2016 Triumph Street Tracker And Street Tracker R
2016 TRIUMPH STREET TRACKER AND STREET TRACKER R
IGNITION
NEWS
Bonnevilles get a boost with bigger engine, higher performance, and liquid-cooling
Mark Hoyer
World’s coolest prototype? Looks like it because a bigger, badder Triumph Bonneville-family bike has been confirmed by spy photos captured in Spain. The heritage-bike sandbox has gotten crowded lately with the BMW R nineT, Ducati Scrambler, Honda CB1100, and Yamaha SR400 all squeezing in. And while the current Triumph 8G5cc twins offer a good balance of performance, style, and value, a largerdisplacement, higher-performance model would clearly make sense.
Enterthe Street Trackerand the Street Tracker R model shown here. How are we so sure this is the name? A 2012 trademark application byTriumph.
Biggest news here is the plainly visible radiatorfor liquid-cooling. Expect at least 1,000cc, but we wouldn’t be surprised if the engine displacement was in the 1,200cc range. If it is a liquid-cooled 1,200, power
would easily top the air-/oil-cooled 1,170cc BMW R nineT’s 95.5 rear-wheel horsepower measured on the Cl/I/ dyno.
We expect this new Triumph parallel twin to have a 270-degree crankshaft to give it more rhythmic Ducati-like sound, as opposed to the flatter drone that comes from a 350-degree unit.
The air-cooled appearance remains, as do similarly styled camshaft covers on fourvalve-per-cylinder heads. The engine side covers are restyled to resemble the ones used on unit-construction Triumphs built in 1963 onward, whereas the current 865cc Bonneville’s mimic those of the earlier preunit machines.
But the redesign goes much deeperthan just covers, as the engine and transmission look to be completely new. Could the gearbox be anything less than a six-speed?
Unlikely.
Fuel-injection throttle bodies are styled to vaguely resemble Amal Concentric carburetors (strangely with a dose of earlier Monobloc carb too).
Triple disc brakes and 17-inch alloy rims speak to the overall performance potential. The R model is further upgraded with Öhlins suspension front and rear and radially mounted Brembo monoblock calipers on that fancy fork.
Some suspect all Bonnevilles will be based on this new platform, but wouldn’t it make a nice product ladder if the 865ccbased machine continued with a new lower price and this bike slotted in the $10,000$12,000 range, undercutting the R nineT’s $14,900 and offering more performance than the $11,899 Honda CB1100 Deluxe?
It looks like an exciting new era for Triumph parallel twins is coming for 2016. Wax your Belstaff!
