The REAL DEAL

Can the Bonneville range get any bigger? Well, it seems it can, with the Scrambler 1200 XC and XE. On first hearing of this bike, my cynical side just thought ‘Oh, they’ll fit some high level pipes and taller shocks to the Bonnie for turning up to the pub in your new Belstaff jacket’. But, as is so often the case, I was wrong. Triumph has created a genuine all-round bike with classic looks masking all the latest hi-tech. And it’s a hoot.

Three and a half years ago Triumph started with a blank piece of paper and there had to be two models, the do-it-all XC and the do-it-all-better XE; but basics of the bikes are identical. So first of all it was the turn of the frame. A new frame? With the tooling costs involved in this, you know this bike is important to Triumph’s plans. The reason is to give the handling and clearance off-road it needs and to accept a 21in front wheel, so the head angle is different.

Then, to allow the signature high-level pipes, the centre of the frame is