Triumph Street Scrambler

With the new Street Scrambler Triumph has taken along look in its corporate rear-view mirror and paid tribute to one of the most successful models in its 1960s classic-era lineup, the go-anywhere Trophy street enduro.

For all the furore when Ducati launched its Scrambler sub-brand back in 2014, many people overlooked that Triumph invented the street scrambler category back in 1949 with the TR5 Trophy,  named after the Speed Twin-based bikes that took victory in the 1948 International Six Days Trial in Italy. It powered Triumph’s expansion in the USA, where street scramblers became a big deal in the Sixties. Triumph dominated desert racing and enduro events for the next two decades.

It was never sold outside the USA but for many the 1966-on TR6C Trophy Special is the most alluring bike in Triumph’s back catalogue. With its rakish stance, twin high-level pipes and pulled-back, high-rise handlebars, it still looks cool even today. The TR6C was actually produced in two versions. The more rugged Trophy Special nicknamed the Desert Sled – no, Ducati didn’t coin that term – was sold on the Pacific side of the Rockies, with stacked crossover open exhausts running at waist level down the left. The Eastern variant, the TR6R Sport, was sold everywhere else in the USA, with high-rise exhausts positioned one each side of the bike.

It’s the Western TR6C Trophy Special that’s etched itself in the BritBike subconscious as the epitome of California cool thanks to the exploits of Steve McQueen and Bud Ekins.  The fact that it was a true go-anywhere bike ideally tailored for the region’s unpaved or poorly surfaced roads made the TR6C into a fearsome ‘60s competition device. This gave the street versions added kudos, and helped explain why by 1967 Triumph’s Meriden factory was unable to keep up with transatlantic demand for its products.

John Bloor’s men already reinvented the TR5/TR6 Trophy in a modern context back in 2006 with the  T100-powered 865cc Scrambler model. Its John Mockett-penned styling brilliantly captured the various design cues of the original version. It kickstarted the current fashion for tarmac scramblers – a sector subsequently embraced not only by Ducati, but also by BMW and even Moto Guzzi. Aside from adding fuel injection and some minor changes, it’s remained largely the same ever since. Until now.

The new-for-2017 Street Scrambler model is based on the 900cc Street Twin introduced a year ago as part of the completely new Bonneville twin-cylinder range. Bonnevilles are responsible for between one-quarter and one-third of Triumph’s annual sales. For 2017 the lineup comprises an array of ten different models on two distinct platforms. Designed and developed in the UK at Triumph’s Hinckley base, these will all be manufactured in Thailand at the company’s three factories south of Bangkok.

Costing £8,900 or more in the UK depending which of the three available colours is chosen, the new Triumph is more expensive than the entry-level Ducati Scrambler Classic but less costly than the £9,395 Desert Sled. BMW’s R nineT Scrambler is twice as powerful but at £10,550 isn’t such a direct competitor.

The company’s engineering team, headed by Stuart Wood, has taken the Street Twin and re-tuned its water-cooled  900cc motor for a greater spread of torque. It’s also revamped the chassis for notional dual-purpose use by repositioning the footpegs in a better position for offroad riding, and fitting longer rear shocks.

Despite this, with just 120mm of travel at either end from its Kayaba/KYB suspension, limited ground clearance and a strictly cosmetic plastic sump guard, the new model is essentially a road bike, albeit shod with dual purpose Metzeler Tourance tyres.

Street Scrambler: On the Road

The suspension’s too hard and short-travel to cope with any serious bumps or potholes but it’s perfectly adept at handling loose-surfaced dirt roads, as proved by an hour riding around the original Rio Tinto mine northwest of Sevilla during a 125-mile/200km day’s ride out into Spain’s southern province of Andalusia. Iron ore, copper, silver and gold have been mined here over the past 3,000 years, and the new Triumph was an ideal mount to explore its shale tracks, even if when standing up on the  footpegs your right foot ends up being pushed onto the end of the rest by the stacked high-level exhausts’ heat shield.

There’s a great sense of control aided by the light clutch lever action which also made riding the bike in stop-start Sevilla traffic both untroubling and untiring. So did the precise, light-action gearchange, which is heaps better than the previous Scrambler’s notchy shift action, and the smooth, controllable pickup from a closed throttle. This shows superior fuelling on the part of the Triumph’s EFI, compared to its Ducati rival’s much snatchier pickup in the bottom two gears – a problem that wasn’t yet fixed in the desmo V-twin model’s first two years of production, though I haven’t yet ridden a 2017 version. When it comes to smooth, supple torque delivered in a flexible, forgiving manner, the Triumph is clearly the class paragon.

