Triumph 1200 Thruxton RS édition DGR 2021 — Specifications

There is something strange and beautiful about the idea of putting on a three-piece suit to go for a motorcycle ride. Not as provocation, not as irony, but out of conviction. That is the wager of the Distinguished Gentleman's Ride, a parade born in Australia that mobilises thousands of riders around the world each year in support of a serious cause: prostate cancer research. Triumph does not simply write a cheque and stick a sticker on the press release. For the event's tenth anniversary in 2021, the British manufacturer brought out of its Hinckley workshops a one-of-a-kind machine, built from its sharpest platform: the Thruxton RS 1200.

Choosing the RS over a more restrained model sends a clear signal. This café racer produces 105 horsepower at 7,500 rpm from its 1,200 cc parallel twin, and crucially, 111.8 Nm of torque available from as low as 4,250 rpm. It is this generous low-end delivery that gives the Triumph twin its character — that feeling of honest, predictable thrust that enthusiasts of the genre appreciate as much as outright power figures. The bike tips the scales at 197 kg dry with a 810 mm seat height, positioning it more as a proposition for an experienced rider than a beginner. Measured against a Ducati Sport Classic or a BMW R nineT Racer, the Thruxton RS competes in the same league, with a finish and specification that have nothing to envy its rivals.

The DGR edition stands out with a particularly well-executed two-tone livery. The deep black of the tank cut through by a wide cream stripe evokes the aesthetic of British competition machines from the 1960s, without falling into cheap retro pastiche. On that tank sits the DGR emblem — a cross formed from a spanner and an umbrella — which sums up the spirit of the thing rather well: mechanics and dandyism, oil and tweed. A discreet sticker bearing the number 10 is placed beneath the seat, in memory of the decade gone by. Nothing ostentatious, just a detail for those who truly look.

On the equipment front, Triumph held nothing back. The 43 mm inverted fork works in tandem with two adjustable Öhlins rear shock absorbers, with 120 mm of travel on both ends. Radially mounted Brembo calipers bite on two 310 mm front discs, backed by a rear master cylinder on 255 mm. Three riding modes, traction control, ABS, and sport tyres round out the list. This unique machine is better equipped than many production motorcycles sold in the thousands. Triumph could have put it in a display case or aimed it at collectors.

That would be to misunderstand the philosophy of the operation. The Thruxton RS DGR edition was made available through the Gentlefolk competition, open to anyone who signed up as a fundraiser and raised a minimum of 250 dollars. A draw then selected the winner from among those participants. An elegant way of anchoring the generous gesture in generosity itself rather than in purchasing power. The 2021 edition of the DGR raised several million euros in total. Somewhere, perhaps in a tidy garage or on a winding road on a Sunday morning, a Thruxton RS is running, carrying those values on its two-tone tank.