2018 Triumph Bonneville Speedmaster to Be Revealed Oct. 3

Dennis Chung
by Dennis Chung

Triumph will reveal a new Speedmaster on Oct. 3, adding a cruiser to its Bonneville family. A teaser video announced Triumph’s “new British Classic Custom Icon,” offering a few furtive looks at the new Bonneville Speedmaster.

From the video, we can see a the familiar tank badge marking other Bonnevilles, gaitered forks, and an LED headlight. Comparing the angle of the fork to the headlight nacelle, the 2018 Speedmaster has a noticeably smaller rake angle than its predecessor’s 33.8º, looking closer to the Bonneville Bobber’s 25.8º.

The dimly-lit shot of the whole bike reveals wire-spoke wheels (the previous Speedmaster had cast wheels) and dual front brakes, suggesting the Bonneville Speedmaster will use the larger 1200cc Bonneville engine as opposed to the 900cc engine powering the other smaller T100, Street Cup, Street Twin and Scrambler models. The few looks we get of the exhaust system reveal a silencer resembling the one found on the Bonneville Bobber, which also uses the 1200cc Twin.

We’ll have more information as it becomes available, leading up to the 2018 Triumph Bonneville Speedmaster’s Oct. 3 launch.

Dennis Chung
Dennis Chung

Dennis has been a part of the Motorcycle.com team since 2008, and through his tenure, has developed a firm grasp of industry trends, and a solid sense of what's to come. A bloodhound when it comes to tracking information on new motorcycles, if there's a new model on the horizon, you'll probably hear about it from him first.

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  • Tim Sawatzky Tim Sawatzky on Sep 18, 2017

    I just hope they change it to belt drive. I loved the Speedmaster but it wasn't on my list of potential bikes because of the chain. (I won't buy another bike with a chain unless it has a center stand) But a cruiser 1200 to compete with the Indian Scout would be very cool.

  • StickyTires StickyTires on Sep 19, 2017

    Does this signal the end of the Thunderbird line?

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    • StickyTires StickyTires on Sep 19, 2017

      It just seems like it's being phased out. We have an award winning Triumph dealer here, and I visit regularly. The only Thunderbird I see lately is the Storm. The regular version, the Commander, and the LT have been absent from the showroom floor for a very long time. A 1200cc cruiser and a 1700cc cruiser seem to be at odds with each other. I could be wrong.

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