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Looks good but how does it go? We test the Bonneville Bobber

Triumph Bonneville Bobber

Written by Alan Cathcart , Date 3:26 PM
Triumph Bonneville Bobber

Let’s get one thing straight: The Triumph Bonneville Bobber is a stylistic and dynamic tour de force. It’s the latest member of the British manufacturer’s massively expanded, thoroughly re-engineered, born-again Bonneville parallel-twin range. A modern British take on a Yankee-style hot rod, it’s cool-looking, capable and competent.

What’s a bobber anyway?

Triumph Bonneville Bobber

Even if it’s not your sort of thing, there’s no denying the Bobber looks great

For those not au fait with this iconic piece of two-wheeled Americana, the bobber was the forerunner of today’s custom bikes, initially concocted in the late Forties and early Fifties by GI’s returning home from war. They often used Harleys or Indians as the basis but also vintage-era Triumph twins of the pre-Bonneville generation. As more and more veterans were demobbed, the shortage of civilian machines ramped-up prices so they bought unwanted military dispatch bikes. These were ‘bobbed’ by cutting back the rear fender as well as stripping off other unwanted parts to make the result as light as possible for street racing. Going from a dead stop to flat out as fast as possible was the bobber’s mantra. It represented a minimalist approach to bike building that was made for go, not show. Anything that didn’t constitute a necessity was deleted. Triumph has followed the same template for the new Bonneville Bobber.

In recent years the fad for raked-out, chrome-laden choppers has faded, leaving  far more rideable Bobber-style customs to enjoy a resurgence. One of Harley’s best-sellers is the bobber-style Forty Eight, with the Indian Scout, Moto Guzzi V9 Bobber and Yamaha XV950 Bolt also on the field. Triumph’s authentically styled new Bobber, launched at Milan’s EICMA Show last year and in dealer showrooms from February, arguably encapsulates better than any of them the minimalist styling ethos, muscular stance and purposeful attitude of a period bobber. It’s available in four colours, all with the same black-painted all-new tubular steel frame, with the Jet Black base model costing £10,500 in the UK, the Ironstone (a light matt grey) and Morello Red an extra £125, and the two-tone Competition Green and Frozen Silver with hand-painted striping £300 more.

Riding the Triumph Bonneville Bobber

Nearly four years’ work went into developing the Triumph Bonneville Bobber. The result looks fantastic in the metal, with brilliantly executed styling. The bike that will only be sold as a single-seater, and in spite of the low 690mm default height of the seat proved really comfortable on a 130-mile/200km day’s ride.

Triumph Bonneville Bobber

More comfortable than appearances suggest

The floating aluminium seat pan with its nicely stitched foam pad is surprisingly accommodating, with zero numb-bum syndrome after a day spent sitting on it. It’s adjustable forward and up or rearwards and down over a 30mm range, albeit only with tools. This is complimented by a simple quick-release function for the single round instrument clock that lets you adjust its angle to suit your stance. The footrests are quite far back and positioned fairly normally, you might expect they’d be further forward so you could stretch your legs out. But at 5’10”/1.80m tall I never felt cramped, nor were my knees or hips sore after my day spent bobbing around central Spain. Indeed, the wide, flat handlebar delivers a really relaxed stance. It’s a nice bike to ride, letting you chill out when you want to, or carve curves when you feel like it. Watch out for those low-slung footrests, though – you must be ready to slam on the brakes to slow down when you suddenly realise you’re going too fast to make the turn, because it’s physically impossible to crank ‘er over any more!

Triumph Bonneville Bobber

Adjustable seat and hidden rear shock

The non-adjustable KYB suspension has limited travel, with the front 41mm fork offering just 90mm of wheel movement and an even more reduced 77mm from the rear. But Triumph’s engineers led by its R&D chief Stuart Wood have cleverly brought two factors into play here in delivering an improbable amount of ride comfort, as well as compliance. It looks at first as if the Triumph has a traditional Bobber-style hardtail rear end that’s devoid of any suspension, until you discover the monoshock nestling snugly beneath the seat and the so-called ‘swing cage’ operating the rear suspension. It looks like a direct-action system but the Bobber’s cleverly packaged laydown monoshock is actually worked via a linear-rate link hidden away low down. It gives good control over rear wheel damping, aided by a special set of tyres for the Bobber which provide enhanced suspension via added flex in their sidewalls.

Avon produces the specially-developed 19-inch front crossply and 16-inch radial rear Cobra AV71/AV72 duo equipping the Bobber’s great-looking black-rimmed wire-spoked wheels – a skinny 2.50in front and 3.50in rear. This combo delivers relaxed, confident steering as well as excellent grip within the restrictions placed on the Bobber’s turn speed by the easily-grounded footrests. What was most noticeable was the way I could feel the rear 150/80R16 tyre flexing gently beneath me as we rode over the speed-calming ‘sleeping policemen’ in the streets of Madrid. Form meets function – the Bobber looks cool, but it’s also good to ride. Plus build quality is very high, as is now usual for bikes built in Triumph’s trio of Thai factories.

