Triumph Street Scrambler

Last crawled date: 1 year, 10 months ago

If there's a single bike in Triumph's range that's more “Triumph” than any other, it's the Scrambler. These days though, it's known as the Street Scrambler and it's the latest in a long line of Scramblers from the British marque that can be traced all the way back to Steve McQueen and co doing their thing in the Sixties. Thanks to that enviable heritage, the Street Scrambler's the bike that you'll see in movies, on celebrity Instagram feeds and generally just being the epitome of two-wheeled travel and everything that goes with it. And it was that moment when GQ was carving through endlessly twisty roads in Portugal that it hit us as to why the Street Scrambler's made such a name for itself. It's because not only does it have looks and character in spades, but it's just so unapologetically effortless and natural to ride. Jeans, jacket, helmet, fire it into life and disappear into the distance without a care in the world. That's what this bike is all about and for 2019 Triumph have refined it even further to keep it sharp on showroom floors. But unlike the Street Twin, the Street Scrambler is actually fairly opinionated. Rather than being a blank canvas to build on, it's got a big, wire-spoked front wheel, wide forks, even wider bars, twin shocks and a single seat. Oh, and that rather iconic mid-mounted, dual-exit exhaust. Those features define the Scrambler genre and the Street Scrambler is perhaps the purest representation. Of course, there's a tonne of accessories and inspiration kits that can be thrown at it, but you'll struggle to customise it so much as to make it unrecognisable as a Street Scrambler. It isn't fast – far from it – but it is now at least faster thanks to a fair amount more power (64 HP, up by 18 per cent) and the 900cc parallel twin engine also makes more torque throughout the rev range than its predecessor. To cope with the performance improvements, Triumph have fitted a more powerful front brake and plusher cartridge suspension, as well as lightened all the engine internals to make it more responsive. And like every other bike under the sun, it's now equipped with two electronic rider modes, as well as the ability to turn off traction control and ABS in a further “Off Road” mode when you fancy doing a bit of (very) light off-roading... But it isn't all about more power and fancy electronics; it's also the small, everyday things in this update for 2019. You don't need to constantly unlock and re-lock the fuel cap when filling up anymore (you can just leave it unlocked), there's a USB charging port under the seat and the clutch is now super-light to use, which makes stalling virtually impossible as well as making stop-start city traffic much easier on your left hand. In theory, it's now just that bit nicer to live with on a day-to-day basis, and that's hard to sniff at. Of course, we could be talking about any updated-for-2019 bike so far; they've all got electronic riding modes, more power and more toys, and some, such as Ducati's Scrambler Icon, go even further with sophisticated cornering ABS. What makes Triumph's Scrambler is its styling and that's been updated too. The dashboard and engine cases are now blacked out, the forks are spaced even wider apart and there's more premium detailing and packaging wherever you look, all the way from the air box to the clutch cover. The seat material is now a clever leather-textile mix that will better survive a bucket and sponge, and it can easily be swapped out for a twin-seat setup. To ride it's now really sweet and noticeably sweeter than the previous generation that we last rode out in California while we were testing Triumph's Speedmaster. The increased engine power is immediately noticeable, but it's not so much of an increase as to ruin the bike or be enough to put off new riders. It's just a very welcome helping of extra shove when overtaking and the updated brakes and suspension match up nicely with the characteristics that the more powerful engine delivers. It revs higher too, but you don't really need to use the revs much with the Street Scrambler. Peak torque (59 lb-ft) comes in at 3,200 RPM and continues on for the majority of the remainder of the rev range. It'll pull nicely in second and third from low speeds from as little as 2,000 RPM and that makes city and rural riding a real pleasure. Fuelling and throttle connection, as we've all come to expect with modern Triumphs, is almost telepathic, and it's still got that signature baritone “blappy” exhaust note. What makes the Street Scrambler such an easy ride is the riding position, though. The handlebars are wide, allowing for plenty of steering leverage and both they and the foot pegs seem to sit in exactly the right place for an extremely comfortable ride. The seat's high, but not so high as to be unwelcoming or unwieldy, and it provides a great view of the road and traffic ahead. You'd think that a comfy rather than committed riding position, as well as a large front wheel and longer wheelbase would somehow inhibit spirited riding, but it just doesn't – in fact, it seems to reward a competent rider even more than the Street Twin does, which is somewhat baffling but undeniably true. But don't get the wrong idea: the Street Scrambler's looks might hint at off-road ability, but it won't be your friend if you try and tackle mountain tracks. Keep it to the tarmac where it's at home, or at the most, gravelly unpaved roads. This is no Desert Sled, after all. The best scrambler for the road out there? Quite possibly; it's certainly the most refined and no other has got an exhaust pipe or soundtrack quite like it. Well, until the new Scrambler 1200 comes along, anyway... #triumph