RIDING TRIUMPH’S NEW OFF-ROAD TF450E & TF250E; THE WRAP

MotoFactory · 25 июля

This week we got our first chance to ride Triumph’s TF450E and TF250E off-road bikes. These are the company’s first dedicated off road bikes and represent a rapid expansion into the dirt world. The TF250X and TF450RC both arrived within the last year and a half, but prior to that, Triumph’s dirtiest offerings were in the adventure segment. If you want to go WAY back, there were certainly off-road versions in the line-up from the original Triumph, but whether or not that was the same company remains a debate for some other place.

The U.S. version of the TF450E is a race bike based on the 450 motocrosser introduced last year. If you want to slot it into a category, it belongs in the same class as the Honda CRF450RX, Yamaha YZ450FX, Kawasaki KX450X and KTM 450XC-F. Most of those bikes are a hairs-width away from being motocross bikes. The TF450E is farther removed from its motocross roots than any of them, but it still makes enough sheer power that it would be right at home on a track. It’s simply a different kind of power. The motor uses a full-circle crank with 30 percent more inertia. The cam is different, the mapping is different and the pipe is different. The piston, valve size, compression ratio and combustion chamber, though, are essentially the same, but it has a six-speed gearbox. In the chassis department, the biggest departure from the MX bike is the swingarm, which is 10mm longer. Then, there are all the off-road specs that we have some to expect: softer suspension settings, an 18-inch rear wheel, increased fuel capacity, a kickstand and so forth. Two items that you don’t often see in this category are the 1450-lumen headlight and the radiator fan. Those features are more commonly seen on trail bikes. The bike also has a small odometer and, of all things, a horn.

The TF450E excels in wide-open spaces with steep hills and deep sand. All that stuff demands lots and lots of power, and the TF450E is a fast motorcycle. It is, perhaps, a little softer and smoother down low than most, but it builds power fast and hard in the middle. On top, it tapers off quickly. If you have a notion to hold it open and delay your next shift, the rev-limiter steps in and forces the issue. With most other bikes that make this kind of power, you don’t dare let the revs drop for fear of stalling. It turns out that the Triumph is relatively reluctant to stall, even at very low revs.

The TF450E also has great straight line stability. In the rocky, sandy and sketchy soil conditions that define off-road riding, you need a secure, well-planted feel above all, and that’s what the TF450E gives you. It tracks well and goes where it’s pointed. It does feel like a big, long motorcycle, but that’s not surprising. The wheelbase is longer than that of the motocross bike, it has a bigger tank and it is heavier. None of those issues are unusual in the off-road world.
As for suspension, the TF450E landed a little on the soft side of the average closed-course off-road bike. The front end, in particular, is set up to favor comfort rather than speed. It’s excellent in rocks, but can dive when the speeds increase. We didn’t want to lose the stability that we loved so much, so we leveled the bike out by lowering the rear end, eventually landing around 108mm of sag. Triumph has promised a long-term test bike soon and we can’t wait to learn more.

TF250E

When Triumph invited us to this introduction, we didn’t know it was for two bikes. But, sure enough, they had a TF250E for us to ride as well. This bike has already seen a great deal of competition in the U.S. Jonny Walker has been racing one in extreme enduro and Ricky Russell has had one in GNCC. To be fair, both of those bikes are built on the TF250X motocross bike. The new E model has a six-speed gearbox and the same basic alterations that the 450E has, including a heavier crank, different mapping and so forth.

To be frank, the 250E was a much sweeter bike than the 450E, especially in our dry desert conditions. Where the 450 was a bit of a brute, the 250 was very accommodating and easy to ride. Plus, it was fast! The 250 has no trouble pulling through deep sand or climbing steep hills. The biggest reason that it worked so well in that terrain is because the powerband is super wide. Where any 450 is only happy in a limited rev range, the 250 works well at any rpm from way down low to over 13,000 rpm. It sounds backward, but in off-road conditions, you actually shift the 250 less frequently than a 450. Ricky Russell has been lining up in the XC1 class alongside all the 450s and finished as high as third. Stay tuned; there’s a lot more to unpack here as the Triumph world empire expands.

PETE MURRAY ON TOP OF THE WORLD

Pete Murray is riding a motorcycle around in outer space right now. Or the closest place possible: the Himalayan mountains. He has ridden through two of the “highest motorable passes” in the world, Umling La (19,024 feet) and Khardung La (17,924 feet). If you want to go any higher, it’s either on foot, in an airplane or in a spaceship. I was supposed to go with him, but my visa into India was denied at the last minute. I was upset. Pete was way MORE upset. But, in a conversation on WhatsApp, he says he’s made new friends, so I’m not needed any more. He will tell me all about it when he gets back next Wednesday.

VINTAGE DIRT BIKE

Last week I went deep in the dirt Bike archives to find the phot of Jim Holley jumping the Harley davidson Tour Glide at India Dunes. It appeared in the April, 1983 issue. It turned out there were other gems in that same issue. The photo above appeared on the cover of that issue, but virtually notion inside was serious. Bits and Pieces had a number of cut-and-paste (literally) fake photos.

Rick Sieman’s column was more of the same. It was a tribute to Motocross Action and reflected the deep respect that Rick had for Jody Wiesel.

