Surprisingly Capable

DATELINE: Triumph’s Scrambler 1200XE takes the old-school Hinckley Scrambler idea and adds serious suspension, brakes and all-surface ability.

I really enjoyed the opportunity to spend a few days with this bike.

My history with Hinckley Triumph Scramblers goes right back to their original 2006 model.

Back then I was living in New Zealand and working for Kiwi Rider Magazine.

Adventure Riding is a big part of the NZ motorcycling scene and when Triumph released the Scrambler, everyone at the mag was all over it.

The Scrambler line has always been better off the beaten track than the spec sheet suggests.

We took the NZ Distributor’s demo models on a number of hard-core Adventure Rides and found it to be a surprisingly capable machine.

Some of the rides, like the Capital Coast around Wellington, for example, were very demanding and the bike handled some serious off-road and Challenge Sections with surprising aplomb.

We fitted one with TKC 80s and did several more Adventure Rides around the North Island and everyone at the magazine who rode it came to the same conclusion. Looking at the bike, its spec sheet and inclusions, there is no way we should like this bike as much as we do, and there’s no way it should be as capable as it is.

Yet every time we presented it with a challenge, it answered admirably. And we all liked the look of the bike a lot.

There is no way we should like this bike as much as we do.

The long Scrambler thread

From New Zealand adventure rides to the ADVrider thread, the Scrambler kept proving itself.

Then I saw a review from a UK newspaper claiming that the bike was great looking but shouldn’t be taken off your driveway, or anything seriously off-road, so I penned an article vehemently refuting that claim. I published it online on ADVrider.com too and that thread has had over 8 million views and 27,000 replies — with a majority agreeing that while the bike does have its limitations, it is a surprisingly capable machine.

Over the ensuing years I also did quite a lot of touring around New Zealand on various models and a heap more adventure rides. Some of them were epic.

In the ensuing years I moved back home to Australia and the Scrambler continued to evolve. EFI, better suspension, larger capacities and liquid cooling were all added over time.

Fast forward to 2019, when John Newstead at TeamMoto Triumph in Springwood, Brisbane offered me a loan of their latest Scrambler 1200XE. I was all over it again — all over again.

The 1200XE arrives

The 2019 Scrambler 1200XE brought bigger performance and a far more serious chassis package.

I already proved that the older models were pretty good all-rounders. A weekend on the latest incarnation really blew me away.

The 2019 model is one of the best fun and most capable motorcycles I’ve ever tested.

It starts with the liquid-cooled, 8-valve, SOHC, 270° crank angle parallel twin. It’s compact, responsive and powerful and it’s running out around 90 horsepower with the great-sounding Arrow carbon exhaust system fitted on the demo unit.

Proper suspension and brakes

Showa forks, Öhlins shocks and Brembo M50 brakes put the XE specification in serious territory.

The frame is tubular steel with an aluminium cradle and the swingarm is a twin-sided aluminium unit. It’s suspended by Showa 45mm fully adjustable upside-down forks with 200mm travel up front and a pair of superb fully adjustable Öhlins twin shocks with piggyback reservoirs and an enormous 200mm rear wheel travel at the rear.

When dialled in correctly it is some of the best suspension I’ve used.

It’s also fitted with twin 320mm Brembo discs and Brembo M50 4-piston radial monobloc callipers with ABS up front, and a single 255mm disc with Brembo 2-piston floating calliper and ABS at the rear. Brakes that are completely in line with the top-notch specification of this bike.

Add all these individual components — great looks, pleasing motor, solid chassis, fantastic suspension and brilliant brakes — and put them all together in a package that tips the scales at 205kg dry, and you have a motorcycle that is outrageously good fun and very rewarding to ride.

In standard form, fitted with the standard Metzeler Tourance tyres, the bike is more road and dirt road oriented, but it will still take you off the beaten track with ease.

It really is quite a competent all-rounder — no matter what surface you are riding on.

With some serious off-road tyres fitted it would rank up with the most capable of ADV machines.

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