The Original Triumph Thruxton

Triumph Motorcycles have manufactured the Triumph Thruxton 900 since 2004. It is an integral part of the company's 'Classics' line of bikes, all of which take inspiration from classic bikes of yesteryear. The modern-day Thruxton, according to Triumph, takes its name from a race track where the company's bikes excelled in the middle part of the last century. Sporty, stylish and retro, the contemporary Thruxton delivers an authentically old-fashioned riding experience using nothing but the most up-to-the-minute technology.

There was, however, a Triumph Thruxton manufactured many years before the current model. This bike was a variant on the po[censored] r Bonneville model, known as the Thruxton Bonneville. This bike was created in the mid-1960s, and it is said that as little as 52 of the bikes were made. Compared to the modern Thruxton, which has an engine power rating of 68 brake horsepower (bhp) at 7400 rpm, the old model could manage 54 bhp at 6,500 rpm. The new bike has a dry weight of 205kg (dry weight meaning that it contains no fuel) whereas the old bike weighed, without fuel, 157kg. The older model could hit a higher top speed of 140 miles per hour or more, compared to the new version's 110 miles per hour - but this is hardly surprising considering the original bike was designed for racing purposes.



The story goes that Triumph manufactured only 54 of the original Thruxtons in order to officialise the design - the rules stated that to enter the bike for racing, the company must first offer it for sale. Following this initial production run, many copies were produced by dealers with encouragement from Triumph themselves. Therefore, a motorcycle collector that comes across a Triumph Thruxton may have a hard time working out whether their Thruxton is an original production model or a standard Bonneville that has been converted.

As previously mentioned, the Triumph Thruxton was named after the Thruxton race track. This was originally opened in 1941 as a Royal Air Force base, before transferring to the US Army Air Forces in 1944. Located near Andover in Hampshire, the site is still used as an airfield today, but was used for racing from the end of the Second World War, when a 1.9 mile circuit was constructed. In 1958, Mike "the Bike" Hailwood and Dan S[censored] y won the first 500 mile race at this site on a 650 Triumph.

Douglas Lionel Hele, famed motorcycle engineer, was the man who prompted development of the Triumph Thruxton when he arrived at the company in 1962. His first prototype model placed second in the race at Thruxton in 1964.
Much as the original Triumph Thruxton was an update of the Bonneville bikes that were around at the time, the new version is essentially a powered-up modern Bonneville - with a 'cafe-racer' look. It features a steeper steering angle than the standard Bonneville, along with a megaphone-style exhaust and a different riding position. It may not be a 'true' classic, but the modern version of this racing behemoth gets the look and feel just right, and is certain to turn heads when you take it out for a spin.