By AlAN CATHCART
PHOTOS BY PHIL MAsTERS AND DAVID GoLDMAN
Triumph looks for another hit
with its retro-twin
te r the Bonneville Ame rica
and Speedmaster cruisers, Triumph's third annual extension
of its developing twin-cylinder
ange - now re spon sible for
more than 30 per cent of the British comp any's total produc tion, and rising - sees the
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APRil 7, 2004 •
arr ival of the first
unashamedly retro version of the bornagain Bonneville parallel-twin familysince its
deb ut in the 200 I model year. This is the
Th ruxto n 900 cafe race r, which is now in
production after first appe ar ing at last
year 's Milan Show, and its press launch took
place on a bright but crisp March day at where e lse ? - th e Thruxton race cir cu it
CYCLE N EWS
after
which
the
model is named , followed
by a day 's ride round the Hampsh ire
countryside housing the circuit, pas t a
slightly older histo rical artifact than the Triumph Bonneville, namely Stonehenge!
Th is came after paying due homage to
Britain's caferacing culture - of which the
o riginal Bonneville was an integral compone nt - with a visit to the evocative Ace Cafe
bes ide London's Nort h Circular Road, at
which Triumph paid tribute to its revived
40th Anniversary
rock
'n' roll heritage by displaying the bike that
arguably provided the genesis
for the Thruxton 900 's creation.
That's the Cafe Racer Concept produ ced
by its Italian importer Nume ro Tre, w hose
founder, the late Carlo Talamo, was the
passionate proge nito r of such a model
befo re his untime ly death 18 months ago.
The Th ruxton 900 sees Carlo's concept for
a lean, mean, retro street race machine,
inco rpo rat ing Triumph's unique twin-cylinder DNA. brou ght to the showrooms of
the wo rld. Too bad he wasn't there to pull
on his fringed black leathe r jacket and
open-face helmet and take it for a blast
thr ough the Iron Bridge Esses...
