Triumph’s Bonneville range has already proved an enormous success since the first water-cooled models were revealed a year ago. Now the firm is adding this crazy-looking Bonneville Bobber to the line-up.
Powered by a retuned version of the High Torque 1200cc parallel twin from the latest Bonneville T120, the Bobber gets even more bottom end torque. Exact figures haven’t been released but we’d expect a slight drop in peak power to compensate.
The engine might be familiar but the rest of the bike is entirely new. There’s a false hard-tail-style rear end, which has a convincing look but actually hides a rear shock under the seat. Speaking of seats, there’s just one – there’s no scope for a pillion on the Bonneville Bobber. Triumph calls that rear suspension a ‘swing cage’ system, since there’s no conventional swingarm.
The seat might look like it’s borrowed from a tractor but it’s actually one of the clever bits on the bike. Thanks to the way it’s mounted, it can be moved between two positions. There’s a low, rearwards position for cruising, or it can be shifted to be higher and further forward for a sportier posture.
Either way there are wide bars and forward-mounted pegs, so it’s never going to feel like a café racer. Other models in the Bonneville range cater to those needs.
The tyres are from Avon and thanks to the old-fashioned spoked wheels they need inner tubes to keep the air from escaping. However, don’t be fooled into thinking the Bonneville Bobber is resolutely retro in every respect. There’s all the modern technology that’s already seen on the rest of the Bonneville range. That means you get dual riding modes from the ride-by-wire throttles, plus traction control and ABS. There’s even the option of adding cruise control.
The single clock might focus on its main job of telling you the bike’s speed, but there’s also a gear indicator, trip computer and service indicator in the small LCD display inside the main dial.
There’s no word yet on prices or availability, and details specifications including power and weight are still secret, but we expect to find out more over the next month or so.
