2016 Triumph Bonneville T120: First Ride Review

Say the word Bonneville and Triumph in succession and the first image that pops into any petrolhead’s mind is the icon Steve McQueen astride on his Bonnie in The Great Escape. Say the same to any old timer and he will tell you about the stories on the record breaking Triumph that was christened the Bonneville, the name sake of the Bonneville Salt Flats. The legacy of the name is long and illustrious, so much so that even after almost sixty years, the name is an aspiration of many and I am one of them and proud of it. So after constant bickering and fighting at the office for days, I was on the flight to Portugal to ride the new Triumph Bonneville T120 Black, an icon I have always admired and would love to own one day. 

Design & Features:

I could sum up the entire design of the motorcycle in one single sentence; it looks like a classic if it was built for today. To look at, the Bonnie is a rather simple (read deceptive) machine. It still looks like a bike from the sixties but loaded with modern tech and new age design elements. The classic round headlamp is in place but features DRLs and a Triumph logo bulb cover. The analogue instrument cluster also looks like it would fit snug on the 1968 model but comes with backlit LEDs and two digital screens which display all information including trip, mileage and distance to empty. It even comes with a USB charging socket. The tank too is inspired from the original Bonnie and the engine as on the old Bonnie still dominates the design but is liquid cooled and the faux carburettors are actually covers for the twin throttle bodies with digital fuel injection. 

The seat too is finished in classic style and moving on to the back the tail lamp design also echoes the summer of love but comes with LED lamps. The only thing that is classic in every sense are the turn indicators which are old school amber lenses. The 18-inch front wheels are spoked but made from aluminium, the same goes for the 17-inch rear wheels. The front wheels are adorned by 90/100 Pirelli Phantom tyres and the rear sports 150 section tyre of the same make.

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The tyres have been specifically developed for this motorcycle. In addition, it even comes with heated grips as standard, the button for which is on the grips itself. It also comes with two riding modes namely road and rain. The pea-shooter exhausts too are standard and look as classic as classic can be. And going by the name, the entire bike is finished in black. 

Engine & Performance:

The T120 is fitted with a brand new 1,200cc 8 valve SOHC parallel twin engine making 80PS of peak power at 6,550rpm and 105Nm at 3,100rpm. Thumb the starter and what you hear is not the muted whine as in the old T100 but a throaty rumble of a typical British parallel twin and boy does it sound good. Rev it up and the burble turns into a meaty roar with the transmission whine acting as the tenor. Shift into first and the bike rolls off the line effortlessly and if you rig the throttle even slightly all it wants to do is dart forward towards the horizon for most of the torque lies in the mid-range, more than 50 percent of it. It also revs faster compared to the old bike thanks to the low inertia crank and a lighter flywheel. On the move it feels comfortable, as despite its parallel twin configuration there are virtually no vibrations even if you’re sitting on the top of the rev range. And the immense mid range also means that shuffling through then gears is reduced to a bare minimum. It will effortlessly pull from 40kmph all the way to 130kmph in fourth gear alone and you still have two gears to spare. 

Ride, Handling & Braking:

Our hotel in cascais had cobbled surface and the first thing that I thought was this was not going to be comfortable but boy was I wrong. It took the uneven surface in its stride as if it was riding on normal tarmac. No unsettling, no drama, just pure comfort. The ride it further enhanced thanks to its supremely comfortable seat. The seat was neither too soft nor too hard it was just right and even after riding more than half a day I felt I could ride another half. It is easily the best seat I have ever parked myself on. The suspension does a great job of ironing out undulations and keeps the bike stable no matter what the road throws at it. But the Bonneville is all about riding distances and attacking corners something it is bred to do right? Well for the most part yes. 

We hit the bends quite early in our ride and I forgot that we were in Europe where tyres need warming up and hence came quite close to the armco barriers on the road. The bike did feel quite front heavy initially but once the tyres came up to temperature, things smoothened out considerably. In addition, the bonnie by no means is a lightweight. It weighs a hefty 224kg but amazingly it never feels like it. It is easy to ride and equally easy to manoeuvre but once you start pushing the bike into corners it does take a bit of extra effort to turn the bike in. Having said that, once you’ve entered the corner, no lean angle is too sharp. It gives you the mid corner grip and the confidence that comes with it to really push the bike hard towards the apex.

The Pirelli tyres too, once up to temperature provide great levels of grip and keep the bike stable and true. Though it does come with ABS and Traction control as standard, the TC does tend to be a bit lazy but that just keeps the fun intact as it doesn’t interfere too much and only steps in when it detects that you’ve really over cooked it. The twin discs upfront are Nissin units and provide good bite but do lack in feel which makes calculating the precise pressure a tad tricky. Also, the brakes are progressive but slightly spongy and that does hamper a bit of confidence during hard braking. But keep your ride easy and slightly laidback and the bonnie will flow effortlessly from one corner to next because let’s be honest here this is not a super sport motorcycle nor a cafe racer, the Thruxton is there for that. The T120 is bred to be an easy going mile muncher and it does that brilliantly whilst keeping you in utmost comfort.

Verdict:

The Bonneville was always an icon and it always will be. It is a classic motorcycle for the modern world and built as a long distance bike and it does that brilliantly. It is comfortable, good looking and not to mention iconic. But the bike we rode here the T120 Black will unfortunately not be coming to India. If you’re feeling cheated don’t worry for the difference between the standard bike and the Black is purely cosmetic and the standard bike is every bit of the Bonneville that you’ve just read about and is priced at Rs 8.7lakh ex-showroom Delhi.