Triumph's latest prototype unveiled

Don't get me wrong, Triumph do have a strong brand in the motorcycle community and a wide raneg of bikes but lately they do seem to have been producing much of the same just under different names.

I owned three Triumph's myself, a Tiger, Bonneville and a Daytona. I've raced a Daytona competitively in a Supersport national class and have a connection with them through these bikes but these days the Triumph shine is wearing thin.

With many of their bikes based around the legend that is the retro-styled Bonneville sprouting variants including the Street Cup, Thruxton, and Scrambler; the Steed and Speed triples as naked street bikes, is the Trident going to bring us something different?

The Trident has now been shown to the world in prototype form. Four years of development have gone into the bike with Rodolfo Frascoli giving his styling input to the team in Hinckley, much as he did with the latest Tiger 900 - and what a transformation that was! Franscoli took the older generation Tigers, adventure spec bikes, and transformed them from being BMW clones - like many adventure bikes - into a model more in tune with he current market and riders need for modern technology and styling.

The Trident certainly has a look of Triumph's Street Triple/ Speed Triple. In fact there's a look of Ducati's similarly styled Monster in there as well. Is it the Italians twist showing through that bring’s the Ducati look to it? I’m no Ducati fan myself but the transformation from being another generic Triumph is obvious.

The the Trident brief ‘was focused on delivering a distinctive, dynamic and attractive new take on Triumph style and attitude’ according to Triumph. Minimalist in styling, naked in appearance and rugged in stature the Trident seems to have taken a step forward for Triumph away from the past decade of rolling out same-same motorcycles. Triumph have scored big bringing in a fresh outlook to their design process and Franscoli has been ancestral part of that effort.

The Trident's past has also been done away with. This is no modern-retro, this is a new take on an old name with some distinctly modern styling to suit and we like what we see. We're waiting to know when this bike will into production and if it will keep the same styling but from we see so far Triumph have ripped up their ageing design brief in favour of a mix of British style and Italian flair.

Yes it does look a little odd in all white but it is a prototype and trust Triumph and their designers to come up with a concept that has made a slash in motorcycling circles. Frankly if they had painted the Trident in more traditional colours out probably wouldn’t be getting the same level of coverage it has in the past days since the reveal.

So, for now the Trident is a clinical white but expect the team that has come up with this new concept to bring some stunning paintwork to the project when the time comes.

The Trident, like the so many of Triumph’s bikes will run a triple cylinder engine. Will it use the awesome street level 765cc engine from the racing spec Moto2? We hope so! That engine has all the torque and responsiveness you’ll ever need, plus a very cool racing heritage to boot!

Now the wait begins. No doubt we’ll get a few teasers along the way and Triumph prepare the market for the Trident so expect a few more marketing videos and the odd ‘leak’ every now and again just to whet your appetite.