5 Must-See 2015 Triumphs at IMS Long Beach
Refinement and racing was the order of the day for Triumph at the Progressive International Motorcycle Show in Long Beach, Calif. Fortunately, that didn’t mean anything other that some great looking motorcycles from one of the most visually appealing brands.
1. 2015 Triumph Tiger 800 XCx: Most of the additional features of the 2015 Triumph Tiger 800 XCx are invisible – traction control, power maps, riding modes – and the ones you can see (such as cruise control) aren’t that much to look at. However, as you can see, the new 2015 Triumph Tiger 800 XCx does have new bodywork, a new powdercoat frame finish, semi-matte finish on the tank and lots more black. The XCx is definitely a cool bike to see in person.
2. 2015 Triumph Thruxton Ace: Having ridden a Triumph into the parking lot of the Ace Cafe in London, I can tell you that it’s a special feeling. This brings a bit of that charisma to American by tying in Triumph’s classic café racer to the birthplace of café racing. When you see it, you’ll get that café racer feeling.
3. Bonneville Performance Triumph Factory Racing Flattracker: Raced by AMA National #91 Mikey Martin, this Bonneville-based racebike is a great alternative to the V-twins that dominate the starting grid. As with any naked race bike, you can spend quite a bit of time going over all the details that make the bike competitive for dirt track racing.
4. Riders Discount Triumph Daytona 675R: Danny Eslick has been a successful AMA Pro Racing competitor on this Triumph Daytona 675R, and it looks even better up close than it does on the track. While the fairing blocks some of the interesting bits, there’s still a lot to see if you love road racing.
5. Team Raiden Triumph Tiger 800 XC: You read all about the white version of this bike in Ultimate MotorCycling magazine. Here’s the yellow version – complete with plenty of Baja dirt – that was ridden by Joe Bolton and Ernie Vigil of Icon Motosports in the NORRA Mexican 1000 in Baja California.
Photos by Don Williams