These bikes exert an appeal on anyone who likes chromed parts, dark paint and has a desire to be different from the hordes of plastic rockets and desert rally look-a-likes. Priced between the standard Thunderbird and Rocket III Roadster of its day, the Storm represented fair, if not startling value.Ĭustom bikes enjoyed a boom in popularity in the ‘00s perhaps due to a generation of erstwhile sportsbike riders looking to ride in style (and more importantly comfort). Whether that makes the Storm a true hot rod, though, is a different matter… A decent, all-round cruiser with an extra helping of menace. Its seat is well padded and the bars and pegs set to be acceptable for a tank’s worth of riding time. But it’s nothing to get unduly concerned about, either.Ĭomfort and all-round usability is its forte. In fact the Storm, despite its sheer size and bulk, only ever becomes a handful during dead slow manoeuvring, when there’s no getting away from the fact this is a big, hefty bike. It’s no sports bike, of course – the slow steering and sheer bulk mean that corners have to be planned and steady – but it’s more fun than most cruisers when you want to get hustling along. The whole plot is taut enough to pleasingly swing through a series of country bends. The suspension, like most Triumphs, is well set up and the brakes are excellent. The handling feels even better than the stock Thunderbird – a big improvement on the class convention. Instead, it’s all about low and mid-range urge – and there’s more than enough of it to satisfy. It’ll rev-on to a 7500rpm redline, at which point it starts to sound meaty enough too, but there’s no real need. The ergonomics are natural the clutch, gearchange and throttle are light and crisp and the pick-up from the big parallel-twin motor meaty and instant without being fierce. While the rider’s-eye view is all bad-attitude gloss black, once levered off its side-stand and prodded into first gear the Storm is refreshingly light and welcoming. And if you were tempted by the Rocket III’s poke and pose, but not its bulk and brawn, the Storm could be for you, too.įrom the saddle, the Storm is pleasing, effective and surprisingly unthreatening to ride. So, the standard Thunderbird’s spec and manners appealed, but not it’s style, here’s the solution. In terms of how it looks, how it goes and how it feels, it truly is a ‘junior Rocket III’. On the other, the Storm plugs a useful gap in Triumph’s range. By doing so, it offers a tempting, ‘bad boy’ alternative to the stock Thunderbird which, good though it is, has always been a bit too ‘vanilla’ for my tastes. On the one hand the Storm is better ‘hot-rod variant’ than most, being both thoroughly done in terms of cosmetics and performance. That’s something that can’t be said of the Nightsters and Black Spirits of this world. So, aside from predictable black paint and metal finishes plus subtly minimalistic styling (the Storm boasts more aggressive, flat bars and extended risers as well as chic clear glass indicators compared to the stock Thunderbird) Triumph has gone the extra yard by giving it a completely different headlamp arrangement, more performance and a host of neat detail touches.īlackness aside, it’s the Storm’s twin-beam headlamp which visually distances it from the stock Thunderbird and reminds you of its Rocket III Roadster big brother – no bad thing in itself when you’re after an image that’ll strike consternation throughout suburbia.īut the Storm’s added performance, courtesy of using the Thunderbird’s optional 1700cc big-bore kit which delivers an extra 12bhp and a healthy wodge of added grunt means the Storm has the extra go to match its hot-rod image. And the Storm, although developed from an existing model – the 1600 Thunderbird – is the latest example of this. Hinckley has become particularly adept recently at delivering well thought-out and crisply-executed machines that are both thoroughly developed and wanting for little. Riding it, however, reveals the new Storm to be pleasingly more than just AN Other fashion victim. In recent years there have been Harley-Davidson Nightsters, Victory 8-Balls, Honda’s Black Spirit, even Kawasaki’s VN900 Custom, so the Storm is not so much a case of Triumph jumping on the bandwagon as shouting ‘Room for one more?’ and squeezing onboard among everyone else. Related: 30 years on - the story behind Triumph's rebirth.Its route of taking an existing cruiser model and spinning off a pared-down, mean and moody, all-black, ‘hot rod’-styled variant is a well-trodden one. It would be easy to be cynical about the Triumph Thunderbird Storm.
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