There is sometimes confusion regarding the N de Luxe name, for initially the 1927 Model N was advertised with the 'de Luxe' added, but this was dropped for this REAL 'de Luxe' model was to follow for 1928.
The progression from the very successful Model P, through the Model N to the Model N de Luxe was logical.
1928, and it was time for a further 'modernisation'. This was very apparent. The old flat tank was replaced by a saddle tank - Triumph's first, and only for 1928 - and it held only petrol. A separate oil tank was fitted on the saddle down-tube and there was a heel-operated auxilliary pump for those who did not trust the automatic pump in the crankcase. (Lubrication was still 'total loss' and the crankcase pump simply drip fed oil to the crankcase to compensate for that lost via the inefficient leather oil seals or burnt off by getting past the piston rings into the combustion chamber.)
For the saddle tank the whole frame was redesigned and was much lower than the previous flat-tank models, and the rider sat much lower.
Another major change was that for 1928 Triumph changed from the long-used (since sometime during 1913) French Grey with Brunswick Green panels, to a Black tank with pale blue panels.
In April 1928 the slim-line fuel tank was replaced by a slightly more 'bulbous' one, and in October the name was abbeviated to simply Model NL.
