Road test by Adrian Percival
Last
year I was handed the keys to the latest model
from Triumph and told ‘go out and enjoy it!’
Now this was actually in the paddock at Mallory park and
I immediately went out on track for about 10 laps on a bike
I had never ridden before. This was also a session in amongst
some of the fastest supersport machinery from all the other
manufacturers, so I was a little apprehensive at riding
the new Thruxton, especially after just getting off a new
ZX10!
My apprehensions were soon put to rest
as I got used to the Thruxton after a couple of laps. Why
did I feel so at home on this bike? This was just one of
the questions I asked myself as I rode around the fast Mallory
Park track.
The Thruxton is essentially a derivation of the standard
Bonneville. It’s a bold move back into the past café
racer folklore and a nice change from all the cruiser styles
that seemed to be squarely aimed at the American market.
Another major change with the Thruxton is the boost in engine
performance achieved by increasing the engine size to 865cc.
But it doesn’t stop there, Triumph have added a higher
compression, some hotter cams, a couple of bigger carbs
and a pair of traditional styled megaphone exhausts, All
this adds up to is a bike that gets an additional 8bhp and
9 more ft-lbs of torque over the standard Bonneville. Now
that doesn’t sound a great deal but get it on the
road and you soon realise just why triumph have done all
this work to the new Thruxton.
So I had ridden the Thruxton for about
20 minutes on track and my first impressions were that I
wanted more. The Thruxton wasn’t quite what I had
expected at first, what seemed like a quiet softie when
I rode it across the paddock turned out to be a snorting
vintage style racer out on the tarmac! The riding position
is quite radical with the clip-ons and rear-set pegs, and
this together with one of the narrowest tanks made my knees
rest against the cylinder heads, luckily there are a couple
of small guards mounted on them to stop you melting your
knees! It is the classic café-racer stance and compared
to most modern supersport bikes today it’s far more
radical.
A few months later I got the chance to live with a Thruxton
for a few weeks and actually got to use it on the roads,
and that was where the fun really began!
I
collected the Triumph from the factory up in Hinckley
on a bright sunny day and rode off for my first real road
ride on it, some 100 miles down a combination of A5 and
some other minor roads. Cruising down the faster roads I
soon began to see just why this bike was created, and why
I had had so much fun on it the last time. With my toes
planted firmly on the rearset pegs and a riding stance somewhat
like a TT racer of old I rode on through the bends and curves
carrying speed and more speed, it was just bliss on a warm
sunny day! The more I rode it like that the more I grinned
from ear to ear, and after every bend I just wanted more…
The speed of the Thruxton is quite deceptive
as there is virtually no vibration from the motor, and the
exhaust note from the standard somewhat strangled silencers
is rather quiet. On a straight stretch I did manage to top
it out at a rather meagre 115mph, but in all fairness speed
is not what this bike is all about. At that sort of speed
you are doing around the 7,000rpm mark which is just about
everything the motor has got, but the one thing I found
out as I rode it mile after mile is you really never need
to change gear on twisting roads. Forget the power band
of modern sports bikes, the Thruxton pulls from about 2,000rpm
all the way to the redline at 7,000rpm, but if you really
want to know the limiter will cut the bike out at a shade
over 8,000rpm but you don’t gain a thing by riding
way up there. So off I went onward and upward with the learning
curve of riding the Thruxton on the main highways.
At some stage later in the day I had discovered
that all I needed to do was use 1st and 2nd gears in town
traffic, after that 3rd gear was the lowest I need to go
as I found out you could not only pull up the steepest of
hills in 3rd but at a measly 2,000rpm as well. Did I say
that this bike had torque, well it certainly has and the
best way to make full use of the lower power available to
you is to ride it on the torque curve. I soon discovered
that ‘short shifting’ was the trick and the
absolute best way to get the most from the Thruxton. Riding
it reminded me a little of my first ride on an old Ducati
900 supersport, keep the power on and keep in a higher gear
that you would normally use and just ride it around the
corner, it will go and it will stay firmly on line. It takes
a little practice to get it just right but after a while
the riding pleasure just seems to get better and better.