JUDY’S BOX

By Judy Weasel

“Did I win?” I asked Fred Finger after I collapsed into the Judychair under the Judyawning, which was parked right next to the Judymobile.

Jimmy Double Mac interrupted. “Of course you won, Judy. Golly, the way you were quadrupling those triple jumps, why, how could you lose?”

I smiled and unbuckled my Judyboots. They were getting pretty scruffy, so I figured it was about time to have another contest for my adoring readers. Let’s see now what would be a good theme for the contest? Perhaps the boots would go to the reader who could count the number of times I mentioned my name in the same sentence as Gary Jones. No, that would be too time-consuming, and besides, Gary has had enough publicity lately

Well, that would have to wait. More important things were facing me right now. You see, I had decided to ride 12 classes today at SaddleWhank Park. That would mean 24 45-minute motos. And even for a guy in incredible shape like myself, well, that would be tough.

Like Crazy Dave said, “Wow, Judy, for someone with a broad’s name, you sure ride pretty manly.” Personally I have never felt that having a girl’s name has slowed me down, especially going up Whanko Hill, one of my favorite sections of SaddleWhank Park.

Which brings me to one of my pet peeves: tracks that are laid out differently from SaddleWhank. Once I rode at a track that turned right at the first turn instead of left, and I took out 70 feet of snow fence and didn’t stop until my Pro Circus equipped Honda seized tighter than Jimmy Double Mac when it’s his turn to pay for the shakes and fries after the races. Anyway, my day of racing here at SaddleWhank Park was not to be an easy one. I was here not only to race an incredible number of grueling motos, but to do a feature story for Judycross Action Magazine, as well.

Willy Monte Jack Bob Floyd told me that there was a guy racing here who was on a totally stock bike. This I couldn’t believe! After all, who in their right mind would even consider straddling a bike that didn’t have a Pro Circus pipe, a Wheelslip porting job and a Marx Brothers suspension? Not me, for sure.

I spent the spare time I had between motos carefully putting all the latest stickers on my V6000 Bland Brad Nostril Vent protector, making sure that it didn’t clash with my all-white boot-bottoms. Gary Jones looked on with envy as I slipped on the latest fad helmet from Bolivia, with a teak visor and dingleballs hanging from the side. Look fast, go fast, I say. I thought about what would be facing me today. How would I deal with the quadrinkle jump over on the back side of the track? Should I hit the first one in a cross-up, or merely do a crowd-pleasing pancake? Heck I could even just jump it straight. Naw, that would be too weird.

Willy Monte Jack Bob Floyd’s brother, Philly Joe Frank Nick, came up to me and said, “Say, Judy. There’s a new jump over on the back section near the downhill straight. Nobody, but nobody, is trying to make all six of those jumps at one time. Are you gonna be the first to try it?”

I scratched my Judychin thoughtfully and said, “You mean Roger D., the Jammer, Hurricane, the Bomber and the Little Professor haven’t tried it yet?”

“Gosh, no, Judy. They’re all waiting for someone else to try it first. But no one has the hair.”

I brushed back the locks of my Prince Valiant hairdo and said, ‘Well, if nuthin’ else, this Texas boy has hair!”

Gary Jones, Jimmy Double Mac and Goat Breakfast all roared in delight. Good old Judyjokes will get them every time. I made up my mind. Those jumps would be conquered. I headed for the start mentally prepped. The start would mean a lot. If you don’t get a good start at SaddleWhank Park, it’s tough.

A word about Saddle Whank Park is in order here. A lot of people wonder why I race here all the time. Well, let me tell you, if you don’t race here, you’ll never make it in the MX world, and that’s a fact. How guys like Carlqvist and Malherbe ever managed to snare a factory ride without being a SaddleWhank regular is, quite frankly, beyond me.

Anyway, I lined up in my familiar Judyslot behind the gate and got ready for action. The gate dropped and I was off. Boy, I got a great start and was really riding smoothly, especially up Whanko Hill, in one of my favorite grooves.

I rode like the wind and pulled out quite a lead over the rest of the field, winding the bike all the way out in second gear on one of the fast back straights. When those killer jumps came up, I just snicked it up a gear and let her fly.

I sailed for what seemed like forever, doing two cross-ups, four pancakes and a half-dozen hip-kicks during the flight. Pretty basic stuff for me, but a crowd dazzler to most.

Pulling out the stops, I hugged the good lines and mid-range-burst it on the smooth parts. Wow! My bike had low-end torque throughout the range, and I could almost hear the valves float as my Pro-Circus-tuned CR250 came on the pipe.

As lapped Gary Jones, Martha and Alice Olsen and Hot Sauce Cox, I felt that victory was mine. Yet, right at the checkered flag, a yellow bike slipped by with a medium-height, extremely muscular fellow at the controls. At first I couldn’t figure out who it was. Joel Robert? Jeff Smith? Rolf Tiblin? No. It was none of these.

Instead, it was my nemesis, Super Hunky, who beat me soundly once more. Rats!

I pulled off the track, defeat bitter in my Judymouth, and loaded up the Judybike in the Judytruck. The day at the track was ruined. As I was pulling out of the pits, Super Hunky pulled up next to the Judywindow on the Judytruck, smiled, and said, “Hey, this old square-barrel Maico runs good for a ‘71 model doesn’t it?

See you next week!