Aesthetically, the Scrambler inspires affection. Its spoked wheels, flat seat, small headlight and single speedometer evoke memories of the BSA and James models my father rode in the 1950’s. So do the shiny upswept exhaust pipes, sturdy tubular steel frame and – the ultimate nostalgia device – a manual choke you pull out to start and slide in as the engine reaches running temperature.
I haven’t seen one like that for ages; I could hear Janis Joplin singing “Me and Bobby McGee” as soon as I touched it.
Triumph designed this model to resemble the machine on which Steve McQueen failed to leap the barbed wire fence on the Swiss border at the end of The Great Escape. That really was a Triumph – a 1961 TR6 Trophy to be precise – though how McQueen was supposed to have found one in wartime Germany was never clear to me.
Still, the similarity is plain, right down to the knobbly road tyres, long-travel telescopic forks and chromed-spring rear shocks. But this is a lighter, less lumbering, motorcycle.
Lifestyle accessory
It is a niche product, of course. Ride it on a motorway for long and your arms will be pulled from their sockets by windblast. The Scrambler will reach 160km/h but it is not comfortable above 130km/h – except for brief overtaking moves. At 40.5kW, it is not remotely fast.
But it does not pretend to be. It is a lifestyle accessory with looks calculated to scream charisma, not performance. Triumph says it is aimed at riders who “share the view that motorcycling is great fun, socially acceptable and a liberating experience”.
It adds, pointedly, these riders “are not interested in riding fast”.
You might interpret that as meaning slow and pretty, but it’s a bit more than that. The engine is smooth, flexible and very torquey. It pulls a pillion passenger with ease and gives the bike real capability on rough ground. Let’s be clear; the Scrambler is not a Moto X bike but meant for taking a friend up a rutted lane on a sunny Sunday in August. For that it works just fine.
High, wide handlebars and high-set footpegs make it easy to control at low speeds. It’s a breeze in heavy urban traffic and on narrow twisting lanes. With a dry weight of only 205kg, it feels gossamer light when crawling between stationary cars. I rode it through a snowstorm in central Glasgow; it was light, poised and reassuring.
Returing bikers
Triumph’s description is right. The Scrambler is fun. Power is adequate for 100km journeys. Engine, clutch, gearbox and brakes all remind an experienced motorcyclist that the old-fashioned look is only skin deep. But this is not an all-rounder; it is a well-made and charming fashion accessory.
It will give pleasure to returning bikers, hobby riders and men who owned Triumphs in the 1960’s and relish the prospect of returning to motorcycling on a machine that reminds them of their youth.
Is it practical? Not if you plan to tour but if recreational motorcycling means weekend picnics in the countryside or at the beach, pootling around town in jeans and a leather jacket, or summer commuting to the office, then the Scrambler is adorable.
The only problem with my thriller idea is that it looks so cool it would almost certainly be stolen from the airport bike-park. But spy novels don’t have to be entirely practical; just entertaining.
Specifications
Engine: 865cc, air-cooled, parallel twin
Maximum power: 40.5kW at 7000rpm
Maximum torque: 69Nm at 5000rpm
Transmission: Five-speed gearbox with chain final-drive
Brakes: Front single 310mm disc, rear single 225mm disc.
Tank capacity: 16.6 litres
