Yesterday and today Triumph Motorcycles of Hinckley, UK has unveiled their new redesigned line-up of Bonneville models for 2016. Gone are the modern classic air-cooled twins of 2001-2015, and in with the larger displacement, higher torque and HP, liquid-cooled models.
The new models are: Street Twin – Bonneville T120 Black – Bonneville T120 – Thruxton – Thruxton R
2106 Triumph Bonneville Street Twin
2016 Triumph Bonneville T120 and T120 Black
2016 Triumph Bonneville Thruxton R and Thruxton
It will be interesting to see how Bonneville purists who view “air-cooled” as being an integral part of what is means to be a Bonneville, will accept this new direction for the brand.
Here’s a great Bonneville product line overview video by Bike World!
Here’s another good first look report video produced by MotoUSA
Here’s one of the better online reviews I have seen at motorcycle.com!
Motorcycle.com reviews the 2016 Bonneville model line-up
Impressive list of changes, but at what cost? I could go for the new 1200 cc engine but that’s it. They can keep the ABS, TBW, TC, etc. They are going to add $3-4k to the list price.
As an old curmudgeon I am getting bothered by the price of all the high tech goodies on bikes these days. I ride a dual sported XR 400 and it’s nearly perfect for doing 500 mile weekends. The new Honda Africa Twin has me drooling, but all the doodads, ABS, traction control, throttle by wire, yada, yada are going to make it a $17000 bike. I don’t need all that shit, on a dual sport bike, or on an old school Bonny. If the new Honda A/T were priced under $12k I’d buy it in a NY minute but if it is priced like I expect it to be when they show up next year, t’aint gonna happen. My 2013 Bonny cost me $8500 and I’ve put another ~$2k into the standard performance mods. I’m thinking these new Bonny’s will be pushing $13k, or more. Am I wrong? Maybe the marketing geeks at Triumph figure the buyers of these new bikes will mostly be NYC/Chicago single hipsters pulling down six figures with nothing to spend their money on besides moustache wax.
Thanks for your comments Kendall. The new prices have not yet been released, nor have the HP spec’s. It will be interesting to see where they come in $ and how the market responds. I’m hanging onto my air-cooled models a bit longer, for sure! Like you, I like the relative simplicity and don’t need all the extra features.
Dealers are now quoting 9K for the street twin, 12K for the T-120s, and 12.7k for the Thruxton (base). This puts them in a good competitive pricing point for their market. I’m very interested in weight, dimensions, and power specs which are still being withheld. Like the commenters above I’ll probably wait until there’s more info before becoming a fan.
Jon, thanks for the comment. My guess is that the Thruxton 1200 R will be in the 90-100 HP range, but that will not be at the rear wheel. My guess is that on a Dyno it will be somewhere respectable in the low 90’s. We’ll see when the spec’s come out and then when people actually get their hands on them and put them on a dyno.
Randy