Triumph singles to be launched in June By Ben Purvis
Triumph has been trying to establish an operation to build small, single-cylinder motorcycles in India for more than a decade, and that work is finally coming good with the launch of the Bajaj-built retro range planned for 17th June.
Originally, Triumph hoped to go it alone with its own Indian factory, rather like the three Thailand-based plants the company already operates for the majority of its manufacturing. The company developed a duo of 250 cc, single-cylinder bikes as part of the project, unveiling sketches of one of them - a faired Daytona 250 - back in 2013. Sadly, the planned factory was never started and that project was cancelled in 2014.
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| Bajaj's MD, Rajiv Bajaj |
Three years later, in 2017, Triumph announced a tie-up with India's Bajaj, with a plan to build a range of bikes in the 250 cc-750 cc segment of the market. Now that's finally coming to fruition, and the resulting machines will be part of the company's global product range to provide entry-level offerings in the 'Modern Classics' line-up, sitting below the Bonneville T100 and Speed Twin 900.
At least two variants have previously been spied on test, a Bonnie-style retro street bike and a more scrambler-styled version, both using the same DOHC single-cylinder engine. Unlike the old 250 cc project, the upcoming models take their inspiration from the Bonneville, and the single-cylinder engine looks very much like one half of the Bonnie's twin.
The planned launch was revealed during a TV interview in India by Bajaj's MD, Rajiv Bajaj. He told CNBC-TV18: "The actual launch will be toward the end of June, perhaps specifically on Tuesday 27th June, in London. It will be a global launch that is being organised by Triumph, the exact content of which I'm not aware of, but that's when the launch might be."
He went on to say: "We should have product on the market in the second quarter of this financial year. I can also say that more than one product will be launched in the second quarter if all goes well."