Triumph Bonneville Bobber

Despite raked-out appearance, the Bobber handles well

The KYB fork is kicked out enough to deliver visual street cred in a bike with such front-loaded styling that the semi-detached looking rear wheel seems to be still riding through the last town you just left. But at a 25.8º rake it’s far from excessive, especially combined with a mere 87.9mm of trail: these are sportbike-like stats. Though the rangy 1510mm wheelbase calms everything down, the Bobber is very much at home cranking from side to side through a succession of sweeping fourth-gear turns, and thanks to its long stride is super-stable at any kind of speed. Its low-down centre of gravity helps it ride bumps well. The reduced contact batch of its skinny front 100/90-19 tyre means the Bobber’s also pretty nimble in rounding tighter turns in city streets or mountain hairpins. It has no right to handle as well as it does.

The Bobber uses Triumph’s High Torque version of the new liquid-cooled 1197cc eight-valve T120 Bonneville 97.6 x 80mm parallel-twin engine. With a 270º crank and chain-driven single overhead cam, it has been  adapted to play a key role in the Bobber’s rideability. This retuned version gets twin Keihin throttle bodies that as usual are cleverly disguised as carburettors, plus a new dual airbox intake system, and has an ultra-flat torque curve which makes it almost irrelevant which gear you throw at the Bobber out of the six available. In fact, that’s two too many. A four-speed gearbox would be enough. You can gas it wide open in top gear from just 2,300rpm upwards with zero transmission snatch, and 103Nm of torque is already delivered at 3,000 rpm. Peak grunt of 106Nm is obtained just a thousand revs higher, but although it makes 10% more torque at 4,500rpm than the T120, this falls away beyond 5,500 revs. There’s just 76Nm available by the time the rev-limiter cuts in at 7,000 rpm on the ride-by-wire digital throttle, but there’s no reason to ever visit that part of the rev range.

Selectable riding modes, Road and Rain, each deliver the same full 76bhp/57kW power output at 6,100 rpm, just with a different degree of urgency via separate dedicated throttle maps. Using the sweet-shifting gearbox to keep the engine turning in the fatter part of the horizontal torque curve between 3,000-5,000 rpm is the way the Bobber will invariably be ridden, with the switchable single-stage traction control on hand to keep the wheels in line. Doing so delivers a decidedly thrilling hot rod roar from the Bonneville motor’s double-skinned stainless steel twin exhausts with slash cut peashooter silencers and its signature catalyst box under the gearbox. Complying with Euro 4 requirements has once again allowed Triumph to deliver a great-sounding bike that’s replete with torque at the expense of a little outright power, which is absolutely not an issue on a chilled-out stylebike like this. In fact, sticking the 900 Street Twin motor in the Bobber rather than the more potent 1200 version wouldn’t have significantly detracted from the bike’s appeal. Maybe that’s coming later…

At heart the 1200 engine is a flexible friend, spinning at just 2,500 rpm at 60mph100km/h, while 4,200rpm gives 100mph/160kmh. As well as a smooth, linear power delivery with zero vibration at any revs thanks to its twin balance shafts, this bike is ridiculously forgiving and easy to ride. The single Nissin two-piston front brake caliper and 310mm disc combination is the only thing to watch out for in stopping a motorcycle weighing 228kg dry from any sort of speed. Though it certainly looks cooler with just the single disc, the Bobber is essentially underbraked. Panic stops require you to stand on the much more effective rear 255mm disc and single-piston floating caliper to haul the Bobber to a halt.

Triumph Bonneville Bobber

Clocks include multi-purpose digital display. Gauge angle can be adjusted.

Light clutch lever action makes riding the bike in town or traffic quite untiring. Your left hand won’t cramp up in the urban use I bet most Bobberists will mostly put their steed to, especially with its 9.1-litre fuel tank reducing range to little more than 100mi/160km. My fuel warning light illuminated after just 68 miles on the good-looking, very readable single clock, which has an analogue speedo dial with a digital panel. Here you can scroll between the gear position indicator, revcounter, odometer with twin trips, fuel level, range to empty, average and current fuel consumption, a clock, service indicator, riding mode and traction control settings. There’s no ambient temperature reading, though, which would have been nice.

Few people buying a Bobber will leave it in standard trim, and Triumph knows that. There are more than 150 accessories in the aftermarket catalogue developed specifically for this model, so you can get the Bobber exactly how you’d like it. There’s a variety of luggage options that will make this a practical traffic tool for riding to work, briefcase or tools in a side bag. Expect the Ducati Monster’s dominance of the cool commuter market segment in cities like London, San Francisco, Paris or Madrid to come under serious threat.

Triumph Bonneville BobberEven in standard form there are design cues to be flaunted, like the battery box with stainless steel strap, effective bar end mirrors, rubber fork gaiters, cutdown front mudguard, lockable fuel cap and classic-look LED taillight. But the heated grips which Triumph thankfully fitted to the test bikes are an accessory, as is the cruise control kit that’s also available. There’s even a couple of options to enhance performance, including a fully-adjustable Fox rear shock, plus a range of new Bobber exhausts from Vance and Hines that are still Euro 4 compliant. If you need help getting started in designing your own customised Bobber, Triumph has also created two so-called Inspiration Kits – a traditional-looking ‘Old School’ package with ape-hanger ’bars, and a drag racing ‘Quarter Mile’ effort instead using clipons.

Here’s the bottom line. Triumph’s new retro stylebike will be a sold-out success around the world, and the firm’s biggest problem is going to be meeting demand for a model that’s as good to ride as it is to look at. That and deciding what to build next on this new Custom platform for the Bonneville motor, incorporating its all-new frame and dedicated engine tune. A Street Tracker, anyone? Gotta happen…

Photos: Alessio Barbanti, Paul Barshon, Friedemann Kirn and Matteo Cavadini

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