Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

In crea ting a mode rn -d ay inte r pre tat io n of o ne of the most illustrio us ingre dients of the British marque 's glorious spo rt ing past, the T 120R Thr uxto n Bo nneville (see sidebar), Jo hn Bloo r 's boys have not o nly paid due recognitio n to t he marq ue's cafe racing trad it ions , but have also beaten Ducati into manufacturi ng a born -again versi on of o ne of its famous heritage models - the trio of t he Italian marq ue's Spo rt Classic desm o V-twins displayed at the To kyo Show last O cto ber are at least a yea r away from production, maybe mor e , Yet the formu la fo r re -creating the best of yeste ryear, but in a modern co nte xt, has now been established with the arriva l of the T hru xton 900 in t he showrooms - and in do ing so, Triumph has produced a shar per-handling, pow e r-up versio n of the existing slightly soporific Bonneville T I 00 base model. It has achieved this firstly by retaining the 360-degree two- up crank and tw in balance shafts of the original Bo nnie's 790cc five-speed mo tor (so, no let's -pretend- I'ma-V-tw in 270-deg ree crank th rows , as on the pair of cruiser mod els that came in between) and punching capacity out to B65cc with a 4mm overbore for resultant 90 x 6Bmm dimensions. New cam profiles and revised exhausts, each now with a trademark reverse-cone megaphone silencer that at least visually resembles the Thruxtons of yesteryear, plus revised settings for the same 36mm Mikuni carbs as on the standard bike, help deliver a sprightlier claimed engine output of 69 bhp at 72S0 rpm - up B bhp from the Bonnie with maximum torque of 72Nm/53ft.-lbs. at 5750 rpm, 12Nm/9ft.-Ibs . more than before. There's a further 6 bhp available, says Triumph, from the optional freerbreathing (but not road legal, therefore "for track use only" - yeah, yeah) silencers, which are part of an extensive range of dedicated accessories that Triumph has produced for the Thruxton, reasoning no doubt with some justification that owners of a bike like this are more likely to want to personalize it with bolt-on goodies than most of their other models. Just like the Way It Was in them cafe racing days then ... The Thruxton employs the same basic tubular steel double cradle chassis as the Bonneville, but with sharper steering geometry - the same 41mm Kayaba forks (but with r ised internals) are set at a 27-degree head angle, instead of the Bonnie's 29-degree rake, with trail reduced to 97mm from 117mm. Wheelbase i also 16mm shorter, at 1477mm, and th e older bike's 19-inch front wire wh eel has been re placed by an IB-incher, shod with a 100/BO-se ction Metzeler ME33 and carrying a 10mm-larger, 320mm Sunstar single float ing disc, gripped by a twi n-pisto n Nissin caliper. Rear rim and rubber are unchanged at 130/80-17, as is th e Nissin/Sunstar 2P/255mm co mbo , but the twin Kayaba shocks mounted to the box-sec tion swingarm (t he hot tip for improved co rneri ng back in 196B, I must tell you - well, that and Dunlop TT I 00 t ires!) are lo nger than those fitted to the Bonneville, though w heel travel is the same at both e nds, at I20mm/ l 05 mm front/rear. But it' s w hen you throw a leg over the new Triumph 's quite low (790mm) trad emar k humped-back seat, with its very period checkered str ip running down it and along the top of t he tank, that you realize the T hruxto n's mos t radical d ifferen ce fro m t he mo re stai d, upri ght-feeling Bo nneville comes in its rid ing position. As I, ahe m, have more cause than most people to be able to attest to pe rsonally this is a , pretty authentic modern take on how it felt to ride a ge nuine classic-era cafe racer - w hich, I must also remind yo u, did not yet sport the half-fairings or hand lebar nace lles, whic h came in later arou nd 1970 once Fritz Egli and Dave Dege ns, of Dresda fame , had betw ee n them inve nted wha t we now come to think of as such. T houg h inev itab ly tubbier-looking than its predece ssor because of the mo re advanced dohc e ight-valve eng ine design and noise-reducing ~I in der jacketing , the Thruxton 900 feels ultraslim and st rippedout when you sit ab?ard it, with exactly correct, quite steep!i rake d, low-set clipon handlebars, thoug ea ch of th ese has adjustable levers - a we lco me non pe riod touch! Combined w ith rearset footrests and the longer sh ks, the res ulting stance throws quite a lo t of your weight on to the front wheel - though not e nough to cause undue wrist ache ove r an BO-mile run . It also positions yo r nose not a million miles away from the very pe riod twi n w hitefaced instrume ts , mo unted ato p a passable imitation - on ly done pro perly! - of the rough-hewn sheet of alloy ridged sho rty fro nt mudguard and cutb ack rear, and embossed rubber fo otrests are some of the several nice styling tou ches in a very bon a fide and purposeful-loo king reint erpretation of Back T hen - as we re the blued ex haust headers o n almost eve ry bike at the launch... Less like ly to trigger the me mory banks is the so und that awaits you wh en , after sear ching for the ignition key t ucked awk wardly but authe ntically away to the left of the headlight (so incon venient, it's arguably a step too far), you thumb th e button for the Thruxt o n's elect ric leg (t he re' s no kickstart), because , basically, there isn't any. Sound , I me an. Impending Euro-noise restr ictio ns have force d Triumph to silence the Th ru xt on's air/o il-co o led do hc eight - Based on the Bonneville's 360degree twin, the Thruxton's engine is punched out to 86Scc and packs more sport-oriented camshafts and diHerent ca rb tuning to produce a live lier power delivery than the standard 'Bonnie. we used to se t t he m in, then bolt ed to the to p of the upper t riple clamp, just as on the new Triumph . There 's even a set of fou r idiot lights o n to p of said sheet , as was com mon place back th en, t houg h it wo uld have bee n nice if Triumph cou ld have not followed peri od auth en t icity quite so far and given them more wattage to make them br ighte r and easier to see. The cone-shaped chrome trafficato rs, vee -shaped head lights brackets, www.cycienEWs.com valve mot or to impro bable levels, and coup led w ith th e uncanny smoothness of t he engine by paralle l-tw in stand ards at low e r spee ds, riding the result in traffic o r through villages gives the impression more of a turb ine tha n a mot orcycle engine. It's ultrasmooth, but also rat her characte rless by cafe racing standards, making you w ish at first t hat Triump h had e ither left ou t one (Above) The racy clip-on handlebars oHer the co rrect feel to properlr evoke memories a the Cafe Racer era. Co mfort isn't the priority here. (Left) Twin reverse megaphones oHer the right look but mask too much of the good vibes from the Thruxton's engine. Replacing the stock system with a proper-sounding set of tubes w ill likely be the first order of business for 90 percent of the Thruxton's buyers. CYCLE NEWS • APRIL 7, 2004 25

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