Triumph’s all-new, 1600cc lump dominates the Thunderbird and is the world’s biggest production parallel twin. Peak torque comes at just 2750rpm and it redlines at 6500rpm (or a claimed 115mph in top – 6th) so, all in all, your arthritic right wrist never gets much of a workout.
That said, overall performance is not radically new and the power and torque figures are ‘good-to-average’ rather than stunning.
What’s more, close your eyes and you’d assume it’s a Vee rather than a parallel, and although most of the vibes are cancelled out by twin balancer shafts in front and back of the block, they do still get through, numbing your right hand slightly after 45 minutes or so.
Maybe this is being picky: you need some of that for ‘character’ after all.
