Triumph Thruxton RS

I had the privilege of having a Thruxton RS on loan from Triumph Motorcycles for a week and I can tell you now that I really did not want to let it go back.

The bike arrived early Friday morning and I had to wait until lunchtime before I could get out on it – it was the longest morning ever! I kept nipping into the garage just to have a look at it before I could get my hands on it properly.

I donned my bike gear, got the bike out and started it up. WoW! The sound of the twin 1200 cc engine combined with the twin exhausts when you start the Thruxton up, I can honestly say sent shivers down my back. It is a sound I never tired off during the time I had the bike.

The sun was shining, the roads were dry and off I set. By the time I got to the end of the road I could feel myself grinning. I knew I was going to love this bike.

The Thruxton RS replaces the Thruxton R and delivers 8PS more power and 112Nm peak torque lower down in the rev range making the RS more responsive and comes with Brembo front brakes and adjustable Öhlins twin shocks with Piggyback reservoir on the rear. The RS is also 6kg lighter than its predecessor.

Some of the rider technologies have been upgraded. I had the RS set in sport mode as, personally speaking, I am not a fan of modes on bikes and from previous test rides, have found sport mode the one that suits my riding the best. Navigating the modes however, is really easy and simple to do.

I really like the retro round twin clocks housing the analogue speedo and rev counter. The LCD display on the clock show the gear position indicator, fuel gauge, range to empty indication, service indicator, clock and trip computer. One thing I did find though, having been used to digital clocks for a while now, I found when glancing down to look at my speed when riding, the speedo was hard to read with reflections so I’m thinking a screen would be good – retro of course – the Dolphin fairing would look perfect 😉

There are accessories available so you can customize your own Thruxton – the Track Racer Inspiration Kit comes with a Dolphin fairing with lower clip-on handlebars; a rear mudguard removal kit with compact rear light and compact LED indicators.

You can also add a seat cowl (the RS I had came with this), a drilled brushed fuel tank strap, a forged aluminium tail tidy and bullet LED indicators.

I found the Thruxton really easy and comfortable to ride and felt the bike was really stable in the corners and the power delivery when exiting corners was phenomenal coupled with the sound as it’s doing it just had me grinning. It is however, not as flickable as a lighter bike, for example my R6, but in some respects this makes it smoother and more refined. I really like the bar end mirrors which were excellent for visibility, I’m thinking I’m going to have to put a pair of these on my Z!

I stopped at the pub early evening to meet some friends and the bike garnered a lot of attention and I ‘had’ to start the bike up several times just so they could hear the sound of the engine and exhausts 🙂 🙂 🙂

The following day it was raining but I wasn’t going to let that stop me riding. The tyres however, may very well have done. By now you will know that I think tyre choice is very important and of course, very personal. The RS comes with Metzeler Racetec RR tyres which Metzeler describe as race track and road racing tyres. I can honestly say I was not liking these tyres in the rain, the back end was twitching on me and I had to adjust my riding so that I could ride the bike safely whilst getting the most out of the bike. As I ride all year round, I would change the tyres to a more all round, all year riding tyre but, as I say, it’s personal choice.

The next few days the weather was dry and I got out on the bike every day riding into work and home the very, very long way! I got caught out again in the rain one afternoon and it started hail stoning so I took shelter in a café where there may have been cake involved 😉 When I got back to the bike the seat, which looks really stylish and in keeping with the bike and is certainly extremely comfortable, is made from a suede like material and was wet. Very wet. I had a wet bottom by the time I got home!

One thing I would say about the Thruxton RS, is that although it is a cafe racer style, it is surprisingly comfortable and the riding position is not that extreme or on your wrists as you might think from looking at it, far less extreme than a modern sports bike, for example.

If I were buying the Thruxton RS my first purchases would have to be:

• a set of more all round tyres;
• heated grips;
• the Dolphin screen;
• tail tidy

These are all purely personal choice changes that I would make. You really could just buy the Thruxton as it is and ride it.

Other than those small changes, I wouldn’t change anything on the bike, I love it as it is and it truly was a sad day when I had to give the bike back 🙁

Thank you Triumph for the loan of the Thruxton RS, it was a privilege to ride 🙂

BK

https://www.triumphmotorcycles.co.uk/

https://www.puretriumph.co.uk/