Originally Posted by mr moto

Anyway ....you Americans all dress like pirates and ride bad ass chromed out hawgs fitted with 200 decibel squealing beagle exhausts......dont you ?

Originally Posted by Fastship

The 675 is renowned for burning as much oil as petrol - if that's not cured then there is no hope for this new bike apart from posing wannabes.

Originally Posted by Mickey D

Rumors about a "Tiger Cub" based on the 675cc motor have been in play for 3 years or so now. Lots of speculation on forums (see various ADV rider threads). Latest rumors suggest two versions, one off road oriented, one more SM or street tour adventure style.

Will either be a good travel adventure bike? We'll have to wait and see, but I have my doubts based on Triumph's most recent model introductions.

I'm glad Triumph has picked up on this current trend. I'm also very glad the Japanese have pretty much stayed mute during this whole phenom that BMW and KTM have fired up. This will give Triumph at least a chance of making this whole effort worth the trouble and cost.

The Adventure bike movement is one of very few still profitable segments in motorcycling. Dual Sport/Adventure may have a future. BMW have managed to turn around their previously unprofitable bike division with the GS1100 starting in the mid 90's. Previous to this BMW's car division wholly supported its weak two wheeled sibling.

By 2000 momentum really began to build for the GS, then came the R1200. By that time KTM got into the mix and things began to get very interesting. Thus far, only Yamaha have introduced a bike labeled as "Adventure" with the new 1200 Tenere'. (In the Giant Trailie class)

In some countries adventure riding has been going on for 50 years ... I guess we just never knew it! In the UK and EU where NO LAND is available to ride on and going off road will often land you in Jail, this is a relatively new trend. The old timers probably remember a different time before lands were locked up. Did you ever wonder how Husqvarna developed their world beating bikes in the 60's?

But in places like Africa, S. America and the Western USA, we've been doing off road adventure riding for decades. I did my first on a Honda 50 step- through in Mexico in the 1960's. I was about 16.

The original Triumph (Meridan) company were strong and very important in various forms of dirt and street racing around the world. Those in the UK may remember the "Scrambles" events run all over England in the 1950's and 60's. Well documented in the press of the time.

In the USA Triumph were THE brand you wanted be on. As a teen I longed for a Triumph ... but I could only afford a Spanish Bultaco. In those days Triumph made a 200cc Tiger Cub trail bike (I owned one), a 500cc twin (James Dean rode a Daytona 500 and so did Marlon Brando in the Wild One) and the TR-6 and Bonneville (Steve McQueen rode and raced several in the Mojave desert)

All were raced in the desert, moto cross'd, flat track'd and road raced. A huge influence in the Moto world of those years. (pre-Japanese)

But things change ... lets hope the young engineers at Triumph today have done their homework and understand the market. IMHO, they've screwed up mightily with the Thunderbird and Rocket lll. Wholly misjudging the US market. They will pay big for this. I hope it doesn't sink the company.

This is what happens when you hire NO Americans (in important positions) in their USA Atlanta base of operations. The Brits don't always "get" we funny Americans, never really have. I've met some of the Triumph staff, so this is not here-say but personal experience in the industry.

Triumph have had a decade to study this "Adventure trend" so lets hope they get it right first time out ... because I'm not sure Triumph have the resources to do continuous model upgrades (to "fix" a sub standard bike) the way the Japanese and Germans can.

IMHO, the 675 motor should be a great starting point for an Adventure bike. The Teutonics out there will insist you need MASSIVE Boxer torque to make an adventure bike work. I disagree.

What you need is a light weight bike that handles, can be loaded up
and is tough enough to survive the rigors of thousands of off road (or Bad Road) miles. Its not really rocket science ....

The big four built small CC bikes that fit this bill back in the 70's. Bomb proof do it all "Scramblers" like the CL and XL Hondas (175, 200, 250 and more). I owned a couple.

These bikes were great for exploring the Mojave desert and Baja. In those days all we carried was a ruck sack (worn) and a small tail pack on the rear seat. Funky, inadequate but kids are tough. Biggest problem were flat tires. Tires and tubes today are 1000 times better than the 70's.

So who will be the first to ride RTW on a "new" Triumph Adventure bike?

Originally Posted by adrian74

Nowhere to ride offroad in the UK or EU? WTF?
Triumph dont hire any Americans? Triumph have quite a few "Americans" working for them in high positions, there are several from central and south America and Canada, just not many from the USA.
I wonder why?

Originally Posted by Mickey D

Off road riding is illegal in many EU countries ... or very limited for special events only. Eastern Europe? Russia? ... different story. My Brit dirt riding friends tell me the Green Lanes are being slowly shut. No vast open areas to ride in, not much public land for dirt riding.

I'm sure you have a few little tracks here and there but my original comment compares the UK and Western EU with the Western USA, Africa and S. America where open land is abundant and riding is unrestricted. In the US this is part of why dirt riding is literally part of the culture ... for what it's worth.

The USA has thousands of square miles of open land to ride on. Check out
Nevada. I think the UK might fit in it. The whole state is basically open to off road riding. Lots more riding in CA, AZ, NM, Id, Mt, Ut, OR and more.


Tiny piece of Nevada.

In my seven years in Latin America I never once met a Bolivian, Argentine or Colombian who when asked where they hailed from said they were "American". They prefer Boliviano, Argentino, or Colombiano. They adknowledge they are all "Americans", but when asked where they are from ... the country name is ALWAYS USED.

"High Positions" ? Name ONE executive working for Triumph in Central America. Dealers? Maybe. Executives? Nice Troll.

Rather than get into a country bashing exchange I'll simply say the reason they've brought the Brits to Atlanta, GA is because they get them cheap and life is much better in Georgia than the UK ... this according to several employees I met there.

And lets not forget Triumph are now manufacturing and building a lot of bikes in Thailand and that more and more work is being transferred there. Almost none of Triumph's parts are made in UK, but sourced from Japan, Thailand, China and elsewhere. I learned a lot about Triumph when at the Factory in 2003. I'd show pictures but Triumph wouldn't allow it.