The Triumph Bonneville holds a special place in my heart. It was the first motorcycle I bought (that ran on a regular basis), was the first new motorcycle I bought, and was the motorcycle I wrote most of my content around when I began as a journalist. It’s also a bike that’s gotten extremely long in the tooth, but all of that is about to change.
We’re not quite sure what to expect from Triumph, but at least now we know when to look. Between the up-spec version in that weird Beckham/Belstaff movie and leaks about Street Trackers and Bobbers, they likely have a number of models set for release.
The leaks and spy shots have come at a pretty steady stream - so much so that I didn’t feel it worth the hundred bucks to pay for the rights to use one. This Google image search for 2016 Triumph Bonneville will show you everything leaked in the last six months or so. For those of you mad about a picture of me riding sans safety gear - the picture was taken a) in Arizona where this is legal and b) before I learned how awesome it is to ride a motorcycle with safety gear.
Most of the news has revolved around a new, 1,100 cc liquid cooled motor though I would love to see something smaller as well. While the BMW R nineT is a great bike, I think the Ducati Scrambler is a better one for most people and I would love to see Triumph try and compete with it.
What are you hoping to see from the new Triumph Retro line? Stay tuned in the coming weeks for more news and details.