The Triumph Thruxton is a series of British motorcycles with parallel-twin engines and sports styling. The name Thruxton was first applied to a handbuilt machine for endurance racing in the mid 1960s, and later revived in the 2000s.

The bike is named after Thruxton Circuit, a race track in Hampshire where in 1969 Triumph won the top three places in the Thruxton 500 mile endurance race.

Thruxton 1200

In 2016, the 900 was superseded by two 270° 1200cc water-cooled similarly-styled café racers, the Triumph Thruxton and Triumph Thruxton R.

The standard 1200 Thruxton has conventional cartridge forks and fixed discs, while the “R” has upgraded Öhlins rear suspension with Showa USD “big piston” forks and Brembo front radial calipers with floating discs. Both 1200 Thruxtons have traction control, ABS, and ride by wire throttles featuring three modes, sport, road, and rain.

Being of similar weight to the 900 but with 42% more power, the 1200 has a much improved power-to-weight ratio; but at over 200 kg (dry), neither bike should be considered a lightweight. Both Thruxton 900 & 1200 models are produced at John Bloor’s Chonburi plant, but the original Thruxton was a special based on the Triumph Bonneville from the factory at Meriden Works, where, from May 1965, Triumph produced 52 tuned Thruxton Bonnies to homologate the type for production racing.

The modern Hinckley Thruxtons (and Bonnevilles too) are “softer” and less extreme; whereas the original Thruxton achieved top speeds over 140 mph (230 km/h), the Thruxton 900 manages only 120 mph (190 km/h).

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