VOL. 53 ISSUE 14 APRIL 12, 2016 P95
factories in Thailand are now crank-
ing up production of the two quite dif-
ferent variants of the largest-capacity
Bonneville platform ever to reach the
marketplace, powered by an all-new
liquid-cooled 1197cc eight-valve par-
allel-twin engine with 270° crank and
chain-driven single overhead cam,
measuring 97.6 x 80mm. In so-called
HT—as in High Torque—T120 form this
produces 79bhp/59kW at 6550 rpm,
with maximum torque of 105Nm as
low as 3100 rpm—54% more than the
outgoing T100 model—with a much
broader midrange spread of grunt.
This compares with the higher com-
pression (11:1 versus 10:1 for the T160)
so-called "High Power" Thruxton
guise in which it delivers 96bhp/72
kW at 6750 rpm, and peak torque of
112Nm at 4950 rpm, with both vari-
ants of the motor redlined at 7000
rpm. Yet in T120 guise the new 38%
bigger engine is claimed to give 13%
better fuel economy than the 865cc
T100 model, previously the largest
capacity Bonneville engine. So, less
with more.
With the new T120 model, Triumph
is specifically aiming to recapture
the look and feel of the original 1959
Bonneville street bike carrying the
same designation, which was sup-
posed to suggest that it could do 120
mph, whereas the most favorable
magazine road tests back then saw
it top out at 108 mph! But the all-new
2016 parallel-twin, that's certain to
be able to more than live up to its
name in terms of speed, recaptures
the original Bonneville's appearance
totally authentically, complete with
optional two-tone fuel tank—either
red/silver or black/white—versus the
