Triumph is going racing—offroad racing, that is. Triumph has just announced plans to launch a new series of motocross and enduro bikes, along with plans to enter high-level offroad racing.
It’s a big change-up for Triumph. The British manufacturer has focused on street-legal machines for the past few decades. It’s made lots of money off adventure bikes and scramblers, but has never built anything resembling a full-on dirt bike. But, the bigwigs say this is really happening, and Triumph is all-in.
“We are 100 percent committed to making a long-lasting impact in this highly competitive and demanding world, with a single-minded ambition to deliver a winning motorcycle lineup for a whole new generation of Triumph riders,” said CEO Nick Bloor in Triumph’s press release. To back up his big talk, Triumph announced it was hiring high-quality help. Motocross legend Ricky Carmichael and enduro champion Ivan Cervantes are both signed on to assist Triumph’s move into offroad.
A major effort
Here’s what Triumph’s press release said about the upcoming plan:
“Triumph Motorcycles is excited to announce that development is well underway on a comprehensive range of all-new competition Motocross and Enduro motorcycles. Joining our class-leading and globally renowned motorcycle range, this all-new competition MX and Enduro (Dual Sport) family will bring all of Triumph’s engineering expertise to riders and racers worldwide.
This will be accompanied by a landmark moment for Triumph and the MX and Enduro racing world with an all-new Triumph factory race program and a commitment to top-tier championship racing in both Motocross and Enduro series.”
Interesting that Triumph mentioned the new enduro models would be dual sports, which implies street legality. Maybe KTM will finally have some competition in this segment? Most of the Japanese duallies are street-biased, not true dirt bikes, these days.
Also very cool to see that Triumph is keen to race top-tier events, instead of only entering events that specifically cater to its bikes. If Triumph wants to be seen as a legit offroad brand, not just a purveyor of warmed-up technology, then it must compete on par with the other Euros and Japanese OEMs.
When will we see the new bikes?
Triumph’s presser only promises that we’ll see the new machines “in coming months.” However, statements from insiders as well as racers Carmichael and Cervantes indicate the company is already well into its development process. Maybe we’ll see prototypes at EICMA this year?
