The Triumph Range these days

Lord Snooty

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I went to the new season launch of the Triumph range at Blades in Stratford upon Avon last night.

After wandering around for a few minutes it dawned on me that Triumph no longer have:

1. A fully faired sportsbike.
2. A sport tourer
3. A fully kitted tourer
4. Rocket 3
5. Thunderbird - the 1600cc cruiser
6. There was only one Speed Triple on show.

They have all been quietly dropped from the range.
Their focus is now entirely on the naked Street Triple 765cc range if you want a sportsbike.
The Tiger Adventure range if you want a touring bike.
The Bobber variants and the new Speedmaster.
The retros - Bonneville, Thruxton and other variants.

I got talking to one of the staff and he told me that Triumph see a very dwindling market for race rep sports bikes. The Trophy tourer (the one based on the RT) became dated within 12 months of release due to newer bikes having a plethora of new electronics. The ST had run its course. Although he does think that there will be another Touring bike in the range in the future. The retro and 765cc triple range are such a great sales success their marketing and development is very much on these bikes. I thought it was an interesting insight into the mindset of a manufacturer with global sales as to where they see the market fluctuating.
 
Was next door in the Honda side of the dealership as a couple of the Honda guys were putting on their Triumph gear to go and support the open evening.
Interesting as you say - the rise and rise of the adventure style bike and retro nolstalgia bikes at the expense of race reps. No doubt it reflects in part the age profile of the average biker. I’m biting the bullet on selling my Ducati 748s - beautiful as it is , it just sits there and I never ride it. Needs to be ridden - and delightful as it is I’m just too old and fat!


I guess it also mirrors the whole selling of the lifestyle thing in much the same way with SUV’s in the car market.

Surely though the sports bike range will get a bit livelier with their supply deal for Moto2 engines (if Ive got that right)?
 
That’s interesting. I hadn’t realised that the Daytona 675 had been dropped.

Their Retro Bonnies look great
 
I had a test ride on the 1050 Tiger Sport, I would consider that a sporty tourer.... Don't they have a fully faired Trophy these days??
 
I had a test ride on the 1050 Tiger Sport, I would consider that a sporty tourer.... Don't they have a fully faired Trophy these days??

No, they dropped the Trophy about 18 months ago, apparently I bought one of the last SE's, which I only discovered when it was being serviced and a customer was trying to buy one, the salesman introduced me as the chap who bought the last Trophy they had. Cheers aresole, don't remember you telling me that when I handed over the dosh.

It was never IMO really advertised or demonstrated, I went to a few shows and there was never a Trophy there, Having been a Triumph fan for years, Had a 1050ST, 12 plate Explorer, still have the Trophy SE and a 1700 Thunderbird Storm, I've moved over to the dark side and am on my second GSA. I've ridden a few of Triumph's current offering, they are fun little bikes but not really serious go anywhere bikes.
 
I guess they dropped the trophy range as we'd all gone bmw gsa:rolleyes:
But
it's made the triumphs cheap to buy and rum.
I did try a triumph tiger 800 c.
I hated it ,heavy clutch (cable) so small it looked like a moped beneath me :blast
I'll stick with the number 900 bus for now.

Cheap n cheerful
20180218_140615.jpg


I've owned and run

1993 -triumph 1200 trophy
1996 Triumph tiger
1996 triumph daytona 900
1999 triumph 955i daytona
2008 triumph Thruxton
2000 triumph trophy 900
 
If they sold enough of them, they'd still be selling em?

Pretty much what the Triumph bod said - it is a dwindling market so they are focusing on what sells, and let's face it Triumph are now a fantastic British success story.

I also noticed that the attention to detail and the finish has come on leaps and bounds.
 
Was next door in the Honda side of the dealership as a couple of the Honda guys were putting on their Triumph gear to go and support the open evening.
Interesting as you say - the rise and rise of the adventure style bike and retro nolstalgia bikes at the expense of race reps. No doubt it reflects in part the age profile of the average biker. I’m biting the bullet on selling my Ducati 748s - beautiful as it is , it just sits there and I never ride it. Needs to be ridden - and delightful as it is I’m just too old and fat!


