Triumph singles to be launched in June, say Bajaj

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The first of Triumph’s single-cylinder model range being developed in collaboration with India’s Bajaj will be unveiled in London on Tuesday 27th June according to Bajaj managing director, Rajiv Bajaj.

Speaking to Indian business news TV channel CNBC-TV18, he said: "The actual launch, I think, will be towards the end of June. Perhaps specifically on Tuesday 27th of June, in London. It will be a global launch that is being organised by Triumph, the exact content of that I am not aware, but that’s when the launch might be."

He also confirmed that the bikes will be in dealers soon afterwards, saying: "We should have product on the market in the second quarter of this financial year."

Bajaj and Triumph have been in collaboration since 2017, giving the new machines a long, six-year gestation period, and more details of the project were fleshed out in 2020. At that stage, Triumph confirmed that Bajaj would take over its distribution activities in India – a part of the deal that came to fruition in April 2023 – and gave more hints to the bikes that would be built. The project has been intended to cover the 200cc to 750cc part of the market, and current rumours in India say that the single-cylinder machines that have regularly been spotted under test will be available in 250cc and 400cc forms.

In 2020, Triumph confirmed that the machines will be coming to Europe as well as being sold in India, and the planned London launch appears to confirm that. As part of the 2020 announcement, Triumph CEO Nick Bloor said: "As well as taking our brand into crucial new territories, the products that will come out of the partnership will also help attract a younger, but still discerning, customer audience and is another step in our ambitions to expand globally, particularly in the fast-growing markets of South-East Asia, but also driving growth in more mature territories like Europe."

At the same time, Triumph’s official press release said that "the motorcycles developed together from this partnership will join the current Triumph product portfolio and be distributed by the Triumph led dealer network worldwide" to leave no doubt these machines will be sold here as well as in India.

The bikes themselves are singles with distinct overtones of Triumph’s existing ‘modern classic’ line up. Spy shots have shown both a scrambler-style machine and a more traditional roadster, both with the same DOHC single-cylinder engine that, like the Bonneville’s twin, is water-cooled but retains the classic appearance of an air-cooled design.

In the CNBC-TV18 interview Rajiv Bajaj said: "Clearly there’s more than one product in development. I can also say that more than one product will be launched in the second quarter if all goes well."

The names of the new bikes are yet to be confirmed. Triumph has no shortage of possibilities. One option would be to simply use existing titles, like ‘Scrambler’ but with the new models’ capacities attached to distinguish them from the larger twin-cylinder bikes. However, Triumph has also recently filed trademark applications for other names, including ‘Street Tracker’ and ‘Adventurer’ that could be destined for the new singles.

By building the bikes in India, Triumph will finally achieve a goal that it’s been pursuing for more than a decade. The company previously came within a whisker of building its own factory in India, developing two 250cc singles to be made there – a ‘Street Single’ and ‘Daytona 250’. Unlike the retro-style Bajaj-Triumph machines, these were resolutely modern bikes, aligned with the Street Triple and Daytona 675 of the same era, but the project was abruptly cancelled in 2014 and the proposed factory was never built, despite the bikes being fully developed.

The current project with Bajaj clearly has Royal Enfield’s hugely successful single-cylinder bikes in its sights and will be a further extension of Bajaj’s global reach. While the company’s name isn’t hugely familiar to European riders, it’s already a major shareholder in KTM’s parent company and manufactures the Austrian firm’s single-cylinder 125, 250 and 390 street bike ranges on its behalf. Bajaj also owns the Vincent and Excelsior-Henderson brand names, giving plenty of options for the future global expansion of its motorcycle offerings.