Bonneville America Forums Forums General Motorcycle Forums Other Bikes Return of the Cub?

http://www.visordown.com/motorcycle-news-new-bikes/125cc-triumph-range-in-the-pipeline/16598.html

Good idea IMO

A lot of people think that the lack of suitable learner bikes was a big contribution to the demise of the British Bike Industry

There is logic to instilling brand loyalty from a riders start.

I bet it won't look like the 1963 model I started my riding days on.

Me too, learned to ride a bike on a cub. Then my first street bike was a 305 Honda Super Hawk. Couldn't afford the Triumph on teenager money.

maybe thats why they didnt name the 800 tiger the cub?? i thought not do so was making a mistake but i guess mr Bloor does have a plan. i would love to see a 200 cub but a 125?? i used to ice race a cub and had i been a better rider i know that bike would beat them sprints because when my uncle would run it, it would. a 200 i would consider buying but a 125?? i dont know, i guess it would depend on the styling. moto-x??? road racing?? i guess we will see. i think a sweet little rebel style bike would be pretty cool??

During the few of factory tours I've been on, they always said they didn't want to go small on engine size.
They kept saying how their sales were growing year on year and didn't want to venture into the smaller cc bike market - too many other manufacturers are already established there.
There wasn't any money to be made in the smaller bikes.

I hear they have their bike stratergy already mapped out up to 2015/16 but as with everything, things change and if they could get some £££ out of building small cc bikes (or re-badging other bikes) in their far east factories, I bet they would look into it.
There is a massive market in the far east alone.

All good points there, Ade.

I don't think that many people start out on a small bike anymore. In today's motorcycling world...well...heck...just look at one of our newest members here, Julie, who's just picked her very first bike, a Speedmaster. And, I don't think the Buell Blast did all that well selling as a "Beginner Bike" either just a few years ago.

Yep, I think if anything, a small Triumph such as this might only go over well in the Asian market.

And as you also infer, the profit margin on each unit of a smaller displacement machine is usually also smaller than on larger machines.

In the UK, you can't just get a big bike then get qualified to ride it.
Until a full license is passed, riders are only allowed to rise a 125cc bike .... yeah, picture ME on a 125!!
Come to think of it, that's EXACTLY how the America feels after the R3

Most people who HAVE to ride a small bike over here (the sub 18/21 year olds) ride round on sh!tty little scooters and the name Triumph would be lost on their Playstation/Xbox-haddled brains.

Julie is an American though, we usually do go bigger than the fellows across the pond as they they say.
125 is still to small, should at least be a 250. They even sale well here.
If some one would put out a 450 here I think it would be off the chart for beginners here in the USA. Something to bridge the gap between the 250 class and the 800 class. Come on Bergman has a 400cc scooter. A 400 or 450 would be an ideal learner.

Yeah, I'd forgotten about your tiered licensing system over there. But, over here, as you know, any kid who might have absolutely zero hours on a motorcycle can walk into any dealership and purchase a litre-sized sportbike if he has the bread to do so, or any middle-aged dentist with the same amount of hours under their belt can walk into their nearest H-D dealership and purchase that FLXTHELPBQZ Harley they've always wanted.

And THIS is what I've always loved about our system over here: "Darwinism practiced daily at its greatest and least infringed upon best!"

(...ain't nothin' wrong with thinning the herd occasionally, ya know?!!!)

Right on Dwight, now if we could get those pesty helmet laws along with many other big brother here to protect you from your own dumb ****** laws. We could realy allow survival of the fitest work.

No I have not had the oppertunity in my sad ole sod life to get away that far. D*mn job! I would like to though. I saw it on discovery channel. Why do you ask?
Turtles escaping sharks, and sea birds on their first venture away from the nest. Its like extreme sports for the slow.

I think there is huge potential in the world wide market for small displacement Triumphs. Even here, if they are priced right. I would like to see a 200cc or even a 4-500cc thumper. Think about the Honda Rebel 250 or the Yamaha Virago 250, they sell for a reason. You can get one for under 2 grand. And it can help the person figure out if they really want a motorcycle. There are those of us that say, "I want a Triumph and I'm getting one", and then there are some people out there wondering "Maybe I want a motorcycle, but I'm not sure." I just see a small bike as a stepping stone either way. At least a motorcycle has to follow the same rules for registering and laws as a car. These 49cc scooters that run around on the roads now require no helmet, no license, no insurance, might as well be a bicycle! But, I think the biggest benefit to Triumph for sales would be the Asian market where 2 wheel transit is widely used. So far, Triumph has done nothing to hurt their image when it comes to producing bikes. I think only Honda has a bigger variety, and they aren't exactly struggling, are they?

I'm with roadworthy. I for one would buy a 400CC if they made them. Especially with $5 gas on the horizon. I plan on riding a lot more to work this year.

I have a friend who commute on a KLR at 50MPG, and another the commutes on a Rebel 250, he pulls better the 60 MPG! I wouldn't mind doing that on a Triumph. At least then you'd look a lot cooler!

In the land of oz most states have a 600cc learner limit , Canberra has a different system they go on power to weight ratio or some such system , a newbie can ride a HD as a learner because they don't have enough power to get into trouble

I hope this does happen. Be a nice bike to start my kids on when they are old enough to start learning to ride. And being a Triumph will keep our family brand loyalty going. I'd have to hardtail it first of course before I would consider it ridable

Cool, if they did the classic styling I'd but one just to have it. I'd get a clown nose and wig, rid it to bike night.

Dirt bikes or smaller displacement bikes for wherever those markets may be, but when I heard about TRIUMPH'S expansion plans, I thought something like this had to shake out. Heck, they have the road bike segment pretty well covered already, and I don't consider a T-Bird Storm as an extension of the family. It's just another cruiser, or another T-Bird, however you want to look at it. Same for any "special edition" bikes. That's not growing the family, either.

Think outside the box.......

I was just posting elsewhere earlier about how I'd like to see something more like the old SR500 (or SRX600) on the market -- a real proper high-displacement thumper streetbike that isn't a SuMo or a re-purposed dirtbike. This was on today's "Hell For Leather" site:



It's a custom, of course, but the idea is really brilliant -- something that's fun to ride, durable, and usable by both newbies and by someone with a few thousand miles under their tires.

"Bigger" is not always "better," even for Americans. The SV650 proved that with its success. It would be nice to see someone take that ball and run further with it -- especially if it's a company like Triumph that wants to put out bikes with personality too.

--Jaeger