2025 Triumph Bonneville Bobber Review

I had the pleasure of having the Bonneville Bobber Icon on loan from Triumph UK for a couple of weeks and what a genuinely great time we had together.

There are three models in the Triumph Bonneville Bobber family namely, the Bonneville Bobber; the Bonneville Bobber TFC (Triumph Factory Custom) and the Bonneville Bobber Icon.

The Bobber Icon comes in the sapphire black / aluminium silver paint scheme with hand-painted accents and a gold Triumph 1907 script logo on the tank. Beautiful, it is.

I have never ridden the Bonneville Bobber before so I was really interested to see what this bike is like. 

A Few Specs for you:

• Weight: 251 kg
• Seat height: 690-700 mm 
• 1200 cc Liquid cooled, 8 valve, parallel twin engine
• Power: 106 Nm @ 4000 rpm;Torque: 76.9 bhp (57.5 kW@ 6100 rpm, 76.9 bhp
• 6 speed
• Single analogue speedometer and tachometer with LCD multi-functional display
• 2 riding modes: Road and Rain
• Metzeler Roadtec 01 tyres on spoked rims, 16” front and rear
• Twin rear suspension units, adjustable for pre-load
• Brembo twin front and Nissin single rear brake discs
• Two into two exhaust system with twin brushed stainless steel silencers
• 4 colour options: Jet Black; Jet Black / Ash Gray; Matt Graphite / Matt Baja Orange from £13,195; Icon Edition: Sapphire Black / Aluminium Silver from £13,195; Triumph Factory Custom from £17,195

Engine

The Bobber has the 1200 cc HT (high torque) Bonneville liquid cooled parallel twin engine, pushing out 57.5 kW @ 6,100 rpm of power and 106 Nm @ 4000 rpm of torque with a charismatic 270° firing interval, giving you 76.9 bhp. 

With its torque rich power delivery and the ever present unique Bobber distinctive sound, the engine sounds glorious. 

As you know, a twin has a distinctive sound but the 1200 HT engine has a deep throaty sound which sounds beautiful, especially when you roll on the throttle to do an overtake!

Chassis

The Bobber has been updated with a larger 12 litre sculpted fuel tank, fat 16 inch front wheel and chunkier 47mm front forks, which offers the bike an imposing poise and stance.

The twin-skin exhaust system with its sawn-off peashooter silencers and unique twin airbox set-up, deliver the signature hot-rod sound, whilst neatly hiding the catalyst under the bike.

With its beautiful silhouette, stripped back style, wire spoked wheels, wide flat bars, low stance and black powder coated swinging cage, for that distinctive ‘hard tail’ look, the Bobber is a true modern icon.

The Bobber’s signature floating aluminium seat not only brings beautiful lines to the design of the bike but also offers a surprising amount of comfort. The seat has an adjustable position of between 690 mm to 700 mm and can be adjusted up and forward or down and backwards.

To finish the mean and moody look of the Bobber, the engine covers are black powder coated as are the cam and sprockets cover.

Fitted as standard are the twin 310mm front brake discs with twin Brembo 2 piston sliding axial calipers, a single Nissin caliper at the rear, and high-performance ABS.

On the front can be found 47mm Showa cartridge front forks with 90mm travel and on the rear the hidden monoshock rear suspension with linkage, combined for superior suspension performance and comfort.

Ride by Wire Throttle & Modes

A responsive ride by wire throttle can be found on the Bobber so instead of having a throttle cable connected to butterflies in the inlet, it will all be controlled by electronics and the twist grip just sends an electronic signal to the ECU. According to Triumph, this offers a more intuitive level of control while liquid cooling reduces emissions and offers greater fuel efficiency.

There are two riding modes: rain and road which adjust the throttle map and traction control settings. These can be changed with the touch of a button using the ‘Mode’ button on the left bar whilst riding along.

The Bobber also features integrated rider tech including switchable traction control, ABS and cruise control. 

