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LEAKED: Liquid-Cooled Triumph Bonneville T120

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It’s been no big secret that Triumph is about to add liquid-cooling to the venerable Bonneville and its ilk. The cult classic hasn’t changed much in its long and storied past; and don’t worry, beyond the liquid-cooling, it hasn’t changed much for the 2016 model year either.

Thankfully, Triumph has kept the Bonneville aesthetic well inline with what discerning retro-riders and hipsters are looking for in their motorcycles, discretely hiding the machine’s blacked-out radiator.

While the 865cc Triumph Bonneville T100 will still come to the USA for the 2016 model year (free of the EU’s new stricter emission standards), the 2016 Triumph Bonneville T120 will travel worldwide, with its 1,200cc parallel-twin engine.

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Bikes

LEAKED: 2016 Triumph Speed Triple R

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Triumph is set to debut most of its 2016 line on October 28th, but that hasn’t stopped a French dealer from posting photos of the company’s lineup onto the internet. Since we’re not part of the party, and thus handcuffed by an embargo, we thought we would share the photos with you, dear readers.

First up is the 2016 Triumph Speed Triple R, which gets a modest face lift for the new model year. Beyond the reworking of the bodywork, with the most obvious changes done to the face of the machine, the revised Triumph Speed Triple R will be Euro 4 compliant, which means there is likely a reworking to the streetfighter’s three-cylinder engine.

Rumors have the Triumph Speed Triple R coming with 140hp out of the box, with the “R” model getting the obviously higher-spec suspension and wheels over the base model, per usual.

We will have to wait and see what other changes Triumph brings to this fantastic street bike. Hopefully they have updated the Speed Triple enough to keep it relevant in this increasingly competitive segment, but hopefully they have also retained what makes the Speed Triple such a joy to ride. More photos after the jump.

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Bikes

Triumph Begins Teasing the Liquid-Cooled Bonneville

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That headline is a bit of a misnomer, since the new liquid-cooled Triumph Bonneville has been “spied” for some time now in the media.

Triumph is at least capable of admitting that its hipster machine is getting an update now, releasing this teaser video that hints at “something big” coming our way – if liquid-cooling an engine is something big, then we couldn’t agree more.

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News

NHTSA Fines Triumph Motorcycles $2.9 Million

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The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has levied with Triumph Motorcycles with a $2.9 million civil penalty for violations of Safety Act reporting requirements and failure to fully respond to communications from NHTSA.

That sum includes a $1.4 million cash penalty that Triumph must pay to the NHTSA, as well as a $500,000 expenditure in order to meet a series of requirements to improve its safety practices. Triumph could have to pay an added $1 million in penalties should the company violate the consent order or if additional Safety Act violations emerge.

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Racing

Triumph Postpones Land Speed Record Attempt

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Racing at the Bonneville Salt Flats has been a tumultuous affair for 2015, with the Southern California Timing Association (SCTA) forced to cancel its Speed Week event for the second year in a row, just to see the AMA now proclaim its Bonneville Motorcycle Speed Trials event a tentative “go” barring more weather in the Salt Lake City area.

One of the teams we hoped to see competing on the salt flats was Triumph, with its Triumph Rocket III Streamliner and Guy Martin at its helm. With Guy Martin’s savage crash at the Ulster GP leaving the Lincolnshire-man with a broken back, sternum, and ribs, Triumph has had to re-think its 2015 land-speed record program.

As such, Triumph is calling this year a wash, and will return to the salt flats in 2016, where hopefully conditions, and more so fate, will allow the team to race towards its 400 mph goal.

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There’s So Much “Zef” in this Triumph Tiger Explorer

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Eleven years ago I saw this short CGI’d film about robotic police officers that patrolled in South Africa, in lieu of humans. It was really well-done and impressive short, more so because over 10 years ago it was really incredibly hard to make passable CGI.

This video, “Tetra Vaal” by Neill Blomkamp (of District 9 & Elysium fame, and embedded after the jump), just recently became the launching point for the box-office buster Chappie.

The feature film is a bit painful, especially if you’re not into the whole “zef rap” scene (I honestly wouldn’t click that link, NSFW). But, the movie touches on some interesting nerdy points, such as artificial intelligence and generally how messed up South Africa is, as a country.

This discussion of special effects, musical tastes, and semi-opinionated geo-politics is all necessary and relevant because of a Triumph Tiger Explorer concept inked by Jakusa Design, which riffs heavily on the Chappie‘s namesake character.

Such is the soft spot in my heart for the lovable robot Chappie, that I’m forcing this concept upon you. Sorry for partying…but more sorry for adding zef to your lexicon.

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Racing

Guy Martin Racing at Bonneville with Triumph

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After competing in the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb last year, Guy Martin continues his pursuit of racing beyond just road race courses, with an announcement today that he will compete with Triumph for a land speed record at Bonneville.

The news sees the Lincolnshire-man aboard the Triumph Rocket III Streamliner, which is powered by two turbocharged 2.3-liter Triumph Rocket III engines that make a combined 1,000 horsepower.

Triumph and Martin hope to top the current FIM motorcycle land speed record, which is 376.363 mph, pop the 400 mph barrier, and thus bring the land speed record back to the Triumph brand, and the UK, after a 45 year absence.

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Triumph Reports Best Quarter Ever in North America

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Triumph Motorcycles America is reporting a record setting first quarter, which also included that highest single-day of retails sales ever (March 31st).

Because of this, triumph says that in the 500cc+ on-road & dual-sport categoies the British marque is the top-selling European brand in North America.

Although triumph isn’t talking concrete figures, the company does say that sales for Q1 2015 were up 16% over last year’s numbers.

The brand does say that this most recent quarter’s sales success marks the 13th such quarter, out of the past four years (16 quarters), which year-over-year growth.

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Consumer Reports: Victory Owners the Most Happy, But Yamaha the Most Reliable

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Consumer Reports has taken another polling from motorcycle owners, a part of the publication’s continuous assessment on the value of various motorcycle brands and categories.

As usual, the Japanese brands dominated the reliability segment, though that did not automatically translate into the happiest of owners.

Victory Motorcycles takes the cake for keeping its customers happy, which stems from having fairly reliable motorcycles, coupled with good customer service and dealer interactions.

As such, 80% of Victory owners said they would buy a Victory again. Compare that figure to 72% for Harley-Davidson, and 70% for Honda (all other OEMs were below 70%).

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