Bye Bye Bonneville

BYE BYE BONNEVILLE

HOLDING YOUR BREATH for the release of the rumored neo-Bonneville from the reborn Triumph Motorcycles Limited? It’s time to exhale. Triumph spokesmen, once happy to entertain rumors of the bike without specifically commenting on them, now say there’ll be no such bike.

Apparently the idea of creating a Bonneville Twin was considered, but was rejected on

the grounds that applying Triumph’s modular technology to creation of a two-cylinder engine would require use of half the existing 1200cc Trophy engine. This would have required a very costly major redesign. Without such a redesign the engine cases would have been much too big and heavy for a Twin.

Instead of building a Twin, Triumph intends to concentrate on Triples, with new ver-

sions, reportedly including an all-new fuel-injected motor, already under development.

Reports in the British press indicate that though new Triumphs are selling quite well, the company has yet to show a profit. But with warranty claims down to an amazing one percent of total production, sales are climbing and the company’s 1993 production target is up to 8000 units.

Alan Cathcart