I guess it also mirrors the whole selling of the lifestyle thing in much the same way with SUV’s in the car market.

Surely though the sports bike range will get a bit livelier with their supply deal for Moto2 engines (if Ive got that right)?

The Triumph bod mentioned the Moto2 deal and he expects that to improve sales of the Street Triple which is now considered to be their sports bike range.
 
April 2018 Ride are reviewing the speed triple.
They consider it the triumphs sports bike :cool:
 
The 1050 Tiger Sport needs a major overhaul. It does look dated compared to recent offerings and could be a good offering for those that do not want an "adventure-style" bike and just want to ride tarmac. Its refresh in 2016 did not go deep enough, although thankfully they lowered the bike a bit to less stratospheric levels...
 
Tried a 2018 Tiger 800 XRT yesterday, what a revelation. Immense kit (but top model) including heated seats, grips, cruise etc.. etc..

Really smooth but characterful engine with a nice flat powerband, sounded great too (smaller/tuned exhaust on the 2018 model). Unbelievably comfy, and the adjustable windscreen was pretty good too.

Just getting the numbers, fancy one of these in addition to current bike but would go for the XCA model which has a slightly more offroad bent with 21" front wheels and WP suspension to give the option of some 'light' off roading. Not cheap at £12.5K but that gets all the electronics and that all important seat. I guess discounts will be minimal with it being a brand new model.

Its the nicest new bike I've tried recently, and it ticks all the boxes for me for comfort, engine, and 'dual-sportiness'. It was a really fun bike to ride.

Triumph are doing an off-road experience in Wales from Spring with Tiger's (1200 and 800) so may look at this as an option.

RBW.
 
The 800 is a cracking bike, and I reckon better quality in the long run than the GS800.

Plenty power/torque for solo trips with all the luggage. Think I'd go for the one with the alloy road wheels, though........

Unless you are doing dried up riverbeds - simply changing to a trail tyre should cover your off-road pretensions

The smaller wheels and road rubber will make a difference for the majority of your travels.
 
I had a good look at the 2018 Tiger 1200 today at Webbs in Peterborough. It appears to be really well put together with the top of the range having all the gizmos. The sales staff really think that it will take on the GS this time. I've got a test ride booked in a couple of weeks so will report back.
 
I had a good look at the 2018 Tiger 1200 today at Webbs in Peterborough. It appears to be really well put together with the top of the range having all the gizmos. The sales staff really think that it will take on the GS this time. I've got a test ride booked in a couple of weeks so will report back.

Well they would, would they not?
 
I had a good look at the 2018 Tiger 1200 today at Webbs in Peterborough. It appears to be really well put together with the top of the range having all the gizmos. The sales staff really think that it will take on the GS this time. I've got a test ride booked in a couple of weeks so will report back.

When MCN reviewed the Tiger 1200 on youtube they said BMW sell more GS's and GSA's than Triumph sell in total so can't help thinking they're being a tad optomistic as that alone would nearly double Triumphs sales. It's no doubt a better bike than the last one but now is more on par with the cost of a GS and to me it's still too heavy.
 
When MCN reviewed the Tiger 1200 on youtube they said BMW sell more GS's and GSA's than Triumph sell in total so can't help thinking they're being a tad optomistic as that alone would nearly double Triumphs sales. It's no doubt a better bike than the last one but now is more on par with the cost of a GS and to me it's still too heavy.

A shade heavier than the GS and a whole lot lighter than a GSA. With a far superior engine a lot more power and far better put together. Not knocking the GS range they're great bikes. But for me the GS is not a patch on the Gen11 and Gen111 Explorers.
 
A shade heavier than the GS and a whole lot lighter than a GSA. With a far superior engine a lot more power and far better put together. Not knocking the GS range they're great bikes. But for me the GS is not a patch on the Gen11 and Gen111 Explorers.
I'd love an explorer of any generation
:cool:
 


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