The new Triumph 1200 scrambler XE in bike mag today

...just back from a ride on one, ridden on some familiar and dry roads. It’s quite a nippy beasty :D

Trouble with me and test rides is I tend to ride like I stole it (in reality that’s try to ride it like I stole it) so you’re never quite sure what it would be like in real life. The engine seemed smooth, the size and positioning for me was very good ( it makes the standard scrambler look silly/tiny).

Great brakes, handled well, TFT nice and clear, heated grips good, could easily imagine having fun on a Morrocan piste but not a snotty muddy green lane. Didn’t notice heat from the exhaust although I think a pillion would not think the same.

In comparison to other bikes, it’s a bit like my Airhead special in being easy to hustle along, it even had a touch of HP2 size and feel about it.

Would I like one? Yes but the reality is it does not fill a gap in what I have already, it’s not quite an everyday bike (for me) like the Hexhead GSA, the fun side of a simple scrambler type bike is met by the Airhead Special - I think if I didn’t have the Airhead one would be finding its way into the garage?

Worth getting yourself a test ride

Will do. Love the look especially in white and built for tall chaps . Few are these days other than a GSA . I bet the pix on a GSA will be poor though. Nobody seems to be buying anything because of March 29th . Anyway a test ride is needed , I’ve had 3 of the early Tigers and loved them. Need to move some metal
 
Nobody seems to be buying anything because of March 29th

local BMW dealer has sold 30 1250's for march delivery....salesman at CMC sold over 20 bikes this week he was telling me
 
Will do. Love the look especially in white and built for tall chaps . Few are these days other than a GSA . I bet the pix on a GSA will be poor though. Nobody seems to be buying anything because of March 29th . Anyway a test ride is needed , I’ve had 3 of the early Tigers and loved them. Need to move some metal

I was expecting it to be a tall bike, it’s not compared to what I’ve experienced as tippy toe big bikes. I’m 31in leg and I had both feet flat on the ground
 
I was expecting it to be a tall bike, it’s not compared to what I’ve experienced as tippy toe big bikes. I’m 31in leg and I had both feet flat on the ground

Likwise when I sat on it. Missed out yesterday but hope to get a ride next week. Lack of any real luggage capacity is a bugger though.
 
It'll more than likely be a styling exercise................over functionality though

Can't see many getting offroad action, as there looks to be a lot of vulnerable parts, radiator for one:blast
 
It'll more than likely be a styling exercise................over functionality though

Can't see many getting offroad action, as there looks to be a lot of vulnerable parts, radiator for one:blast

Ey up, it's Sally Sunshine :blast
 
It'll more than likely be a styling exercise................over functionality though

Can't see many getting offroad action, as there looks to be a lot of vulnerable parts, radiator for one:blast

Vulnerability of certain parts aside I’d say it’s very capable of tackling some challenging off-road stuff. I’m benchmarking against the Airhead special and HP2 here, that triumph has got some decent suspension and the ergo for off-roading seems good - First impressions were it would be more than capable at tearing along, as I mentioned above, some morrocan pistes and not failing when faced with some compressions and lumpy bits to deal with.

That said unless you could really protect it you’d be wiser to travel at a Im not going to drop it pace.

As for a long distance overland bike... that’s where I would start to worry about things like keyless, all very convenient when going to Tesco’s (or not) but what happens when you are miles away from a triumph dealer and the key for some reason gets knackered, what’s the in fieldfix.

The or not re Tesco’s is you still need a key for the steering lock, where the logic in that.
 
Vulnerability of certain parts aside I’d say it’s very capable of tackling some challenging off-road stuff. I’m benchmarking against the Airhead special and HP2 here, that triumph has got some decent suspension and the ergo for off-roading seems good - First impressions were it would be more than capable at tearing along, as I mentioned above, some morrocan pistes and not failing when faced with some compressions and lumpy bits to deal with.

That said unless you could really protect it you’d be wiser to travel at a Im not going to drop it pace.

As for a one distance overland bike... that’s where I would start to worry about things like keyless, all very convenient when going to Tesco’s (or not) but what happens when you are miles away from a triumph dealer and the key for some reason gets knackered, what’s the in fieldfix.

The or not re Tesco’s is you still need a key for the steering lock, where the logic in that.

I think less than 10% will ever see dirt !
 
I think less than 10% will ever see dirt !

I would imagine the same could be said of any 'Adventure' bike

And Land Rovers. If one excludes Waitrose car park of course.

The point is they could if you wanted to, and it looks like this Triumph could if you wanted to - That said any bike could if the 'you' in you really wanted to :D

I don’t expect to see them being used like some use there AT's and 1090's but it does have more than just style and it’s good to see Triumph build it
 
I had a go on an XE today
I liked it, it’s tall but fits me at 6 foot 6 easily
Torquey engine , nice sound smooth , great gear change intuitive menu / joystick
Bars were not quite right for me probably just need rotating backwards
No burnt leg from the exhaust
Lot of wind blast as no screen , but a great TFT screen with everything covered
Quite slow to turn in with the big front wheel just have to give it a shove
Gets up to speed quickly , no where like as fast as a GSA but fast enough
I liked it . The dealer was really good/ friendly . Cost £12300 which is fair I guess
It reminded me a bit of the R9T scrambler on steroids, the size is the size the BMW scrambler should have been
Not sure wether I will go for it as top box is a no and I need to leave my stuff on my bike when I work
We’ll see . It was a lovely day for it as was the ride home . Try one
I don’t mind the keyless thing as I have it on both my bikes .
I reckon with a screen this could be a great daily bike . It looks stunning and a proper quality item .
 
The point is they could if you wanted to, and it looks like this Triumph could if you wanted to - That said any bike could if the 'you' in you really wanted to :D

I don’t expect to see them being used like some use there AT's and 1090's but it does have more than just style and it’s good to see Triumph build it

Have a look at this:

 
That's a good little video...

The suspension seems to do a fair job of handling the landing, it did seem to bounce back on the rear quite fast (watch at 8:30)
 

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I sat on one. Tall alright, dealer says there is a lower version coming. You are really perched on top of the bike. Nice bike though as stated competition for the 9T not the GS.
 
...more in the dirt stuff


Having recently ridden the 790ADV the head says the KTM is the better bike but there’s something about this Triumph that keeps drawing me back to it
 


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