Since the Trophy 1200 4 cylinder and the 900 3 cylinder were discontinued in 2002 good low milage second hand ones have kept their value. Most owners have been reluctant to part with them awaiting a new model. That has been a long time comming and at the end of 2012 two all new 3 cylinder 1200 models were launched. I have tested the new Trophy 1200 SE today.
First the 2002 Model shown. This is the second 1200/4 I have owned, and only had 14500 miles on the clock after 10 years. When I first got it I had to change one of the 2 cylinder ignition coils which is a common problem with this model. I have done about 12,000 miles between the 2 identical Trophy 1200/4 I have owned both in the Uk and Spain.
9-30 am on a February morning -3 degrees was I glad of the heated grips and bum warmer. Yes heated seats! With the temperature in mind, I was reluctant to throw the bike around too much @ £14,500 and kindly on loan from Bill Smith Motors in Chester!
You could be forgiven for mistaking the Trophy for a BMW. The obvious difference the lack of 2 horizontally opposed cylinders.
I set off along the A55 with the windscreen about half way up which is about the same height as my 2002 trophy fixed screen. At 6 foot with 29” legs, my body sits quite high but very little wind on my helmet. With the screen up fully virtually no wind at all. Surprisingly with the screen down and at 70mph the airflow was comfortable and very even in comparison with the 1050 ST GT standard screen where I had to keep my head central or it would be pushed back sharply. It was easy to forget how low the temperature was with the superb aerodynamics, heated grips and bum warmer. Yes 2 heated seats! Within a couple of minutes I felt total at home with this Trophy . Well I suppose nearly 50 years of motorcycling helps.
The electronically controllable suspension was set in standard mode so I could compare it as a basic Trophy 1200. The fly by wire throttle felt just like a standard cable if a little lighter to the touch. The auxiliary controls are a bit of a stretch but at least the radio volume increases with speed.
Will Triumph ever get into the Police bike market. Well, after talking to a couple of Police bikers and Triumph possibly not. The Police said of the earlier Trophy “maybe they haven’t submitted them for approval or they don’t come up to standard” Ouch! Wanting to know the truth and if the 2012 Trophy would replace any of the Jap or German bikes in our Police force or any other in the future I contacted Triumph.
One of the main points was compromising the bikes by adding all the equipment necessary to turn them into traffic cop bikes. Triumph say bikes such as the Pan European have had a few problems.
The Police have had a few demo bikes at special events in the UK but never requested one to be sent to them for their version of type approval. This being the case there has never been a tender request. Its not only the UK that lacks Triumph Cop Bikes. Would you like to be pulled up by a Triumph? I think if I was I wouldn’t be listening to the charge, just looking at the bike!
