Driving report Triumph Scrambler

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Driving report Triumph Scrambler
Jorg Kunstle

Driving report Triumph Scrambler

Back to the future

While Marty McFly relied on the inventions of the bumbling Doc Brown in the time travel Schmonzette from the eighties, Triumph tries the way into the future with the help of the past without a flux compensator.

De facto, the company in Hinkley, England, which has been successfully selling contemporary, reliable and sometimes gorgeous motorcycles under the name Triumph since 1990 under the leadership of John Bloor, has nothing in common with the manufacturer, which was previously notorious for its vibrations under the same name tried to bring technically outdated motorcycles to the people. The brand name was retained, however, and Triumph’s 100-year tradition was continued.

The ideal forerunner of the current one rolled in 1949 S.crambler under the name TR5 Trophy over the often still dusty slopes of the mostly New World. With wide handlebars and a raised exhaust, a street motorcycle was transformed into an off-road motorcycle. The ingredients are the same today, but by no means the purpose, because despite the Bridgestone Trailwing tires fitted, the Scrambler is more intended for easy off-road excursions and quickly ends in difficult terrain. The weight as well as the suspension travel and chassis geometry correspond to those of the Bonneville on the
it is based. And thus a pure road machine. In view of the local density of asphalt, this is not a serious problem.
The aura of the Scrambler is much more interesting, because while the Bonni looks kind of old-fashioned, the new one comes across as really cool. And this coolness carries over to the driver. The footrests located far below and to the rear, in combination with the high, wide handlebars placed close to the driver, result in an unusually upright, but extremely comfortable and above all casual seating position. Even before the first meter you drive, you get a not mild desire,
to be the wild one again or to break chains like Marlon Brando or Steve Mc Queen in the films of the same name.
The start-up procedure is almost the same as before. Steering lock on the right of the frame, the ignition on the left behind the lamp, the choke under the tank. Especially in the dark it is for endless fiddling
taken care of. At least the driver has to
unlike Steve or Marlon, not
Kick, push a button and that
Four-valve engine starts work. A slight disillusionment spreads, because the double-flow chrome-plated pipes laid on the right-hand side are more off in terms of sound
as a pouf. Friends of the perceptible
Expressions of life can be said for consolation: Triumph has recognized the problem and offers accessories that make noises and smoke. Of course without ABE.
Not only the transducer, but also other innards of the 865 engine have been adapted to the new environment. With tame camshafts and a lot of flywheel mass, the twin, which is calmed down by two balance shafts, has been given a steam hammer characteristic, to which the crank pin offset of 270 degrees also contributes. Regardless of which of the five gears to be shifted exactly, but hard to shift, the Scrambler pulls through brawny and with vibrations reminiscent of the trembling of a ship under full steam from the lowest speeds and thus suggests a force that is objectively not present in the measure.
With 54 hp and 232 kilograms full-
With a tank, the driving dynamics are pretty tight, but the fun doesn’t suffer. There’s always something going on on the Scrambler. With a very soft fork, but all the tighter struts, she plugs bumps in the front, only to distribute them again in the back. In addition, the low-mounted footrests pull drainage into the asphalt very early, and the fork twists when the single-disc brake is not overly powerful. However, that doesn’t really bother you, in fact the Triumph provides a higher experience value even at speeds that are absolutely StVO-compatible than many modern bikes at twice the speed.
The duty with the scrambler is done with a studded jacket, braincap and, best of all, with a cigarette in the corner of your mouth on the local promenade, for the freestyle, on the other hand, Belstaff jackets and the smallest, winding streets in the hinterland are ideal.
In terms of suitability for everyday use, light and shadow are in balance. In addition to the already mentioned, wildly scattered locks, the tank is annoying. Firstly, it cannot be locked; secondly, you should drive at least 30 kilometers between filling up and parking
lie, so you don’t want to mark the area with overflowing fuel. Brake and clutch levers can be adjusted for this, and bellows on the fork take care of this
for a long service life of the Simmerrings. The workmanship of the Triumph gives little cause for complaint, but it has
The choice of materials for so many components had the final say in red pencil. Headlight housings and fenders are made of plastic instead of steel, this work-
material is reserved for the rims. And the
Exhaust manifolds give the impression that they came from the plumbing department of a hardware store.
If you can’t ignore it, you can browse the accessories catalog. There
the Scrambler is one of the affordable bikes at 8750 euros, there should be something left for tuning. And the journey through time John Bloors ends successfully. Even without a flux compensator.

The ancestors

Not only triumph transformed
conventional street models in
especially with the US audience
popular off-roaders. 1949
The single cylinder made the start with the TR5 Trophy, and it was around ten years before the competition jumped on this bandwagon. From 1959 there was the Ducati Scrambler 200, whose four-stroke single cylinder grew to 450 cubic centimeters by 1965. Honda didn’t want to stand back any longer. At the beginning of the sixties the two-cylinder CL 72 came on the market, which by 1966 developed into the CL 45 with an impressive 43 hp. The concept was the same for all manufacturers: Remove knick-knacks, put wide handlebars on, put up the exhaust and mudguards and mount studded tires. The chassis remained mostly untouched, which was not exactly an advantage for the off-road capabilities.

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