THE BOBBER IS A TOTAL TRIUMPH
Let’s talk about beauty. You might think it a superficial thing, but I know that when I walk into a simple room with only a few beautiful things in it, my spirit soars like a lark, and when confronted by ugliness and clutter, my heart sinks faster than Belfast’s most famous ship.
Which brings me, naturally enough, to the Triumph Bobber – for simple and beautiful it surely is.
Bobbers were originally ex-wartime machines bought in the fifties and stripped down to their most basic elements. This one has all you need for a motorcycle, and nothing more – spoked wheels, engine, single seat and slash-cut exhausts.
Then you look closer and discover the exquisite details in brass, like the nameplate on the back of the seat, the ferruled top to the fake carbs and the inset in the single speedo. Even better, you don’t have to suffer for its art, for the riding position is superbly comfortable; and if it’s not, the seat’s adjustable.
Start up and it gets even better with a contented burble from the hefty parallel twin enhanced by those slash-cut pipes. I’ve never heard a motor sound more happy with itself, and it has every right to be.
However, it’s out on the road where the joy starts, with the 1200cc engine from the Bonneville T120 tuned for more power and torque at low revs, flinging man and machine towards the horizon in a satisfyingly lusty fashion, accompanied by a glorious soundtrack.
Triumph’s charming and absurdly talented test rider Felipe Lopez tried several tyre sizes before settling on a 19in front and 16in rear, and he’s got it spot on, with perfectly light and neutral handling as you swing through bends with a grin from ear to ear and back again.
The single disc up front is more than adequate for braking, and the only possible complaint is a dinky nine-litre tank which makes Triumph’s claim of 69mpg and a range of 138 miles a trifle optimistic. With spirited riding, around 50mpg might be more accurate.
Nonetheless, it’s so addictive that I actually prefer it to the just as beautiful but slightly less comfortable Thruxton with its lower bars – and to any other retro bike I’ve ridden, such as the Moto Guzzi V7, Ducati Scrambler and possibly even the Indian Scout.
It is, in short, a motorcycle that would make even Leonard Cohen happy. If he wasn’t dead, that is.