2018 Triumph Bonneville Speedmaster Showcased

The latest addition to the Bonneville family is a comfortable cruiser that promises high performance

The Triumph Bonneville family witnessed the official unveiling of its new 2018 Speedmaster, a bike that has been projected as a comfortable cruiser.

While the engine remains the same, the Speedmaster witness some major changes to the frame and design to make it a more rider-friendly motorcycle.

The bike now comes with a 12-litre fuel tank instead of the 9 litres that the Bobber had. This makes a major difference as it endows the bike with an additional 65-70 km of range. It also offers a more comfortable riding posture with the new curved-back handlebar and footpegs that are now more forward-set. However, you can also get centre-set footpegs should you want. For the first time in the Bonneville range, the 2018 Speedmaster comes with an LED headlight and DRLs. Another first is cruise control, and other goodies include traction control, two power modes and ride-by-wire.

The bike also has new Avon Cobra spoke wheels that are 16 inches in diameter, compared to the 19-inch ones on the Bonneville Bobber. The new motorcycle has a pillion seat, unlike the Bobber which was a single-seat only. To make place for it the 2018 Speedmaster gets a new subframe; however, the swing arm is still a swing cage type.

The bike will also be available in two different kits if the standard model doesn’t impress you: the ‘Maverick’ unit which is more suited for city dwellers and the ‘Highway’ kit for touring minds.

The Maverick kit comes with a flat handlebar, Vance and Hines silencer and blacked out elements, with a single quilted leather seat, making it look similar to the original Bobber. The Highway one, on the other hand, comes with a highly adjustable windscreen along with larger saddles and luggage rail, making it more suitable for long road trips.

The suspension too is tuned differently: at the front it comes with 41mm cartridge front forks and at the rear, it sports a monoshock absorber that can be tweaked for additional preload. But the maximum you can take it to is still 73mm, which should make the ride a bit stiff, but the handling will be engaging.

An additional feature on the new motorcycle is the 310mm twin-disc front brakes setup with two twin-piston Brembo callipers. At the rear, the bike gets a 255mm disc brake with a single-piston Nissin floating calliper. The bike will also come with ABS as standard fitment.

On the engine front, the bike is powered by the same 1200cc HT (high torque) engine as seen on the Bonneville Bobber, that churns out 106Nm of torque at 4000rpm and 77PS of power that’s delivered at 6100rpm, while a six-speed gearbox handles transmission duties.

The bike features a single pod instrument console with an analogue speedometer. There is an LCD multifunctional display menu to exhibit functions like an odometer, fuel indicator, gear position indicator, service indicator. It also displays the average and current MPG, time, and gives access to the cruise control and traction control settings.

The new Speedmaster will be offered in three colours; Jet Black, Cranberry Red and Fusion White with Phantom Black.

It will be competing with the likes of the Indian Scout Sixty and Harley-Davidson Sportster 1200 Custom, and is expected to be launched at the 2018 Auto Expo for a retail price of Rs 11 lakhs (ex-showroom).