The Roadster That Reminds You Why You Fell In Love With Motorcycles
Some motorcycles exist purely to move you from one place to another. Others exist to remind you why you started riding in the first place. The Triumph Thruxton RS is firmly in the second camp — a machine rooted in one of motorcycling’s most evocative origin stories. Back in 1958, a young Mike “the Bike” Hailwood rode a 650cc Triumph twin to victory in the grueling Thruxton 500, a result that built Triumph’s reputation for a decade before Malcolm Uphill cemented it at the Isle of Man TT. Getting a production bike around the fearsome TT course at 100mph took a stripped chassis, a rider crouched low over the tank, and a ton of courage for three laps straight. What followed was a nine-time world champion’s career, and a bike that became the genesis of a custom generation — built in sheds, admired in café parking lots, raced against a stopwatch.
Triumph’s Obsession And The Race To Hit The Ton
The Ace Café sat on London’s North Circular Road, a transport stop for truck drivers until the jukebox behind the counter started pulling in a very different kind of crowd. Riders would drop a coin, pick a record, then try to circle the roundabout up the road and get back to the counter before the song ended. These were the Ton-Up Boys, donning leather jackets with rock and roll setting the theme.
Triumph’s own racing department was chasing the same goal at race circuits. Hailwood’s Thruxton 500 win stuck a nickname on the T120 engine that raced there, and by 1965, Triumph turned it into an actual production bike. A limited 52-unit homologation special built at the Meriden Works was sold under the Thruxton name for the first time. Six decades and several engine generations later, one version of that name still carried the highest state of tune Triumph had ever put into a road-going Bonneville.
The Triumph Thruxton RS Reminds You Why You Fell In Love With Motorcycles
Triumph built the Thruxton RS from 2020 through the 2024 model year before pulling the plug on it. Built off the same Bonneville platform that underpins every other Triumph modern classic, the RS took the High Power 1200cc parallel twin and pushed it further than any road-going Bonneville Triumph had tuned before, then wrapped it in sports bike-derived suspension and brakes for the RS trim.
The Most Powerful Bonneville Triumph Has Built
With its vintage racing DNA still alive and active, Triumph fitted the RS with a low-inertia 270-degree crankshaft, lightweight clutch, balance shafts, a rare-earth alternator, a magnesium cam cover, and thin-walled engine covers — all to cut rotational inertia by 20 percent compared to the standard Thruxton R engine it’s based on.
That reduced inertia lets the Thruxton RS’ parallel twin rev 500 rpm higher before hitting the limiter and deliver peak torque 700 rpm lower in the range, so the power arrives sooner and keeps building longer instead of running out of breath. The result is 104 horsepower at 7,500 rpm and 83 lb-ft at 4,250 rpm — eight more horsepower than the standard version and the highest output of any road-legal Bonneville twin.
Hardware That Separates The RS From Other Bonnevilles
Triumph’s other modern classics run chassis setups understandably tuned for comfort. The RS breaks that mold with a 43mm Showa Big Piston fork and a pair of fully adjustable Öhlins piggyback shocks, both offering 4.7 inches of travel. Twin 310mm floating discs and Brembo M50 radial monobloc calipers handle stopping duties. Triumph even specced Metzeler’s Racetec RR tire as standard — a tire more at home on a track day than a daily commute. The complete RS package comes in under a claimed dry weight of 434 pounds.
Clip-Ons And A Solo Seat Set The Riding Position
Triumph mounted the clip-on bars just 29.3 inches apart and set them low, exactly as an authentic café racer should be. Paired with rearset footpegs that pull the knees up and back into a crouch suited to aggressive corner entry, the riding position is genuinely committed for everyday use. A single bullet seat comes standard, with a body-colored rear cowl to match the tank, while a pillion seat kit was sold separately.
The dash swaps a modern TFT screen for twin analog clocks with small LCD inserts tracking gear position, range, and fuel consumption. LED lighting front and rear is the one concession to contemporary expectations, but everything else about the Thruxton RS was conceived with the retro cool of the original in mind, for a generation that wants modernity underneath.
