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New Triumph
New Trumpet Web site for new Adventure
Triumph Adventure obviously putting lots of ££ into this to take some of BMW customers just need to get some one do a RTW with TV crew chopper back up! |
Rumors about a "Tiger Cub" based on the 675cc motor have been in play for 3 years or so now. Lots of speculation on forums (see various ADV rider threads). Latest rumors suggest two versions, one off road oriented, one more SM or street tour adventure style.
Will either be a good travel adventure bike? We'll have to wait and see, but I have my doubts based on Triumph's most recent model introductions. I'm glad Triumph has picked up on this current trend. I'm also very glad the Japanese have pretty much stayed mute during this whole phenom that BMW and KTM have fired up. This will give Triumph at least a chance of making this whole effort worth the trouble and cost. The Adventure bike movement is one of very few still profitable segments in motorcycling. Dual Sport/Adventure may have a future. BMW have managed to turn around their previously unprofitable bike division with the GS1100 starting in the mid 90's. Previous to this BMW's car division wholly supported its weak two wheeled sibling. By 2000 momentum really began to build for the GS, then came the R1200. By that time KTM got into the mix and things began to get very interesting. Thus far, only Yamaha have introduced a bike labeled as "Adventure" with the new 1200 Tenere'. (In the Giant Trailie class) In some countries adventure riding has been going on for 50 years ... I guess we just never knew it! :rofl: In the UK and EU where NO LAND is available to ride on and going off road will often land you in Jail, this is a relatively new trend. The old timers probably remember a different time before lands were locked up. Did you ever wonder how Husqvarna developed their world beating bikes in the 60's? But in places like Africa, S. America and the Western USA, we've been doing off road adventure riding for decades. I did my first on a Honda 50 step- through in Mexico in the 1960's. I was about 16. The original Triumph (Meridan) company were strong and very important in various forms of dirt and street racing around the world. Those in the UK may remember the "Scrambles" events run all over England in the 1950's and 60's. Well documented in the press of the time. In the USA Triumph were THE brand you wanted be on. As a teen I longed for a Triumph ... but I could only afford a Spanish Bultaco. In those days Triumph made a 200cc Tiger Cub trail bike (I owned one), a 500cc twin (James Dean rode a Daytona 500 and so did Marlon Brando in the Wild One) and the TR-6 and Bonneville (Steve McQueen rode and raced several in the Mojave desert) All were raced in the desert, moto cross'd, flat track'd and road raced. A huge influence in the Moto world of those years. (pre-Japanese) But things change ... lets hope the young engineers at Triumph today have done their homework and understand the market. IMHO, they've screwed up mightily with the Thunderbird and Rocket lll. Wholly misjudging the US market. They will pay big for this. I hope it doesn't sink the company. This is what happens when you hire NO Americans (in important positions) in their USA Atlanta base of operations. The Brits don't always "get" we funny Americans, never really have. I've met some of the Triumph staff, so this is not here-say but personal experience in the industry. Triumph have had a decade to study this "Adventure trend" so lets hope they get it right first time out ... because I'm not sure Triumph have the resources to do continuous model upgrades (to "fix" a sub standard bike) the way the Japanese and Germans can. IMHO, the 675 motor should be a great starting point for an Adventure bike. The Teutonics out there will insist you need MASSIVE Boxer torque to make an adventure bike work. I disagree. What you need is a light weight bike that handles, can be loaded up and is tough enough to survive the rigors of thousands of off road (or Bad Road) miles. Its not really rocket science .... The big four built small CC bikes that fit this bill back in the 70's. Bomb proof do it all "Scramblers" like the CL and XL Hondas (175, 200, 250 and more). I owned a couple. These bikes were great for exploring the Mojave desert and Baja. In those days all we carried was a ruck sack (worn) and a small tail pack on the rear seat. Funky, inadequate but kids are tough. Biggest problem were flat tires. Tires and tubes today are 1000 times better than the 70's. So who will be the first to ride RTW on a "new" Triumph Adventure bike? |
Where on earth do you get the idea that there is nowhere to ride off road in the UK and Europe ? There is a far larger world outside of America where Triumph sells it,s bikes , and it must do it,s research and design them accordingly . America is just one part of the motorcycling world and certainly not the most important in terms of numbers of bikes sold by triumph each year .
Anyway ....you Americans all dress like pirates and ride bad ass chromed out hawgs fitted with 200 decibel squealing beagle exhausts......dont you ? :scooter::innocent::euro: |
The video on the Triumph website shows two bikes ,one with spoked wheels and knobbie tyres and the other bike has cast wheels and road biased tyres .
We shall have to wait and see what other details emerge ,but the outcome looks promising . Triumph seem to do their homework very well and slow selling models are dropped quickly ,the fact that the Rocket 111 has developed into 3 variants would seem to indicate that it is a success . I have every reason to believe that these two new bikes will be well received by the adventure touring community and I am eagerly awaitiing their release .It would seem logical for Triumph to use a variant of the 675 triple engine ,but you never know with Triumph .The 2.3 litre Rocket Three and the parallel twin new Thunderbird show that they are not afraid to experiment with unusual engine configurations .[Even the 675 triple was a break away from the four cylinder 600 convention ]. Tiger Cub would be a great name . Bring on the new bikes ! [BTW Marlon Brando rode a 650 Thunderbird in The Wild One ] |
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The new Thunderbird is the top selling Triumph in Australia and was top selling bike overall nationwide for something like 3 months.
