People might complain that the Triumph Scrambler 1200 X (and its sibling, the XE) are expensive at £12-13k, the equivalent of a well-specced sports tourer. I say... good. We need to keep powerful bikes like this out of the hands of anyone too young to remember Blind Date (ask your parents). Get it right with a Scrambler and it's a lorra lorra laffs. Get that throttle wrong - say hello to a lorra lorra bills.
Scramblers have always been the domain of the slightly special motorcyclist. Their rich history goes back to the 1920s, when British enthusiasts began taking production road bikes and fitting them with knobbly wheels and suspension upgrades to take on our endless supply of rutted roads and muddy hills. By the 1960s the 'street scrambler' style had spread across the world, immortalised by Steve McQueen ripping about on a Triumph TR6 Trophy in 1963's The Great Escape.
Triumph re-launched the segment for the modern rider in 2005 with the Bonneville Scrambler, and today, what was once a design niche is a Big Moto scramble for your hard-earned cash. We are spoilt for choice, with scrambler-like offerings both in the affordable enthusiast market (the Royal Enfield Bear 650 and the BSA Scrambler) and premium lifestyle segments (Ducati's 1100 Scrambler and the various heritage flavours of BMW R 12 nineT).
Triumph's Scrambler 1200 X is the more road-focused Scrambler in their range, compared to the go-anywhere 1200 XE. It sits slightly lower, has less complex electronics, and a few goodies thrown in like lean-sensitive ABS and traction control to stop new enthusiasts cannoning themselves into hedges. It will do green lanes and off-roady things at a pinch, but is really a more accessible means of delivering the Scrambler ideal to real-world riders (quite literally, given the towering height of the XE).
There are some rules when it comes to scramblers. Seats must be brown and leathery. Exhausts must be flamboyant and grunty. Hardware must be sturdy and performant enough to escape both the Wehrmacht and school-run Range Rovers. Wheels must be spoked. There should be custom parts and headlamp guards of inexplicable utility everywhere. A scrambler must look both nonchalant and try very hard, feel heritage but go like the clappers, all at the same time. If you ever wondered what Erwin Schrödinger would have ridden, wonder no more.
The 1200 X is obviously a good-looking machine, especially in the shade of Carnival Red we had on the test bike. It is well-finished and tastefully executed, with no strange cables sticking out where they shouldn't be, and no loose hardware. There is a delicacy to the design which reminds you this is not just a retro enduro or anything of the sort. While being perfectly content to sleep inside a dusty barn, the 1200 X doesn't look out of place in Kensington being photographed by men who are supposed to be on a date. And then there's that exhaust - an unapologetic centrepiece whose throaty bark lets Triumph's High Power 1200cc parallel twin speak truth to the world.
We need to talk about this engine. It may only make 89 hp with 81.1 lb-ft of torque - pretty standard middleweight numbers - but my God is it a rocket. I'm not sure whether it's because Triumph's engineers have tweaked it recently to produce a bit more power and torque in the low end, but I want to meet the maniacs who crank the throttle all the way on the Scrambler 1200 and buy them a drink. The 1200 X weighs 228kg but you'd swear that was a typo when you move off. The bike cannons forward at the merest encouragement and will lift the front wheel on command. Overdoing it in town? Straight to jail. Beginner motorcyclist with a slack throttle habit? Jail. Be careful with this one in built-up areas.
Suburbia and the countryside are where this style of motorbike really works. Longer roads, less traffic, more varied terrain is what the Scrambler 1200 X loves. It's a supreme point-to-point bike, endlessly nippy and adaptable, and feels robust under you across all sorts of surface (even if the suspension on this model is a rather firm Marzocchi setup and not quite the level of the Showa/Öhlins as on the XE). The gentle flow of the 21-inch front wheel in turns never gets old; this is a very easy machine to jump onto without overthinking.
As for build quality, there is a distinct 'tightness' about this bike, a feeling of every mechanical part working securely and precisely like a watch. The click of the gearbox, the way the brake levers feel under load - it all feels smooth, light, and well machined. When you first jump on the Scrambler 1200 X you get the strong impression that Triumph are making a premium machine for a premium customer paying a premium price. This should be table stakes for bikes which cost the best part of £13k but there are other marques out there who try to get away with less. You know who you are.
No motorcycle is perfect, of course. For 228kg the twin-pot brake callipers on the front wheel feel perhaps slightly underpowered, especially for the amount of shove this thing has. A few roundabout approaches in Surrey's hillier parts ended up more... thrilling than I'd planned. Also, if you don't do your crunches, the bench seat found on most modern heritage motorcycles like the Scrambler will also punish your lower back after a few hours, especially if you're wearing a backpack. Which you will do, because putting panniers on a Scrambler is a criminal offence. Lastly, and if we are really nit-picking, I think the display unit could be more evocative. I'm escaping Stalag Luft III here chaps. Give me something to write home about.
So - you might be asking, is the Scrambler 1200 X for me? Being brutally frank, even though this is a road-going motorcycle, for most riders its torque and eagerness to spring into action will be too much for purely urban riding. It is also not a motorway muncher or a commuter, and not trying to be. I mean, look at it.
Where the Scrambler 1200 X shines is blatting about the countryside with a daypack on - visiting friends, pulling into rural pubs, sniffing out new shortcuts and the odd green lane. That is the sweet spot which even the XE doesn't quite hit, with its leggy suspension and off-road setup. If you're lucky enough to be within quick reach of a B-road, the 1200 X is a bike you'll want to cause trouble on constantly, one you'll want to grow into, make yours, and enjoy away from the maddening crowd.
This isn't a machine which will be everything to everyone. It's trying to be exactly the right thing for a specific subset of riders. If you're part of that demographic, congratulations. If you're not, well, you're going to need a damn good excuse.
