Liquid-cooled Triumph Bonneville and Thruxton spotted testing

Three test mules of the 2016 Triumph Bonneville and the Thruxton have been spotted testing in Germany. These new models spell the end of the air-cooling era for the British motorcycle manufacturer, as they move on to liquid-cooled engines keeping up with the times.

While there isn’t any significant change in the design, the parallel twin engine now gets liquid-cooling. This should improve the performance, efficiency and the emission figures of the motorcycle. Earlier reports had suggested an increase in the displacement of the engine, though Triumph has so far refused to confirm this. While the standard Bonneville gets a blacked out engine, the one in the Bonneville T100 has been chromed to match the bike’s retro character. 

The frames of the motorcycles have been modified slightly to accommodate the radiator. The exhaust end cans were similar to that of the current motorcycles.  The two Bonneville and the Thruxton test mules had different braking setups for their front wheels. This is an indication that Triumph might be considering upgrading the front brakes of the Bonneville and the Thruxton to a dual-disc setup. However, we do not expect Triumph to offer an ABS for these models. 

These new Triumph models are going to be unveiled at the 2015 EICMA Show in Milan, this November. Owing to the technological improvements, we can expect these new models to be more expensive than the current line-up.