Instrument Display

There is a single analogue clock with an lcd display. This is very in keeping with the bike and navigating your way around the functions is easy using the ‘i’ key on the left bar. Again, this can be done whilst riding.

You can choose what you wish to have displayed, for example, the time, mpg, trip, mileage, fuel gauge. 

Tyres

The tires on the Bobber Icon are Metzeler Roadtec 01 which Metzeler describe as:

‘The sport touring tyre with reinforced carcass construction for adventure and heavy touring motorcycles.

• Grip on a wide range of tarmac/weather conditions.
• Dual-compound on rear sizes.
• METZELER Interact™ technology for riding stability, comfort and precision.’

Now, I know tyres are a very personal choice and you can have very lengthy debates with people on this subject but I did not like these tyres in the wet.

When I had the Bobber Icon on loan we had a lot of rain so in order for me to be able to review the bike, I went out in the rain quite a few times.

In the dry, the tyres were great and I did not have any doubts about them but as soon as the roads were damp and especially wet, I could feel the grip level change with a distinct lack of feedback which I found a little surprising as these are an all round tyre and although wet, it was not that cold.

On my personal bikes, I have Michelin Road 6’s which I find to be great all round, all year tyres which work well in all conditions be it hot, cold, wet or dry.

LED Lights

There are LED lights all round on the Bobber with a single round headlight with the Triumph ‘T’ logo in the middle of the lamp which has a daytime running light feature. 

I thought the single light gave plenty of illumination and had good scope. Main beam was really effective and lit up the peripheral view too. Really good when riding back on a dark wet night after bike night.

I like the style and shape of the front and rear indicators, they are not too overbearing in size but are very effective and can clearly be seen.

The rear light is housed neatly at the rear of the seat and suits the bike perfectly. Again, although it is not big in design, it is very effective when in use.

What’s The Triumph Bobber Icon Like To Ride, I hear you say?

I love this bike 🤩

Not having ridden a Bobber before, I was not sure what to expect and if I would like the riding position.

Well, I needn’t have worried on either of those points. The footpegs are not, what I would call, in the ‘usual position’ of straight down, nor were they feet forward either. The pegs were somewhere in the middle and it makes for a really comfy riding position.

I really like that the seat is so low. Although the bike weighs a hefty 251 kg, because your feet are so well planted on the ground, you can use your body and legs to move the bike about which is perfect for someone like me who is 5’6”.

I absolutely love the styling of the Bobber, just everything about it works and it looks absolutely cool 😎 The floating seat is a great bit of design as too is the single retro clock and headlight, very in keeping with the bike. The clock is easy to read especially when glancing down when riding and changing modes etc is simple to do when riding.

When I first started the bike up, I got a tingle down my back and this happened every time. The combination of the noise from the engine and exhaust is beautiful and I never tired of hearing that.

The rumble from the engine at low speeds just had me grinning under my helmet, when I open the bike up on an open road, the noise is addictive.

The Bobber is such an easy bike to ride, it feels stable when being ridden although I really did not like the tyres in the wet, I could feel the grip level change with a distinct lack of feedback, not what you want from a tyre.

Probably the coolest thing for me on the bike is the ignition sitting on the side of the bike near the engine, I don’t why, but I just love this feature.

The brakes are responsive, which is always a good thing! I did find there was a lot of engine braking so just lifting off the throttle scrubs off some speed.

The Bobber, as you would expect from the 1200 HT engine, is very torquey, it is happy to ride around town at a low speed but equally, get the bike out on an open road and you can really have some fun. 

The Bobber is a real head turner too. The sound of the bike alerts people to your presence as you ride past or park up and very quickly you find yourself surrounded by people who are as equally taken with the bike as I am.

I can definitely recommend you get a test ride on the Bobber, I think you will be as surprised as I was by how good it is. If you do, let me know in the comments below what you think of the bike and if you bought one, I’d be interested to hear how you are finding it.

Thank you to Triumph UK for the loan of the Bonneville Bobber Icon.

BK

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