The three limited-production factory customs will be produced for one year only
Triumph’s got a decent track record in tasty factory customs, and it’s just dropped another three new variants for next year. They’re not extreme special builds; the engine and chassis remain as standard, but the new bikes have some sweet styling, fancy paint and interesting themes behind them, celebrating big parts of Triumph’s heritage.
First up is the Rocket 3 221, which comes in standard and GT versions. The ‘221’ in the title refers to the enormous torque figure produced by the 2.5 litre inline-three engine in the Rocket: 221Nm. That mighty motor also puts out 167bhp, making it the most powerful Triumph bike engine ever built.
The Rocket 3 221 has a new ‘Red Hopper’ paint scheme, with slick ‘221’ graphics and a load of black-finished chassis parts. It also, slightly bizarrely, features an engine spec panel printed on top of the fuel tank, so you can remind yourself of the beefy bore and stroke, capacity, torque and power figures, as well as the fact that Triumph is from Hinckley…
Next we have the Thruxton RS ‘Ton Up’, which harks back to the 1960s and the great days of the British bike industry. Back then, hitting 100mph (a ‘Ton Up’) was a bit more of an accomplishment that it is nowadays, and bikers tuned their British twin-cylinder machines to hit the magic three figures.
The café racer was born here too – these tweaked bikes and their owners would hang out at venues like the Ace Café on the London North Circular Road. There are plenty of apocryphal tales of starting a rock music single on the jukebox, then jumping on your fire-breathing Triumph or Norton, racing down the bypass to the next junction and back, before the record finished.
The Ton Up Thruxton RS is a modern take on the café racer style, with a sweet pillion seat cowl and optional cockpit fairing, all painted in a unique Aegean Blue and white paint scheme with new ‘100’ graphics and speed stripe. The premium Thruxton RS spec remains: peak power of 104bhp from the 1200 parallel twin Bonneville engine, Brembo M50 race-spec front brake calipers, Öhlins rear shocks and full rider aids electronics package.
Finally, Triumph is also paying homage to the East End of London and its hipster bike scene, in the form of a limited-edition EC1 Street Twin. Places like the Bike Shed have sprung up alongside the metropolitan custom bike subculture, and the new EC1 Street Twin celebrates the mean streets of Clerkenwell, Shoreditch and Farringdon…
It’s based on the standard Street Twin with its 64bhp 900cc parallel twin Bonneville engine, Brembo brakes and solid electronics package, and adds a new limited edition silver paint scheme, with hand-painted coach lines and matching optional fly screen.
All three new bikes are available next year; the Thruxton will cost from £14,050.00 and will be available from selected dealers from June 2022. The Rocket 3 221 will be in the shops in April, starting at £21,100, and the Street Twin EC1 will cost £9,000 when it’s released in March. More info: www.triumphmotorcycles.com