Triumph Thruxton

It is a series production cafe racer from the land of the Queen. And, a good looking one at that. The Triumph Thruxton is a modern day motorcycle (for most part) styled to look like a cafe racer from an era when slabside was already history but the alien tech - which is the Kawasaki H2 - wasn't even imagined. So, the Thruxton is simple, curvy, and as pleasing to look at as your grandpa's old radio. Only this one comes with iPod, USB and MP3 compatibility. So, yes, it is modern.

The Thruxton doesn't move anything like your modern day, tech-laden machines, though. So, for those looking to get their knee down around racetracks, deserted hill roads or the neighbourhood parking lot, stay clear of this Triumph. It has a tendency to weave if you decide to carry significant speed around a corner, and to make things more challenging, there's hardly any feedback from its front end. Plus, the Lazertec rubber from Metzeller isn't any good either. It's designed for classic bikes, and it both looks and acts the part.

But, the Thruxton is great in a straight line even at over 100mph; that's 160kmph in our speak, and the Holy Grail for any cafe racer worth anything at all. The Thruxton also has a well-rounded, caring edge to its ride quality, a fact I appreciated no end on our monsoon molested roads.

The engine, meanwhile, is an 865cc parallel twin, air cooled, fuel injected motor with dummy carbs to complete the period look (complete with a choke, mind). It sounds and goes like a period motor too. So, it’s not very fast, or scary or even liberating for that matter. And it’s not exactly refined or gung-ho at high revs either.

At low revs though – upto 4,000rpm or thereabouts – the Thruxton has a calm, smooth and torquey demeanour to it. The light, progressive and predictable throttle response helps this easy to ride character of this Triumph café racer further. Fuelling, however, can act up sometimes causing the motorcycle to stall when you least expect it. Overall then, the Triumph Thruxton is meant for a relaxed jaunt around town or a lazy Sunday highway ride; it’s not your do-it-all sort of a motorcycle.

I know I have said this already, but the Triumph Thruxton is a looker; especially in this British green hue and the golden racing stripe. It is well finished too, and it has one of the comfiest seats in the business. And, don't be fooled by that rear cowl because under that is a perfectly usable pillion seat. The Thruxton also has adjustable levers, retro white-faced twinpod dials and a fuel cap which is devoid of a lock.

We love the aluminium spoked wheels, the throw and spread of light from that large round headlamp and the quiet note from the twin exhausts. The thing we didn't like though, was the sometimes clunky, sometimes imprecise, but almost-always tedious gear shifts of the 5-speed gearbox.

Only if you like the way it looks. Because for all the positives the Thruxton packs in from its comfy seat, to its back nursing ride, to the easy nature of its engine, these feel more usable and likeable on the T100 and even the basic Bonneville. Plus, the latter two have upright seating and neutrally biased foot pegs. So, the lack of grip from the tyres automatically becomes less of a concern given the reduced lean clearance compared to the Thruxton. The Thruxton is also the most expensive of the trio.

The Triumph Thruxton is in a class or segment of one. We have other factory produced cafe racers in the market, sure - like the Hero Splendor Classic and the Royal Enfield Continental GT. But, the price points for the three are so hugely apart it feels silly to even mention them in the same line.