple 765 RS, iconic Scrambler 1200, and the legendary Triumph Bonneville family updated for 2021, including the Bonneville Bobber, Thruxton RS, Street Twin, Street Scrambler, and the iconic Bonneville T120 and T100, plus an exciting and accessible A2 range of Triumph motorcycles.
  • Triumph currently employs around 2000 personnel worldwide and has subsidiary operations in the UK, North America, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Japan, Sweden (Scandinavia), Benelux, Brazil, India, China and Thailand as well as a network of independent distributors. Triumph has manufacturing facilities in Hinckley, Leicestershire, and Thailand plus CKD facilities in Brazil and India.

  • The Triumph Bonneville, famously named to celebrate Triumph’s 1956 land speed record on the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, USA, was the original British superbike and a race-winner straight out of the crate, chosen by famous motorcyclists of the past for its legendary handling, style, and character. Updated for 2021 with even more performance, capability and style, it’s that handling, character and iconic looks, married to modern rider-focused technology that makes the new Bonneville family THE authentic modern classic choice today.

  • Triumph has a glorious racing history, competing in and winning races in almost every class and field of motorcycle sporting achievement. From winning the second ever Isle of Man TT in 1908, through to 1960s road and track domination in Europe and America, right up to contemporary racing achievements with the Triumph triple powered 2014 and 2015 Supersports titles and World SuperSport racing, Isle of Man Supersports TT wins in 2014 and 2019, courtesy of Gary Johnson and Peter Hickman, and in 2022, with another victory at the legendary Daytona 200 by Brandon Paasch on the Street Triple 765.

  • Triumph’s racing legend continues as the exclusive engine supplier to the FIM Moto2™ World Championship since the start of the 2019 season. Triumph Motorcycles provides all of the teams with race-tuned 765cc triples, each of which is based on the class-leading Street Triple RS powerplant. Redefining the class and breaking record after record in the inaugural year, including the first ever +300km/h Moto2™ top speed, the 2020 season got even faster with another 11 all-time lap records and seven different winners from 15 races.
  • Triumph’s racing activities are further bolstered by a return to the World Superbike paddock in 2022 with a factory-supported race team, Dynavolt Triumph, in the World Supersport Championship.

  • In 2021 Triumph announced their forthcoming entry into the Motocross and Enduro worlds as well as a new factory racing effort, with a commitment to top tier championship racing in both Motocross and Enduro series.

 

ABOUT GIBSON

Gibson, the leading iconic guitar brand, has shaped the sounds of generations of musicians and music lovers across genres for 127 years. Founded in 1894 and headquartered in Nashville, Gibson Brands has a legacy of world-class craftsmanship, legendary music partnerships, and progressive product evolution that is unrivaled among musical instrument companies. The Gibson Brands portfolio includes Gibson, the leading guitar brand, as well as many of the most beloved and recognizable music brands, including Epiphone, which has been on every stage since 1873, Kramer, the original MADE TO ROCK HARD guitar brand, MESA/Boogie, the home of tone, and KRK, behind great music for over 30 years, and Maestro, the founder of effect pedals. Gibson Brands is dedicated to quality, innovation, and sound excellence so that music lovers for generations to come will continue to experience music shaped by Gibson Brands. Learn more at Gibson.com and follow us on TwitterFacebookGibson TV, and Instagram.

 

ABOUT THE DISTINGUISHED GENTLEMAN'S RIDE

The Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride (DGR) unites hundreds of thousands of classic and vintage style motorcycle riders all over the world to raise funds and awareness for prostate cancer research and men’s mental health.

The Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride was founded in Sydney, Australia in 2012 by Mark Hawwa. After inspiration from a photograph featuring classic suits and vintage motorcycles, Mark decided a themed ride would be a great way to combat the often-negative stereotype of motorcyclists and connect the global motorcycling community, and to raise funds for a cause important to every rider.

DGR raises funds for its charity partner, Movember, and is dedicated to raising funds and awareness for prostate cancer research and men's mental health programs. Together, we have funded key research and community programs to help men make better connections with mates and lead happier and healthier lives.

Since its first year in 2012, our global community has raised over $31m USD for men's health. The event operates in over 900 cities and 114 countries around the world.

For more information and to join your local ride, visit www.gentlemansride.com

 

###

 

Related Model Press Packs