Just as well, for the Street Scrambler is a model where convenience and cool will arguably be more important to likely customers than actual performance. The zestful snap of the original McQueen-era TR6C dirt sled has here been replaced by laid-back look-at-me boulevard brio more redolent of the Triumph Tiger 100. That’s because Triumph has equipped the Street Scrambler with the lowest-spec version of its revamped family of parallel-twin motors, producing 54 bhp/40.5kW at 6,000 rpm. More important is the 80Nm of torque, peaking as low as 2,850 revs and holding steady until almost 5,000 rpm, when it only gradually starts to fall away. This means holding third gear out of the five available – and I never once found myself searching for a non-existent sixth ratio – will take you almost anywhere you want to go, at whatever speed, until you hit the open road.

The flexibility of the 900cc motor makes a good case for saying that the Street Scrambler is actually Triumph’s equivalent of a twin-cylinder maxi-scooter; chic and convenient for city use as a commuter, bar-hopper or delivery bike, with sufficient rather than sporty performance. The Street Scrambler’s true natural habitat isn’t anywhere offroad, but rather city streets, especially traffic-clogged roads where you can use its easy clutch action, responsive but controllable throttle, light and immediate steering with that wide (831mm) handlebar and the skinny 19-inch front tyre, to plot an ideal course through rush-hour traffic with the help of the relatively tall (792mm) seat. Its height is perfectly judged to be just low enough to sling a leg over easily at rest, but just high enough to see over car roofs and plan where you’re going once you’re aboard. It surprisingly has a snuggle-down factor that was missing from the outgoing model, where you felt perched on top of the bike and not a part of it. The new bike’s upright riding position and taller suspension compared to the Street Twin plus the wide bars make it a formidable and fun traffic weapon. Just don’t expect to out-accelerate a Ducati Scrambler away from traffic lights: at 213kg dry (vs. 191kg for the Ducati) the Street Scrambler is pretty porky, even if it hides its weight well in terms of handling.

The sound of the Street Scrambler is now as satisfying as its forebear’s muted murmur was disappointing. The stacked crossover exhausts give a satisfyingly rorty response when you twist the wrist, while at the same time looking good and meeting Euro 4 limits. Best of both worlds – kudos, Triumph. Plus the heatshield does actually protect the inside of your right leg in a way that the outgoing Scrambler’s largely failed to do. Thumb the clever combined killswitch and starter button to send the 900cc liquid-cooled motor’s 270-degree crank spinning up easily into life, leaving you to relish the unexpectedly glorious note of the stock stacked exhaust. However, while the controls are very light and easy to use the single front 310mm disc with its twin-piston caliper gives barely adequate bite in stopping the bike from highway speeds. Its 255mm rear companion gives effective but not excessive braking when you step on its lever – a level that’s ideal for offroad use.

Faced with the open road, the Street Scrambler’s excellent lowdown torque lets you gear up and go with the midrange oomph its predecessor was lacking, allowing you to accelerate smartly into a gap in the traffic at 50 mph (80 km/h). It’ll be an ideal tool for the Paris Periphérique or the San Diego Freeway on a Friday night. When the traffic clears the Scrambler’s optimum cruising speed is a relaxed 75 mph(120 kmh), with the engine turning over at exactly 4,000 rpm. And it will comfortably do the ton (100mph/160 kmh) if you’re really prepared to hold on tight enough. Most will prefer to just go with the flow till they come to a snarl-up, then use the Scrambler’s easy steering and that ideal view ahead over cars which its stance provides, to jink a way through traffic. Outside town on the open road the Street Scrambler carves corners with zest and brio. Its steering is neutral and predictable, with the wide bar giving plenty of leverage as you flick the bike from side to side with heaps of confidence. It feels balanced and nimble in a way its predecessor never did, and that’s surely down to the sharper revised steering geometry.

In Triumph’s now totally revamped twin-cylinder range the new Street Scrambler is in many ways a 900cc alternative to the equally new 1200cc Bobber. Both are brilliantly styled and well-engineered, but with contrasting levels of engine performance. I forecast that the Bobber will initially outsell the Street Scrambler, but its sales will then taper off as its dynamic looks become more familiar. The Street Scrambler on the other hand will sell steadily and constantly. Five years from now it’ll be interesting to see which one has beaten the other in terms of overall sales. Both are excellent motorcycles – so, which one’s for you?

Photos: Matteo Cavadini and Alessio Barbanti