You Can Get A Thruxton RS From The Used Market
The Thruxton is a genuinely beautiful motorcycle, and you’d wish you had got one earlier. The only way to get one now is by scanning used listings, and that already reflects a bike that’s becoming hard to find in good condition. While high-mileage examples are available for just under $10,000, early 2020 models with low mileage are priced around $11,000, with later examples pushing toward $15,000. A handful of sub-2,000-mile bikes are even asking above the original asking price.
A motorcycle asking more than its original new price several years on is unusual, and it says as much about how few RS models Triumph actually built as it does about the bike’s enduring appeal. One thing to watch for while shopping: confirm the bike is genuinely an RS and not a standard Thruxton R wearing aftermarket badges. The two share bodywork but not the tuned engine or Brembo M50 calipers that justify the RS premium.
A New Triumph Cafe Racer Succeeds The Thruxton RS
If you absolutely must buy a brand-new Triumph café racer, you’re not out of luck just yet. Only this time, your Brit café racer won’t be called a Thruxton, and that’s okay. Hear us out. Triumph has rearranged its lineup, discontinuing the Thruxton and introducing the Speed Twin 1200 Cafe Racer Edition. Granted, the Thruxton was special for its legacy, character, and design, and it’s hard to fill those shoes with what is essentially a souped-up Speed Twin 1200. But the bike is bigger than the sum of its parts.
The Thruxton was discontinued for a few reasons. First, despite having a loyal fan base, the Thruxton wasn’t selling especially well compared to the Speed Twin 1200. Second, it’s simpler for Triumph to consolidate two models into one. Third — and most relevant here — the Speed Twin is a better platform for a café racer; it’s lighter and more flexible than the more laid-back Bonneville.
So, in comes the Speed Twin 1200 Cafe Racer Edition, combining the proven foundation of the Speed Twin 1200 with the cool appeal of the Thruxton. The bike retains the balanced posture and flexibility of the Speed Twin and pairs it with various café racer touches, including low-slung bars, racing-derived components, and a clean design. And as far as real-world riding experience goes, it offers more than the old Thruxton RS did in several respects.
It’s powered by a 1,200cc parallel twin tuned to deliver the punch you’d expect from a café racer, with 105 horsepower on offer. The bike also runs a Marzocchi/Öhlins suspension setup, along with Brembo Stylema M4.30 calipers actuated by a Brembo MCS lever. Despite its café racer styling, it’s more comfortable than the Thruxton RS and packs all the essentials of a modern motorcycle — and being a lighter bike to ride, it’s easier to manage in the city.
Yes, it still won’t be the same Thruxton RS we love in feel and character. The older bike was aggressive, making you feel like a racer every time you sat on it. And that name carried weight. The Speed Twin 1200 Cafe Racer Edition is an imitation by comparison. But if you’re willing to live with this “compromise,” you get a bike that won’t beat you up, is easier to ride, and still looks just as good. It’s a modern bike with vintage café racer looks.
The Thruxton RS Against Its Closest Café Racer Rivals
Kawasaki’s Z900RS Café ABS is the closest match in spirit and price — a classic half-faired café silhouette wrapped around a 948cc inline-four making 115 horsepower and 73 lb-ft. It carries a full electronics suite the RS never offered, including IMU-based traction control and a bidirectional quickshifter. Despite those features, the Z900RS is simply a neo-retro exercise with no real lineage behind it, and that’s precisely why the Thruxton remains a hidden gem.
Royal Enfield’s Continental GT 650 undercuts both by a wide margin, offering a 648cc parallel twin making 47 horsepower and 38 lb-ft that trades outright pace for accessibility. And there’s Moto Guzzi’s V7 Sport, also competitively priced, with an 853cc V-twin making 67 horsepower and 58 lb-ft.
Then again, the whole point of the Thruxton RS is its history, and the connection comes from the very love for that history — thus motorcycles, and names from that era. That’s exactly why you’d painstakingly hunt for a good, well-kept example. No wonder we crowned it “The Best Café Racer of 2024,” and we’re still willing to stand by that claim.
Source: Triumph Motorcycles, Cycle Trader
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