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BIKES:  2010 Triumph Thunderbird Review
Written by: Bart Madson
Motorcycle-USA.com   http://www.motorcycle-usa.com
06/06/2009
Eugene, OR
 
It's no sportbike but the Thunderbird can hustle around the bends with the best of the cruiser crowd. (Photo: Motorcycle-usa.com) ยป More Photos

Spanish sunshine reflects off the monolithic stone face of Montserrat, 40 miles west of Barcelona. The tarmac shadowing the mountain route is pristine, with long sweeping bends and narrow turns delivering panoramic views of the Catalan countryside below and glimpses of the famed Montserrat monastery, nestled high in the rock cliffs above. It’s one of those moments riding a motorcycle, when all the white noise of life is gone. The only sounds registering are the playful rumble of a Parallel Twin, and the occasional footpeg scrape as I toss the 2010 Triumph Thunderbird around the bends.

The new 1597cc Thunderbird represents Triumph’s entry into the mid-displacement cruiser market, revitalizing a historic model name first affixed to the firm’s 1951 6T performance model. Splitting the ample difference between the three existing Triumph cruiser model lines, the 865cc America and Speedmaster and the 2294cc Rocket III Triple, how critical was filling that 1429cc chasm in the Triumph lineup?

“The Thunderbird is our mainstream cruiser offering, our spearhead into the cruiser market,” answered Triumph Motorcycles project manager Simon Warburton at the Barcelona press launch. Warburton reckons that of the 500cc-

See and hear the new Thunderbird in action in the 2010 Triumph Thunderbird Review Video.
and-over cruiser market, 50% of total sales are models between 1401-1700cc – only 7% is credited to the massive 1701cc and higher segment, with the 500-900cc and 901-1400cc models claiming a respective 22 and 21%. If you want to carve out a piece of the pie, it only makes sense to aim at the biggest, most lucrative piece. The Thunderbird
project, began in 2004, looks to stake a claim by targeting three distinct riders:

1) Triumph riders who want a mainstream cruiser
2) Cruiser riders who want to stand out from the crowd
3) Non-cruiser riders who are not satisfied with the riding experience on other cruisers


The first group are an easy mark and undoubtedly comprises those who have already plunked down deposits on the Thunderbird – set to make its trans-Atlantic crossing this summer. That leaves Group 2 and 3…

So what makes the Thunderbird stand out from the crowd?

“It’s a Parallel Twin because that’s what we do,” said Warburton on the definitive feature of the T-Bird. The chosen engine configuration continues a conscious corporate decision made earlier this decade, the boys at Hinckley rightly realizing brand identity rests with the Parallel Twin and Inline Triple platforms. So with the configuration a foregone conclusion, the only real question at Triumph was the Twin’s size.

The Thunderbird T-16 Twin opts for a 1597cc (98 ci) displacement – a near perfect match to the Harley Twin Cam 96. The Thunderbird’s side-by-side 800cc cylinders house 103.8mm-wide pistons blowing through 94.3mm strokes. The pistons thump up and down to turn a 270-degree crankshaft and twin balancer shafts. Meanwhile the center chain-driven dual-overhead cams actuate four-valve heads.


Visit motorcycle-usa.com for the rest of this story.
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