Ticks All the Boxes

It is probably not too contentious to say that Triumph, the “new” Triumph, the one that re-invented the marque in 1983 and grew into one of British engineering’s great modern success stories, do retros rather well. With a large back catalogue of iconic “old” Triumphs to reinvent, the Hinckley factory has made a habit of plucking some of the most evocative model names from the 1950s, ’60s, and ’70s, carefully updating their styling without offending the nostalgia glands, injecting very modern performance and road manners, and then watching them sail out of showrooms. But few, we suggest, have been done as well as this

- Adam Child ‘Chad’

THE NEW AND SUPERBLY UPDATED SPEED Twin 1200 ticks all the boxes. It is a modern classic that brings not just a re-imagined past, a beautiful finish, a re-ignited soul, and simplicity, but also genuine attitude and performance. It has an authentic sense of the rebelliousness that made our dads and mums fall for the Bonnie twins all those years ago.

The even better news is that Triumph have not one but two new 1200s for 2025: a base model with an uprated specification and the excitingly sporty Speed Twin 1200 RS, which approximately fits into the sports-retro hole the Thruxton café racer will leave when it is taken off sale this year.

The previous Speed Twin 1200 (2024) was already regarded by many as the jewel in Triumph's range of retro twins and, typically, the updates and upgrades have been carefully made to refocus without losing the bike's balance of past and present. The Hinckley factory has again stayed with the familiar air-cooled-look 270°-crank Bonneville parallel-twin, all be it with five hp more top-end power. The tubular steel cradle frame remains unchanged but the suspension and stopping power have been overhauled on both machines, while in the electronics department, the Speed Twin gets its first taste of lean-sensitive traction control and anti-lock braking system (ABS).

The base bike, which looks at once so fresh and so perfectly old school in its white colour option, shares the frame, engine, performance, gearbox, and drive as the RS and, according to Triumph, weighs the same too.