Baby boomers may greet the new electric Triumph motorcycle with mixed feelings. Especially if their idea of a youthful night out was making thunderous noises as they cruised through city canyons. Besides, motorcycles engines were supposed to lubricate the pavements with gearbox oil. Perhaps they will relent their carbon sins if the underlying brand remains the iconic same.
New Electric Triumph Bike with Mixed Lineage
The new electric Triumph motorbike has a heritage dating back to 1902. That’s a year before William Harley and the Davidson brothers started building motorcycles in a garage. We find it interesting how many ideas begin that way. Perhaps that’s what garages are really for.
Magnificent Triumph motorcycles cut their teeth as courier bikes in World War II. Some even had rear shocks to absorb the bumps of riding through shell holes. They emerged with a twin 500cc motor sought after by ex-service people. By the late 1960’s, this had bored out into the 650 cc Bonnieville, so named after the Utah salt flats where motorcycle records were made to be broken. ‘Bonnie’ ruled supreme until the more powerful Honda 1000cc straight four arrived.
Could This Be the Spiritual Successor to the Mighty Bonneville …
Triumph Finally Awakes to an Electric Motorcycle
The new owner has continued making retro Bonnie versions for those who hanker after the past. Those days of sunshine and glorious youth when boomers knew nothing about global warming, and how carbon harmed their planet.
Perhaps this is the right time to launch the new electric Triumph motorcycle. “Electric motorcycles will have a vital role to play in future transport across the globe.” So says prof David Greenwood at University of Warwick. “They will also be great to ride, with copious, easily controlled torque delivered smoothly at all road speeds.”
Prof Greenwood makes solid green sense. However, some Triumph veterans may still have a problem. The iconic Triumph tank badge belongs to a different era they say. Time will tell whether the Clean Technica vision is correct. It thinks the Triumph could become “the spiritual successor to the mighty Bonneville”. And put Triumph back on top in the marketplace, this time without a much-loved noisy twin…
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Preview Image: 1962 Triumph Bonneville T120
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