![]() “Or a Harley,” he added, which reveals the shallow depth of his motorcycle knowledge but gives an indication of how much pull the Triumph brand has maintained over the decades. “If I bought a bike, I’d buy a Triumph,” said one 40-ish passerby as I parked the Scrambler. It regularly draws in second glances by people who recognize Triumph’s rich heritage, even if they’re only casual observers. Its front tire squirms on longitudinal road seams, and its flat-as-an-ironing-board seat feels so very odd to an ass accustomed to modern, sculpted saddles.īut it surely looks like an authentic desert sled, subtly accented by the matte khaki paint color. The headers of those cool-looking high pipes rub up against a rider’s leg, and the vintage-y dual shocks are lacking sufficient damping control. Like a cruiser, it is a slave to fashion. ![]() But his legend lives on …Īs mentioned in the intro, objectively reviewing the Scrambler is confounding. The King of Cool’s time with us lasted just 50 years, as the Hollywood legend succumbed to cancer in 1980. He also played a prominent on-screen role, featuring as a competitor in the Elsinore Grand Prix under the pseudonym of Harvey Mushman, as well as in the film’s memorable closing scene riding on a California beach with dirt-tracker Mert Lawwill and off-road legend Malcolm Smith. McQueen also played a pivotal role in the seminal motorcycle movie, On Any Sunday, financing it via his Solar Productions company. And one year later, McQueen represented America in the 1964 International Six Days Trials on a Triumph. Instead, McQueen specified a military-spec Triumph TR6, a progenitor to the Scrambler tested here. Of note, the motorcycles chosen for the stunt work were not German BMWs as would be historically accurate. While any two-wheel fan can get excited by a motorcycle chase, what made this one special was the fact that McQueen did almost all of the stunt work himself, even doubling as German soldiers giving chase to his own character thanks to shrewd editing! McQueen’s best pal, Bud Ekins, stood in for the star during the famous jump scene, apparently because the film’s insurance company barred him from doing it himself. The 1963 film is capped off with an escaping Hilts trying to evade recapture by stealing a German motorcycle and ditching his pursuers, climaxing with a glorious but unsuccessful jump over a barbed wire fence to neutral Swiss territory. The Great Escape starred McQueen as Virgil Hilts, an American Air Force captain imprisoned in a German POW camp. In 1974 McQueen became Hollywood’s highest-paid actor when he co-starred with Paul Newman in The Towering Inferno.īut McQueen earned maximum credibility among riders for two films in particular. As an actor, he ignited the screen with performances in legendary films such as The Magnificent Seven, Bullitt, Papillon and the original The Thomas Crown Affair. Steve McQueen is an iconic figure revered by millions, but especially by middle-aged motorcycle enthusiasts. In addition to the Scrambler’s revised engine and high-mount exhaust, it also receives longer-travel suspension, fork gaiters, spoke wheels and tires with large tread blocks. The Scrambler receives several other modifications to distinguish it from Triumph’s other air/oil-cooled models in an attempt to give it some authentic 1960s desert sled appeal. Carburetors gave way to fuel injection in 2009, with the throttle bodies cleverly disguised as old-school carbs. It’s a similar configuration to the America and Speedmaster cruisers. Its engine, now upped to an 865cc displacement, features a 270-degree crankshaft instead of the Bonnie’s typical 360-degree spacing to emulate the power pulses of a V-Twin engine. The Scrambler was launched in 2006, inspired by the late-1960s TR6C Trophy that featured a similar high-mount exhaust system but located on the bike’s left side. Since then, Triumph has built 147,000 of the twin-cylinder bikes that include the Bonneville variants, Thruxton, America, Speedmaster and the Scrambler, representing about 25% of Hinckley’s total production. The Hinckley-built Bonneville re-creations began rolling off production lines in 2000 using a fresh parallel-Twin engine design displacing 790cc. Triumph understands that nostalgia has a way of prying open wallets. There isn’t another motorcycle on the market that has the Scrambler’s blend of nostalgia, versatility and general competence. However, as we racked up seat time, the retro ride began to charm us in ways no other bike could. In purely objective terms, it’s a mediocre motorcycle. Judged against other machines in its $8799 price range, it’s kind of slow, a little heavy, and excels at nothing except being cool. Triumph’s Scrambler proved to be difficult to review.
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