The new Triumph Scrambler 1200 has just been revealed, which they’ve been teasing for a while. The promise was that it would, unlike its predecessor, be more about performance with style, rather than the latter being more prominent. Not saying that the previous big Bonnie-based scrambler was a bad motorcycle, but considering that scramblers generally intend to have a strong ability when not on tarmac, the old Scrambler felt a bit lacking.
Triumph have seemed to sort that out and given us a drool-worthy machine that screams at every cell for some old-school manic adventure. Drop-dead-gorgeous is another description, provided that the scrambler style takes your fancy. Triumph offers two variants to suit your need, the XC which is a more comfortable all-rounder of sorts and the XE, the more off-road centric sibling.
These are, as mentioned earlier, performance-minded machines that, on paper, speak the language we all love, packing a lightweight aluminium frame and a stretched aluminium swing-arm: 547 mm on the XC and 579 mm on the XE. The fully adjustable suspension at both ends, Showa upside-down fork up front and Ohlins at the rear and, offering 200 mm and 250 mm of travel for the XC and XE respectively. To stop yourself from flying off a cliff or nestling head first into a wall, you get twin Brembo 320-mm floating discs with Monobloc M50 calipers in the front and Brembo two-piston 255-mm rear calipers. Both variants also get 21-inch spoked wheels in front and 17s at the back, draped in Metzeler Tourance rubber.
The engine is similar to what you find on the Bonneville T120, a 1,200-cc liquid-cooled parallel-twin that churns out 90 PS at 7,400 rpm and 110 Nm of torque at an early 3,950 rpm, mated to a six-speed wet, multi-plate assist clutch.
Modern bells and whistles ring out, too. LED headlights and taillights and new stylish turn signals provide for required illumination. Connectivity features include turn-by-turn navigation, mobile phone pairing via Bluetooth. The love of sharing your adventure is now made easier with an integrated GoPro control system.
We at Bike India are excited about this new delight by Triumph. When or will the English motorcycle company bring the Scrambler 1200 to our shores remains to be seen. In all probability, it will hit the Indian market sometime next year. Please do so, Triumph. I just hope it would be at a decent price point. Triumph have still to reveal pricing for any market.
Story: Zal Cursetji
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