As I said before keep it in 3rd and ride from there shifting
up through the rather smooth box. The gearbox is a little
stiff to move and does require a ‘prod’ to change
but the action is smooth and never a false neutral in sight!
I
did like the Thruxton the more I rode it, so did
most other people who saw it! In town it drew attention
from bikers and non bikers alike, on the roads it drew attention
from the bikes you just passed! Yes indeed ride one of these
and you will go past some modern supersports on the twisties
and make them look as if they are standing still, that’s
just how good this bike is at keeping up pace on the corners
and long bends. The only thing I wished for the entire time
I had it was MORE NOISE!!
So is it a true Café racer or a mere copy
of those legendary bikes?
With the larger displacement motor there
is certainly more power and torque, but the motor is only
half of the question, what about the frame, a steel cradle
in the era of alloy beam frames, isn’t that a direct
throwback to the bike of old? Well in all aspect the frame
is the same as the standard Bonneville, but the geometry
is very different indeed. The Thruxton has some modifications
which include a classic spoked alloy rimmed 18” front
(the rear is the same), and on this bike you get longer
rear shocks. This adds up to a steeper front end and quicker
steering helping you turn in the bike with the narrow clip-on
bars. The steering is nowhere near razor sharp but what
it does for you is hone your skills and make you work a
little harder on getting your riding technique just right.
When you do it rewards you big time though. All this adds
up to a bike with character and in my mind the Thruxton
is a true Café racer, just like my dad’s old
Triton!!
On all but the bumpiest of roads the Truimph
behaved well, the front forks coping well with most surfaces.
The suspension set up is somewhat classic in itself as the
forks and the rear shocks are adjustable for preload only.
Only at certain times was I not happy with the overall feel
of the Thruxton. On some corners and especially at high
speed there was a certain feeling of vagueness, but I put
that down to changing surface textures and mid corner bumps
upsetting the nature of this fine machine! 
Triumph has given the Thruxton some good
front brakes to cope with the extra speed you can carry
with this bike, the new 320mm disc setup works very well
with the twin piston calliper but a firm pressure is required
to haul it down quickly. The feel is the only thing missing
here, it’s a little slow but stops you in good time
whenever you need it, I think I would go for a second disc
if I had the chance though! The rear brake works just fine,
there’s no locking up and unlike most modern sports
bike its not just for show.
So who is going to buy the Thruxton?
To me it’s a bike that I would use
every weekend to blow the cobwebs out and to sharpen my
riding after a week of commuting. It’s certainly a
niche machine that cries out to be ridden down twisting
country lanes, and woe is you if you take it out on the
motorway or try to ride it in traffic!
Riding it on the open roads is not that
bad when it comes to a riding position, at least at speed
there is some relief offered by the wind supporting your
body, but on the motorway it just doesn’t work as
you get buffeted around and its just so boring! Now when
it comes to riding it in town then there lies the problem,
traffic is definitely painful, with the riding position
being so very wrist heavy on the low slung clip-ons and
feet resting on rear-set pegs at best I could say I got
aching wrists. The Triumph is best on roads with corners
and speeds of more than 50mph.
The
Thruxton relies on its character and Café
racer heritage as its main appeal. It’s not just its
looks with those white faced dials, chrome headlight, polished
side cases, shorty pipes, pollished alloy rims, and need
I go on! I took pictures of this bike and unlike many other
bikes just sat back and admired it myself. There are few
bikes that I would take time out to do that, but the Thruxton
is one of them and that’s what most other onlookers
said too.
Perfection in any motorcycle is rare and
a personal opinion of the individual concerned, but with
the Thruxton Triumph have got it ‘spot on’ and
have managed to recreate a classic Café racer with
the comforts of some modern engineering. No easy task, I
must say, but I congratulate them for building this masterpiece
of a motorcycle!
My initial ride on the Thruxton was out
on track at Mallory park, my subsequent riding was all done
on open roads and country lanes around Oxfordshire and Warwickshire,
and what I can draw from my second encounter with the Thruxton
is that I think I found it’s true habitat, one far
away from the hustle and bustle of town traffic and the
mindless boredom of the motorway.
Yes the Thruxton is at home and happy in and around the
roads of the Costwolds and never a dual carriageway in sight,
catch me if you can, I dare you!!
AP