I'd also like to see a 675 ADV bike but it'll be a few more years before I buy one because I don't buy new bikes and Triumphs depreciate very slowly down under. |
oil burner
The 675 is renowned for burning as much oil as petrol - if that's not cured then there is no hope for this new bike apart from posing wannabes.
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The positioning of the crankcase breather pipe in the engine allowed the over filled oil to be pumped up into the airbox and then dragged thru the throttle body's and burned off during combustion thus creating a lovely smoke screen for following traffic! This combined with the fact that some owners forgot that you have to screw the dipstick all the way in to check the oil level as opposed to a Jap bike where you just dip it in to check the level continously caused people to massively over fill thier engines and thus causing smoking. From late 2007 the breather pipe has been rerouted and a new easier to read dipstick has been fitted. Strangely enough ever since these mods the "oil burning" issue seems to have dissapeared!:thumbup1: Im really looking forward to the new adventure Triumph's, I reckon they will add a little spice to the mix. From what I hear they are mostly geared towords European and UK roads and riders.(Thankfully) I have test ridden a R1200GS 4 times in the last couple of years and I honestly cant see what the fuss is all about, they felt slow, ponderous and pretty bland to me. I ride a v-strom 650 myself and while its not exactly fast or very exciting I really couldnt justify the price difference between the Strom sand the GS. On the other hand I rode the new Yam 1200 Tenere a few days ago....now thats a nice bike, but again just too expensive, for me at least. |
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Triumph dont hire any Americans? Triumph have quite a few "Americans" working for them in high positions, there are several from central and south America and Canada, just not many from the USA. I wonder why?:innocent: |
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I'm sure you have a few little tracks here and there but my original comment compares the UK and Western EU with the Western USA, Africa and S. America where open land is abundant and riding is unrestricted. In the US this is part of why dirt riding is literally part of the culture ... for what it's worth. :innocent: The USA has thousands of square miles of open land to ride on. Check out Nevada. I think the UK might fit in it. The whole state is basically open to off road riding. Lots more riding in CA, AZ, NM, Id, Mt, Ut, OR and more. http://lh5.ggpht.com/_pXs6Z_85Tj8/S-..._ueWGC-L-1.jpg Tiny piece of Nevada. In my seven years in Latin America I never once met a Bolivian, Argentine or Colombian who when asked where they hailed from said they were "American". They prefer Boliviano, Argentino, or Colombiano. They adknowledge they are all "Americans", but when asked where they are from ... the country name is ALWAYS USED. "High Positions" ? Name ONE executive working for Triumph in Central America. Dealers? Maybe. Executives? Nice Troll. Rather than get into a country bashing exchange I'll simply say the reason they've brought the Brits to Atlanta, GA is because they get them cheap and life is much better in Georgia than the UK ... this according to several employees I met there. And lets not forget Triumph are now manufacturing and building a lot of bikes in Thailand and that more and more work is being transferred there. Almost none of Triumph's parts are made in UK, but sourced from Japan, Thailand, China and elsewhere. I learned a lot about Triumph when at the Factory in 2003. I'd show pictures but Triumph wouldn't allow it. |
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Get your story straight. In my 34 years living in the civilised world I have never met a French man, Spaniard or Irish person who when asked where they hail from said they were from the EU. They prefer French Spanish or Irish. They acknowledge they are all Europeans but when asked where they are from.....the country name is allways used. In my 4 years working in the USA, people there allways refered to themselves as being American:smartass: No execs. from cent. or south America working for Triumph? I'd look into that a little deeper if I were you. If you have pics of the Triumph factory then you were on the public factory tour which is done allmost daily. As for country bashing between the UK and the USA? bash away mate, Im not from the UK, but theres a reason im living in the UK now and not the states. |
back to the bikes
Road tyres and what seems to be a nineteen inch front wheel.
http://hellforleathermagazine.com/ga...5x276-9890.jpg |
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Nice looking bikes, anyone else think they look a little like Benelli Trek's?
You can see the Cat converter on the road bike on the right hand side down low bulging in the down pipe. The Cat looks pretty big, suggesting that maybe the bikes meet Euro 4 emissions standards and thus probably have the charcoal canisters that are fitted to US bikes to collect any petrol fumes from the tank. The headlights and screen all look like they might be easy to remove/replace, which will come in handy if the bikes are going to be used in anger off road. Nice flat passenger seat too, should be easy to strap a roll bag to. Hopefully they have stroked the 675 engine (this is what they done to the 955 engine to make it a 1050) to bring the cc up to about 800, straight into BMW territory. The 675 has bags of torque allready so a stroked version with revised cam timing would make it a real tyre shredder. My only concern is that the 675 has a very deep sump, which would comprimise ground clearance, so they will either have to redisign the sump or raise the engine pretty high off the ground and this may cause the bike to be top heavy. |
There's a report that BMW have recently filed a new trademark for the Triumph name. The application was filed in October last year. Triumph, for years, was one of the corporations that made the perfect British sports vehicle. They were light on their feet, had reasonable power under the hood and were often two-seater convertibles. The company is long deceased but technically is owned by BMW, who are said to be considering a resurrection for the brand. Here is the report: BMW considering reviving Triumph.
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