Triumph has launched the 2021 Bonneville Speed Twin at Rs 10.99 lakh. Other than its compliance with the BS6 emission norms, the Triumph Bonneville Speed Twin gets loads of updates like higher spec brakes, new suspension, updated electronics and a lot more. The bookings have been open for a while now for a token amount of Rs 50,000.
The 2021 Triumph Speed Twin maintains its iconic retro silhouette and doesn’t look very different from the outgoing model, until you start looking at the finer details. For starters, the 14.9-litre fuel tank will now be painted in three new colours — Jet Black, Red Hopper and Matte Storm Grey with yellow accents. The anodised headlamp brackets, bar-end mirrors and nicely tucked LED turn indicators give the Speed Twin a streamlined look that takes us to the era of the Rockers. It now gets new 12 spoke cast aluminium wheels. And the exhaust has been slightly upswept and is now finished in stainless steel with a blacked-out end can.
The Speed Twin makes use of the BS6 1200cc eight-valve parallel-twin engine which now generates 2.6bhp more to 98.6bhp at 7250rpm and the same 112Nm at 4250rpm courtesy reworked internals. Apart from extracting a bit more power, Triumph also claims to have improved the torque band to achieve a wider and flat torque curve in the rev range with the peak torque available at 700rpm lower than before. The engine is mated to a 6-speed gearbox and has an O-ring chain as a final drive.
Along with the engine, Triumph has seriously upgraded the chassis as well. The main highlights of the 2021 update are new upside-down 43mm Marzocchi front forks upfront. Rear suspension duties continue to be handled by KYB twin-shocks with spring preload adjustments. The front brakes also get a serious overhaul with the radially mounted Brembo M50 monobloc calipers biting on the 320mm discs while the rear braking setup remains the same with 220mm disc with a Nissin twin-pot floating calliper. And the updated 12-spoke wheels on Speed Twin will come shod with Metzeler Racetec RR tyres.
Over and above the features list of the outgoing model, the modernized Speed Twin gets updated electronics to accommodate the engine upgrades. Meaning the three riding modes — rain, road and sport are recalibrated according to the increased power and spread of torque. Talking of accessories, the Speed Twin comes with more than 50 options for the personal configuration of the motorcycle.
The Speed Twin will compete against the Ducati Scrambler 1100 Dark Pro which is priced at Rs 10.99 lakh ex-showroom Delhi. Other than this, BMW RnineT is also an option in the segment but having a price tag of Rs 18.5 lakh, it is rather expensive compared to the Triumph and the Ducati.
The outgoing Triumph Speed Twin was already one of the best handling Bonneville’s in the company’s lineup. And now with the updated engine, revised geometry and higher-spec suspension and braking components, the 2021 Speed Twin should be a much better bike on paper at least. But we’ll have to wait to verify that when we ride the bike.