![]() After an extended coffee break to dry out and warm up, we retreated to Borrego Springs for a hot shower and lunch. Our planned ride to the top of Mount Palomar was scrubbed because it was socked in with fog and getting covered in snow. The same thing happened during the Scrambler 1200 street ride in Portugal, but at least this time I was wearing waterproof apparel. Reaching the mountain pass, we were greeted by dark clouds and steady winds, and soon we were riding in cold rain. Luckily, I was wearing Fly Racing Ignitor Pro battery-powered heated gloves.įueling is spot-on and response from the throttle-by-wire is excellent regardless of ride mode. It was a cool morning, in the upper 50s, and the X was equipped with accessory handguards but not accessory heated grips. Perched atop the bar is a single round instrument that combines a monochrome digital display at the top and a color TFT at the bottom. The long, flat bench seat accepted my bulk without complaint, and the handlebar, which is 2.6 inches narrower than the one on the XE, was at an agreeable height. On the third day of 2024, still fat and happy from the holidaze, I saddled on up a Scrambler 1200 X for the street ride. The town sits in a desert valley that’s surrounded by high mountains on three sides, and just a few miles to the west is the Ocotillo Wells off-highway riding area (and beyond it is the Salton Sea, California’s largest lake). ![]() ![]() Handguards are standard on the XE and optional on the X.īecause North America got the Scrambler 1200 X and XE later than Europe (bikes are arriving in dealerships now), Triumph America hosted a launch on domestic soil, and it couldn’t have picked a better location than Borrego Springs. With its wide, flat seat and upright seating position, the Scrambler 1200 X and XE are both comfortable to ride, though they lack the wind protection that most ADV bikes offer. Contributing editor Kevin Duke flew to Spain last December for the Tiger 900 launch, and other Rider staffers and contributors will be heading to Spain in the coming weeks for other Triumph launches. Triumph loves to host press launches on the Iberian Peninsula because Portugal and Spain have fantastic riding and generally mild weather during the late fall and winter months. I spent most of my time on the XE, and I was impressed with how capable and versatile the bike was. In late 2018, I flew to Portugal for the press launch of the first-gen Scrambler 1200, which included two days of on- and off-road riding. Let’s Go Riding! | Triumph Scrambler 1200 All modes are selectable on the fly except Off-Road and Off-Road Pro, which require the bike to be stationary. The XE also has an Off-Road Pro mode that disables ABS and TC completely. While the XE had more bells and whistles than the XC, both models were more alike than different in terms of specification and price.įor 2024, the Scrambler 1200 XE’s Bremo radial monoblock front calipers got upgraded from M50 to Stylema.Īs before, both models have throttle-by-wire and multiple ride modes – Sport, Road, Rain, Off-Road, and Rider (customizable) – that adjust throttle response, ABS, and traction control settings. Such tall suspension resulted in tall seat heights: 33.1 inches on the XC and 34.25 inches on the XE. Whereas many scramblers are often styling exercises, the two Scrambler 1200 models – the base XC and the up-spec XE – were equipped with an Off-Road riding mode, tubeless spoked wheels with a 21-inch front, and ample suspension travel: 7.9 inches on the XC and 9.8 inches on the XE. Triumph introduced the Scrambler 1200 platform for 2019, and it offered something few production scramblers did: genuine off-road capability. ![]() We’ve reviewed all of them over the years (most recently the Bonneville Bobber), and Triumph kicked off the first week of 2024 by hosting a launch for the updated Scrambler 1200 XE and new Scrambler 1200 X in Borrego Springs, California, a small town surrounded by the 1,000-square-mile Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.Carving curves aboard the Scrambler 1200 XE on S22, a San Diego County road that climbs more than 3,000 feet in 10 miles. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. This article originally appeared in VG March 2011 issue.
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