It’s a curious thing, growing older. You don’t have the vitality you had in your youth, but instead, you have hopefully learned from your mistakes and grown wiser instead—and hopefully, you’ve got a bit more money in your pocket. That means by the time you approach middle age, the bikes you longed for in your 20s are looking downright affordable. For me, the prime example of this is the first-generation Triumph Scrambler, launched back in 2006.

A bold move

Remember the early 2000s, before the ’08 recession ruined everything? With the exception of the War on Terror, life was mostly pretty good after the Dot Com Bubble burst…主要是很好。世界充满了有趣的bikes, but for some unfortunate reason, the movers and shakers were only really interested in selling cruisers to aging boomers and pushing crotch rockets to any kid with a credit rating and a heartbeat. Charley and Ewan’s adventures, and before them the Mondo Enduro/Terra Circa films, had popularized overland riding like never before, but the whole adventure bike/dual sport scene was still growing. The idea of an offroad-friendly retro would have been seen as crazy.

Then Triumph came along, and brought out the Scrambler. Triumph had already been painting outside the lines for years, selling sportbikes and naked bikes that kinda-sorta competed with the Japanese, but with enough differences that customers judged them on their merits alone, instead of comparing them to the superior (at least on paper) products from Japan. Triumph couldn’t compete with Japanese four-cyl 600s and 1000s, so it built three-cyl 675s and 955s instead, and also cranked out retros that were nice enough, but ultimately, forgettable.

Forgettable, until the Scrambler came along. In 2006, there was nothing like it. A retro bike that appeared to be usable, maybe even enjoyable, on unpaved roads? Those high, gleaming chromed exhaust pipes, wrapped around the right-hand side of the bike, shining for all to see? Shiny, spoked 19-17 wheels? An emphasis on uncomplicated design, even as the moto-world chased madly after ghastly visual clutter? A marketing campaign that showed what appeared to be normalish young people out enjoying life on two wheels, instead of wannabe one-percenters or urban sportbike thugs—or worst of all, lame commuters?

I was in love. And so were a lot of other motorcyclists. I really don’t know how Triumph’s sales went for these bikes in the first few years, but soon after the ’06 models released, the magazines started running all sorts of stories about the scrambler scene, which hadn’t existed for about 35 years at that point. Alas, that has resulted in many regrettable hacked-up customs over the past 15 years, and many blah factory bikes simply released to cash in on a trend. But it has also resulted in some fantastic motorcycles, such as Ducati’s mega-popular Scrambler series, and the whole thing is really thanks to Triumph and designer John Mockett, who turned the Bonneville into this visual masterpiece. It’s a machine that would always have sold well based on looks alone, and for every university kid like myself, who couldn’t afford one, there was a well-heeled boomer who was willing to buy one. You can read about some of their adventures here, inthis busy thread from the Beasts sub-forum, which has been running since the bike was released in 2006.

Bonneville roots

These days, Triumph’s 1200 Scramblers have capabilities approaching full-on adventure bikes, but the ’06 model was not particularly remarkable in the horsepower or suspension department. Triumph used the same 865 cc parallel twin as the Bonneville, but put a 270-degree crank in, as previously used in the Speedmaster and America cruiser models—this was supposed to offer improved rideability in the dirt, thanks to a meatier torque profile. The first-year model’s carburetors were also re-tuned for low-end grunt; the end result was a claimed 54 horsepower at 7,000 rpm, and max torque was a claimed 51 lb-ft at 5,000 rpm. Claimed dry weight was 454 pounds.

Some contemporary tests complained about the engine; the bike was not tuned like the original Triumph hot-rod 650s, and some riders were unhappy; others were perfectly happy with the power but wanted a more muscular exhaust note. But the real issue they all griped about was the chassis. The non-adjustable dual rear shocks and front fork just didn’t have enough travel to keep riders happy (less than 5 inches front and rear), and they reckoned the brakes could have been better.

But looking in the rear-view mirror, many of those complaints seem a bit misguided. This bike was really just a re-worked Bonneville, and expecting Triumph to make something that ran like the desert sleds of the 1960s seems silly. And despite the nitpicking of early reviews, the series has been one of Triumph’s strongest sellers ever since, so obviously they had found a concept that buyers/riders wanted, even if journos found things to complain about.

Of course, it’s helped that the series has been continuously upgraded ever since, starting with 2008 bikes getting EFI in the UK market. Now, the Scramblers are still related to the Bonnevilles, but they’ve been adapted to be much better dirt bikes than the original ’06 model.

This bike here?

The machine here is an ’06 with super-low mileage on the clocks—the odometer reads only 1,400 miles. It’s for sale in the Flea Market sub-forum, with a price tag of $6,000 for inmates:

2006 Triumph Scrambler, red and white, only 1400 miles, 1st year for modern classics, Like new, never down or in an accident. Adult owned with windscreen, headlight grill, bash plate and Triumph city bag magnetized on heat shields or tank bag.

Some readers might point out that you can get an ’06 Scrambler for less money, and searching around online, that’s true—but you can also pay more. And, with the low mileage on this bike, no doubt there will be interest from someone looking for a bike that hasn’t been hacked apart by a self-professed “builder,” or thrashed around on fire roads, etc.

This bike is located in Rhode Island—more details in the adhere.