First Triumph Thruxton Test

[RockHop_imp]

from what I have read the T120's do not get the 96 hp, they only get 80 crank hp (16% less hp than the Thruxton)

that would put Street Twin at 50 hp, Scrambler at 58 HP, T120 at 80 hp and Thruxton at 96 hp

Bad assumption on my part.

Sacrificing hp for lower end torque does make since for the Bonnie. After all, it is a "gentleman's" bike. Let the rockers ride the Thruxton.

[redbirds_imp]

I thought this dyno test of the Street Twin interesting. Puts out some pretty decent figures at the rear wheel for being the base model.

http://www.motorcycle.com/manufacturer/t...sults.html

[Paulb_imp]

I fully agree and this is the danger of buying bikes from reports by bike mags written by twenty something's who's idea of a test is a blast round the local track. The red area on my rev counter is a redundant zone. MCN have a report on the Bonneville 120 next week and I fully expect it to be as good as the Truxton this week.

Anyone tried the KTM Duke 690 yet? I had a go on the old model some time ago and found it raw and exciting. My brother fancies one and we are off to the Scottish show this weekend to kick some tyres.

[kmoney_imp]

kmoney..how many were R9Ts?

from what I have read the T120's do not get the 96 hp, they only get 80 crank hp (16% less hp than the Thruxton)

that would put Street Twin at 50 hp, Scrambler at 58 HP, T120 at 80 hp and Thruxton at 96 hp

The Street twin has fewer bhp than the old Bonneville but that's only half the story because many manufacturers, especially of retro machines, are much more interested in torque as riders of these bikes want pulling power from low revs. Triumph are making the Bonneville more of a street/tourer and are therefore sacrificing bhp for torque. I'd be happy never to see another bhp figure and just compare the torque statistics.

Paul, I understand completely, however to motorcyclists hp is the number they look at. Just the way it is. The CB got slayed in the press and on forums because it only had 85 ish HP. No one ever mentioned the satisfying 65 ft lbs of torque from 2500 rpms up.

Whenever a bike doesn't have much HP they always mention the torque. They never quote HP for big V twins like Harleys and Indians.. it's always they have 118 ft lbs of torque (not that they have 67 hp)

at least in this country, and apparently the world over.. HP is "all that's important" when talking motorcycles.

No one knows without looking it up how much torque an H2R Kawasaki has, but EVERYONE knows it has 225 hp.

None. I've never actually seen an R9T in the flesh, except for a customer's mild-custom bike BMW brought to our local motorcycle show.

That said, the allotment of R9Ts for Canada was probably under 100 and for BC probably like 10 bikes. With dealer fees and taxes a new R9T is a hair under $20k CAD, so they were definetely a hard sell here.

The Triumph dealer here is in the middle of downtown and could put you into a Bonnie or Thruxton for ~$8500. They (this dealer, not nescessarilly Triumph as a whole) also seem to have nailed the experiential/image marketing for younger buyers. I get that the disproportionate number of Triumph's here is a bit of a microcosm.