Speed Read The New Speed Triple 1200 Rx And More

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News from Hinckley this week, as Triumph unveils the new limited edition Speed Triple 1200 RX. We then look at a Stark Varg Alpha electric motocrosser dressed as a Honda CR500, a modern classic electric scooter from Germany, and a radically modified Honda VTR1000F from France.

Triumph Speed Triple 1200 RX The Triumph Speed Triple 1200 RS is a tour-de-force—a pure hooligan machine with excellent ergonomics and a rowdy triple-cylinder power plant. Its 1,160 cc mill kicks out 180.5 hp at 10,750 rpm and 128 Nm at 8,750, and it handles like it’s on rails.
The brand new, limited edition Triumph Speed Triple 1200 RX takes everything good about the RS model, but adds a generous helping of sportbike style. The catch? Triumph is only building 1200 of these.

The changes start with the Speed Triple 1200 RX’s rider triangle. It trades its handlebars for a set of clip-ons, mounted adjacent to a machined top yoke. The bars sit 69 mm lower and 52 mm more forward, the foot pegs are 14.5 mm higher and 25.5 mm further back, and the seat is sportier than the RS unit’s.
Styling-wise, the RX sports a special Triumph Performance Yellow livery and a smattering of carbon fiber bits. The lightweight Akrapovič muffler that’s usually available ex-works on the RS is standard equipment on the RX.

You also get the Speed Triple’s wonderfully intuitive Öhlins electronic suspension, with the addition of a ‘matching’ steering damper that’s controlled by the same system (all of which is customizable via the Speed Triple’s TFT dashboard). Brembo Stylema brakes and Pirelli Diablo Supercorsa SP V3 tires round out the parts spec.
The features of the Triumph Speed Triple 1200 RX nudge the iconic streetfighter closer to sportbike territory. Which makes us think—isn’t it about time Triumph put a fairing on this and called it a Daytona 1200? [Source]

Thornton Hundred Stark Varg Alpha Here’s something that’s sure to annoy two-stroke purists. Thornton Hundred, best known for its turbocharged, tire-shredding Triumphs, has just transformed an electric motocrosser into a retro supermoto with miles of Honda CR500 style. And we’re here for it.
It’s hard to top the gnarliness of the legendary CR500, but the Stark Varg Alpha is mental in its own right. It weighs just 118 kilos [260 pounds] in stock trim, with a maximum output of 80 hp and 938 Nm. It also has a military-grade smartphone as a dashboard, offering an inordinate amount of control over the bike’s power delivery.

Thornton Hundred’s 2004-model Stark Varg Alpha has all that, but it’s been repackaged with oodles of 90s style. It wears actual 1995 CR500 plastics—including a CR500 fuel tank, which has been cut open and repurposed as a cover. (If you’re looking for the charge port, it’s under the gas cap.)
The subframe is another CR500 item, but the seat comes from a 1992 Honda CR250. It was pretty tattered when the team found it, though, so they stripped it down to its base and rebuilt it with new foam. The seat cover was supplied by Guts Racing, and the retro-fabulous graphics were done by GP Grafix.

Under the hood, you’ll find a handful of handmade brackets to match the CR500 bits to the Stark chassis, plus a 3D-printed mount for the front fender. The bike retains its Brembo calipers, Galfer discs, and KYB suspension.
It’s pictured here with 17” SM Pro supermoto wheels, which were added recently because the bike’s up for sale. But before Thornton Hundred set it up like this, they took it to the Malle Beach Race in dirt bike trim, complete with 3D-printed axle extenders and a paddle tire at the back. Piloted by shop boss Jody Millhouse, it left everyone in its roost. [Source]

eSchwalbe 1st Edition electric scooter Remember the German-made Simson Schwalbe KR51 scooter of the 1960s? It’s made a comeback… sort of.
This is the eSchwalbe 1st Edition—a modern, battery-powered version of the Cold War-era original. According to Ride Apart, it’s made by the German EV company Govecs under official license from the Schwalbe brand. So it’s as close to a modern iteration of the real deal as you’ll get.

Priced at €7,999 [about $8,929], the eSchwalbe costs more than a Vespa GTS 310 HPE. But at least it’s pretty—very pretty, in fact.
It faithfully recreates the adorable 60s design of the original Schwalbe, although it trades the old version’s metal bodywork for durable plastic panels. A TFT dash sits up top, with a dual-battery cradle lower down that allows for a range of either 50 or 100 km [31 or 62 miles]. The batteries are easy to remove, so you can charge them inside your home or office without having to plug in the scooter itself.

Where the eSchwalbe falls short (especially when you consider its price) is in its performance. Its spec sheet lists its three-phase 48V electric hub motor as being equivalent to a 50 cc scooter, and any mention of a top speed is, notably, absent.
Aesthetically, though, it’s a step in the right direction—and it has us wondering which other vintage scooters would be ripe for a modern revival. [More]

Honda VTR1000F by 2020 Motorcycles How would you customize a Honda VTR1000F? For the French custom workshop 2020 Motorcycles, the answer was to tear it down to its stonking 996 cc V-twin motor, throw away everything they didn’t need, and start over.
The more you study this sportbike-cum-café racer, the more radical details you’ll notice. It’s little wonder, then, that the 2020 Motorcycles crew spent 600 hours working on it.

The VTR is encased in handmade aluminum bodywork—from the full fairing through to the waspish tailpiece. The fuel tank features a channel through the middle, with a pair of pod filters poking through. Other highlights include an adaptive LED headlight and cut-outs that expose the side-mounted radiators.
The whole machine tapers towards the rear, revealing a custom-built tubular frame to support the slim seat. 2020 Motorcycles installed a Ducati Panigale swingarm out back, connecting it to custom linkages that place the shock underneath the seat.

The front forks and yokes are from an MV Agusta F4, and the bike rides on forged wheels finished in the same matte gold as the subframe. The F4 donated its clip-ons too, but the dash is a bespoke part. 2020 Motorcycles rewired the bike for maximum reliability, replaced all the sundries, and ran tests on the chassis and tank to make sure nothing would fail.
Finishing things off is a raunchy stainless steel exhaust system that’s visible through the fairing and exits via a boxy muffler in front of the rear wheel. [Source | Via]



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