Triumph is recalling 2,180 units of its Triumph Tiger Explorer 1200 adventure-bikes, models from 2011 to 2014. The recall comes about because the side-stand pivot bolt may fracture, which could cause the Explorer to fall over, and possibly injure someone nearby.
Triumph’s other “x” bike at the EICMA show, the 2015 Triumph Tiger 800 XCx is like the Tiger 800 XRx, with more features and refinements than the base Tiger 800 XC.
The biggest additions are an ajustable traction control system, three riding modes, adjustable ABS, and cruise control, all as standard on the off-road slanting ADV bike.
No word yet on pricing from Triumph for North America, but we do know that both the Tiger 800 XCx and the Tiger 800 XRx will be coming to the USA.
For the 2015 model year, Triumph is continuing its new trend of offering more premium “x” variations of existing machines, as we saw with the Triumph Street Triple Rx, last month at the INTERMOT show. Getting the x-treatment at EICMA is the Triumph Tiger 800, and first up is the 2015 Triumph Tiger 800 XRx.
A more refined version of Triumph 800cc road-going adventure bike, the big news is Triumph adding traction control as standard, cruise control as standard, and switchable ABS to the Triumph Tiger 800 XRx.
Take your standard 675cc three-cylinder Triumph Street Triple, put a Daytona 675 sport bike tail and subframe on it, and you’ve got the basic premise of the Triumph Street Triple Rx special edition figured out.
Of course, that’s not all you get, as the Street Triple Rx comes with special decals and paint, “Diablo” red wheels, a quickshifter for your $11,199 MSRP.
That’s right, the 2015 Triumph Street Triple Rx is coming to the USA as a new model, available February 2015 — that’s good news, if it tickles your fancy.
Building a special edition machine for INTERMOT, the Brits have debuted the 2015 Triumph Street Triple RX, which is based off the Triumph Street Triple R. Borrowing from the Triumph Daytona 675 however, the Triumph Street Triple RX takes many styling points from its supersport cousin, namely the Daytona’s tail section.
Also coming in a matte silver with red accents, the Street Triple RX is channeling heavily on the Daytona, and even has a quickshifter to mimic the Dayton’s sport appeal. At the heart of the machine though is the same 675cc three-cylinder engine, that pumps out 106hp.
Mostly a cosmetic exercise from Hinkley, this is what we get to chew on, since Triumph canned its 250cc sport bike project. 20 high-resolution photos await you after the jump.
It’s been a tough season on the Bonneville Salt Flats, as the weather has played havoc on the narrow window that land-speed record pursuers have to operate. One of the groups looking to make history is Triumph, which is looking to break the 400 mph mark on a motorcycle.
Campaigning the Triumph Castrol Rocket, with Jason DiSalvo at the helm, Triumph hoped to be speeding down the salt these past few weeks, but instead the team has been rained out of competition thus far.
There are still opportunities remaining this year for the Triumph Castrol Rocket squad, the next being the rescheduled Mike Cook’s Bonneville Shootout, which will take place on October 5th thru 10th, where the streamliners two Triumph Rocket III engines will roar again search for the outright two-wheeled record.
The US economy has been slow to recover, and so too has the US motorcycle market. With first-quarter sales down 0.3% this year though, it looked like the US motorcycle market was about to flatline.
Thankfully, that has not been the case in Q2 of 2014, as the Motorcycle Industry Council (MIC) is proud to report that US motorcycle sales are up 4.0% in the second quarter of this year.
Selling 169,111 units in Q2 2014 (6,585 more than in 2013), motorcycles sales in the US so far this year are now up 2.6%, with 263,833 units sold so far in 2014.
More change is afoot at Triumph Motorcycles North America, as it has come to light that Greg Heichelbech is no longer the CEO of Triumph’s North American operation. Recently named by Powersports Business as the motorcycle industry’s “Executive of the Year” for 2014, Heichelbech’s departure comes after being with Triumph for the past three years.
How Is that rebounding economy treating you? If you work in the motorcycle industry, probably not so well according to the Motorcycle Industry Council’s latest sales report, which highlights sales from the first-quarter of 2014. Down 0.2% (or 118 units) from Q1 2013, the slight decline over last year’s numbers are primarily due to a 10.7% sales drop in scooter sales.
Dual-sport motorcycles were up 3.9% (7,644 units), with on-road bikes holding at 0.9% growth (65,301 units). Dirt bike sales were down 2.7% during the same three-month time period (16,597 units).
In total, 94,524 two-wheel vehicles were sold in the US (94,772 units were sold in Q1 2013) according to the MIC, which tracks Can-Am, Ducati, Harley-Davidson, Honda, Kawasaki, KTM, Piaggio Group, Victory, Suzuki, Triumph, and Yamaha.
The start of the AMA Pro Road Racing calendar is just around the corner, and that means manufacturers, teams, and riders are getting their PR machines in full swing. Unfortunately, it’s hard to get excited about our venerable national racing series (DMG’s shenanigans aside), but duds like this don’t help in whetting our two-wheeled racing appetite here at Asphalt & Rubber.
Just when we were about to lose all hope though, Triumph shows up and saves the day…with a little help from Jason DiSalvo and Elena Myers. Kneedragging, wheelie popping, backwheel drifting two-wheeled fun, all packaged in a well-done YouTube video that even manages to show a little personality from the riders.
We dig it, we dig it hard. A quick warning though: several orange cones were hurt during the filming of this video. Some footage may not be suitable for adult-sized children with a history of brrraaappptitus. Thanks for the tip Matt!
As the West gradually loses its grip on world economic and political power, it’s only natural that global industries refocus their efforts to market and develop products for the new guards of the economic order.
As this decade nears middle age, we are seeing more and more motorcycle companies seeking a foothold in South Asian, East Asian and Southeast Asian markets.
The reasons are simple: larger, more populous markets with higher percentages of prospective riders that are rapidly gaining economic and social standing means more people to sell to.
Thus as two-wheelers become more of a commodity of choice as well as commodity of necessity, it opens up opportunities for heretofore unattainable brands to begin marketing to newly affluent demographics.