RUST magazine: RUST#42

heritage
w
TRIUMPH SPEEDMASTER
You expect the arrival of The Fonz
at any moment: heeeeyyy! The
Speedmaster is all Fifties Americana.
Okay, it’s British, but Fonzie rode a
Triumph too, after all Triumph were
Stateside and kings of the street
scene back in the Fifties (and even
had their moment in the AMA Flat
Track sun in the late Sixties).
Like the Indian guys, you get the
idea the design and engineering
team put a lot into their cruiser. The
Scout Bobber is thoroughly modern
take, but the Speedmaster is a proper
historical reenactment, only with
modern design and technology
mixed in. The 1200cc motor makes
only 76hp – down on the Scout
Bobber – but it punches so hard off
the bottom you’d never know it was
the less powerful. It really rocks this
power unit, it’s a joyful lusty beast
– that 270º crank angle helps – so
that you just can’t stop playing with
it, cracking that throttle repeatedly,
traffic light to traffic light is a threebraaap
(first-second-third) stanza.
The candy red tank is a keynote in
kitsch, yet this is a design that is so
faithful to its Fifties origins that to
call it a pastiche would be wrong, it’s
too well executed for that. While not
being an immediate European taste,
after you’ve ridden it for a while
– especially if that ride is a cruise
down to San Diego – then you start
understanding and liking its style.
And like the Scout Bobber, it rewards
you with every visual investigation.
It’s a superb design job.
It does then have the look, the
rumble and the presence. Leave
me with this bike for too long and
I swear I’ll be wearing turn-up
jeans, check shirt and unzipped
leather jacket before too long (and
of course the open-face helmet). I’m
Bonneville British all the way, but
given the right environment – west
coast US or south coast France
– I’d be giving the Speedmaster
serious consideration. Yes, this Brit
thoroughly exudes Cali laid back
cool.
www.triumphmotorcycles.co.uk/motorcycles/classic/bonneville-speedmaster
170
www.rustsports.com