Triumph’s retro-styled Bonnie has been a sell-out success
but the new Bobber Black rides as good as it looks
TEST ALAN CATHCART PHOTOGRAPHY KINGDOM CREATIVE AND LEE VIGORNOTHING SUCCEEDS LIKE
success–andTriumph’ssavvy
creation of the T120-based
BonnevilleBobberayearago
asafactory-builtanswertothe
cool garage-built Customs has
been richly rewarded.
Butitsguesstimateon
demandwaswideofthemark,
leavingitstrugglingtokeepup
withsupply.TheBritishbrand
has sold two-and-a-half times
more Bobbers than originally
projected, which surely caused
Triumphmorethanafew
headaches – of the good kind.
Those production headaches
are set to worsen because
Triumphhasnowextendedits
rangewithwhatamountsto
an Evo version that’s sure to
findevengreaterfavourwith
customers. A modern British
takeonaYankee-stylehotrod
that’scool,capableandevenmore competent. The Black
was launched at the EICMA
Show in November and will
reach showrooms soon, it has a
few improvements the original
Bobber needed, and styling
that makes it look even tougher
than before.
You can have any colour you
want so long as it’s black. All
the chrome or polished alloy
on the stock Bobber is now
anodised, powder coated or
painted black.
It has a new front end, adding
another rigidly-mounted
310mm front disc, both now
gripped by twin-piston Brembo
calipers rather than the Nissin
on the solitary fl oating front
disc of the original Bobber. The
43mm K YB fork is replaced by a
beefier 47mm Showa cartridge
item that’s still not adjustable,
but offers the same 90mm ofwheel travel. The K YB rear
monoshock, adjustable for
spring preload, is retained.
While the second front brake
resolves the original Bobber’s
biggest dynamic problem – at
228kg dry it was under-braked
with a single front disc – the
Black’s front end change is
basically visual: in an effort to
recall the early cutdown bob-
job custom bikes that returning
GIs created from surplus
military bikes post-W W2
[see Bobber DNA sidebar], it
now wears what amounts to
a rear tyre up front, with the
original Bobber’s 19-inch front
swapped for a 16-incher, shod
with a chunky 130/90 Avon
Cobra AV71 tyre. The original
150/80-16 rear remains.
And dry weight is now
237.5kg, refl ecting the extra
componentry.The sinuous launch route
between Marbella on Spain’s
Costa del Sol and the historic
city of Ronda in the mountains
above the Mediterranean
is steeped in motorcycling
history and is a great test of
how a bike handles and how
much grunt it delivers. The
Bonneville Bobber Black
passed with fl ying colours.
Tr iumph’s ret ro-look ing
Custom model has a
minimalist styling ethos,
a muscular stance and the
purposeful attitude of a period
bobber – and is still only
available as a single-seater.
The 690mm seat makes the
Black accessible to riders of
all heights, and is adjustable
elliptically over 30mm, giving
a choice of Up and Forward
or Down and Rearward. The
forward position delivers extraTriumph Bonneville Bobber Black
retrospin
32 amcn.com.au
Betting on Black