Cast your mind back to a time where a motorcycle brand decided to enter a new market. In the dirtbike industry it's a very rare occasion. Aprilia and BMW had a crack with a 450cc enduro bike over a decade ago and Sherco and Beta entered the dirtbike realm from the trials world in 2010, although Beta had built motocrossers in the ‘60's and ‘70's. Some have been successful, like Beta and Sherco and others have flopped. Either way, everyone gets excited for the release of any new model and are keen to hear what the tester thinks. As professional motorcycle testers, we have to be circumspect anytime a new brand has a crack at making a dirtbike. It's not an easy thing to get right first go!
A couple of weeks before this launch, I got a call, it was ADB. “Hey Hammy, it's Mitch Lees from ADB Magazine” the voice on the other end of the phone said. “Our Motocross Editor, Lee Hogan, is unable to get to a dirtbike launch in Florida. Do you want to go?” I answered yes before he even finished his next sentence!
It was the Triumph TF 250-X launch, a bike with so much hype but that we knew little about. Triumph was founded in Coventry, England in 1897 by two Germans building pushbikes and is known for predominantly building roadbikes. They built their first motorcycle in 1902 and were successful until bankruptcy in 1983. The name Triumph was resurrected in 1990 under a new owner with completely new bikes in a new factory at Hinckley east of Birmingham.
So how good could this motocross bike be? I was apprehensive,
