Triumph Thruxton 900: The rebirth of the cafe racer

By Bill Andrews

With motorcycling nostalgia hopping like a corner soda shop with a 45 spinning on the jukebox, Triumph delivers a blast from its storied past. The Thruxton 900 harkens back to the time when cafe racers were either produced by the original factory, or were created by the many fans of the British twins in the day.

The new Thruxton has the looks down—clip-on bars, rearset controls, megaphone-style mufflers and a paint scheme with a checkered flag stripe down the center of the tank. The only thing missing is the small puddle of oil the old machines used to leave. And, obviously, that’s just the start of the good news.

With a stab at the starter button the engine fires up with ease and settles into a very smooth, quite burble. Again, very much unlike the shake, rattle and thump from yesteryear’s models.

Triumph admits much of the Thruxton’s sound, or lack thereof, is due to EPA restrictions. Still, you wonder how another air-cooled motorcycle manufacturer is able to get just the right sound with a similar sized twin.

The engine spins smoothly, with twin counterbalancers nullifying the usual bounce associated with parallel twins. If a fan of the old twins could have a complaint, it’s that Triumph may have taken a bit too much of the thump out. At speed on the highway, the bike is as smooth as one with twice the number of cylinders.

The handling is quick and sharp, almost nimble-like for the Thruxton’s 451-pound claimed dry weight. Corners are carved with confidence and stability.

Make no mistake, there are plenty of 600cc purpose-built speed machines, some even built by Triumph, that’ll out-accelerate, and out-handle the Thruxton on a racetrack. But that’s not the machines mission.

The Thruxton’s all about nostalgia—and on that score, it hits the mark. Ergonomics and visuals all point to the past, but with modern engineering that lets you relive only the good stuff.