Just days ago, Triumph announced the end of the Thruxton. While I’m sure it’s not the end of modern cafe racers, it signals that consumer interest is waning. The modern Thruxton dates back to 2004, and similar to the Bonneville it was derived from, is another example of manufacturers attempting to capitalize on consumer fads by offering “factory customs”. Following on that trend, in 2006 Triumph released the “Scrambler 900” built on the same chassis. After 20 years of factory cafe racers, the sun is setting on the Thruxton, and yet Triumph has just released a new Scrambler 400 X; now offering “high-pipe” nostalgia bikes in three different displacements and multiple trim levels and price points. On the heels of the Thruxton’s retirement announcement, I’m reminded of a discussion with Chris Cope years ago, and can’t help thinking, “How are scramblers still a thing?”

Functional aesthetics

Choppers and race replicas have long fallen out of favor in modern moto culture. Certainly there are a myriad of reasons, but among them are the extremes of performance and aesthetics; both being less functional for us street riding mortals. Performance “nakeds” and “modern classics” have surged in popularity, however in both classes, muffler positioning often to limits access to the chain, street faring suspension prefers manicured asphalt, and the sparkly bits tend solicit more attention. Scramblers however, tend to get a subtle boost in the suspension department (much appreciated in our urban midwestern moonscape), are often adorned with elevated exhaust silencers, and are almost unanimously more charming with a subtle layer of dirt and road grime. Scramblers, while welcome garage queens, gain significant street cred when they arrive “lived in”.

Simplified maintenance

As previously mentioned, owning a Bonneville meant removing a muffler to clean a chain. To this day, changing an air filter on many modern ADV machines means removing a gas tank, let alone the ordeal that is checking the valve clearances. Modern Scramblers, with their throwback looks and “antiquated” architecture means that upgrading shocks is a half-hour job, if engines are liquid cooled, the radiator is hidden in the frame which makes it easier to access the tank, no fairing plastics are involved, and the popularity of the 19-17-inch tire combo simplifies finding and swapping tires. While the iconic look of the scrambler is what most of us notice first, function is predominantly what we see, despite the nostalgia driven sparkly bits.

Affordable adventure prowess

Guys like Pol Tarress and Toni Bou are pushing the limits of what’s possible with modern adventure motorcycles. Despite Pol racing hard enduro on a 700cc twin, the rest of us in the Starbucks brigade might ride the occasional forest service road. I wish it weren’t true, the reality is that wrestling a 500-pound pig in the slop is well outside the fun-zone for the average motorcycle consumer. That fun-zone shrinks dramatically when the retail price of said machine climbs north of twenty-grand. When the average annual mileage of the American motorcycle owner is in the neighborhood of 2,000 miles, how much of that could be off-road? Considering much of that range is covered in the pursuit of caffeine or fish-and-chips, modern Scramblers have sufficient off-road chops to explore gravel and neglected country roads at a significant discount compared to their wind-screen adorned ADV brethren.

It’s the American way

The Ford F-150 has been the number one selling “car” in America for as long as I can remember. Meanwhile, Jeep Wrangler prices have appreciated 168% in the past five years. Bed covers are often the first thing owners add to a new truck, and like Jeeps, giant rims, low profile tires, and sparkly perfect paint are all the rage right now. It’s not about what the vehicle is for, it’s about how it looks. We may not take said vehicle off-road… “but we could if we wanted to.”

Function aside, Scramblers are still sold on sex appeal, and for the time being, it’s working. Considering Triumph’s modern Scrambler is just two years the Thruxton’s junior and Honda just launched its new SCL500, this era may or may not be coming to an end. Like the Ducati, that new Scrammy Four-Hundo is distinctly missing the mandatory high-pipe, so perhaps this fix is already in.

What do you think?