Scrambler 1200 at the Rally

[trophied]

Per Webbike World, Ernie Vigil finished 5th in a field of 13 at the Mexican 1000 Rally on an unmodified Triumph Scrambler 1200 against mostly dirt bikes.  He completed the 5 day 1347 mile rally in 25 hours 37 minutes.  It had custom paint and was numbered 278 in honor of Steve McQueen's ISDT number.  The only failure was a front tire!  Pretty good for an unmodified machine. 

[Saddle Tramp]

I have been reading good reports about that bike.
Too bad it’s chain drive! I am such a shaft drive snob. 

[trophied]

Yeah, shaft on that type of bike doesn't make sense though due to the extra weight.  I'm no longer into chain drive myself.

[Saddle Tramp]

I don’t know.
It works fine on my R1200GS, although it is probably lighter than the scrambler.
I think it’s more an issue of cost savings... 

[trophied]

The XC and the XE version both only weigh 452 lbs dry, so it seems to me it would be slightly easier to handle, and at less that 15K kind of inexpensive (a relative thing).  I'm not an expert by any means, because I've never been on any of the adventure bikes, just the 800 scrambler a couple of years ago.  No creature comforts, YUK!  Yeah, I'm addicted.  A good friend just emailed me and said he sold his K1600 and went to Russelville Arkansas last week and picked up a new 2018 Gold Wing DCT and drove it home.  He also owns an R1200RT.  Guess he was up there about the same time we were since he said he dodged rain all the way home.  Can't wait to see it.

[dietDrThunder]

Originally Posted by Saddle Tramp

I don’t know.
It works fine on my R1200GS, although it is probably lighter than the scrambler.
I think it’s more an issue of cost savings... 

It's an issue of serving the market. I love shaft drive on a touring bike, but if I were buying a Scrambler 1200 and I was given the option for the same cost I'd choose the chain. Not everybody wants a shaft on every bike.

Not to mention, if the Scrambler had the same record of reliability in the area of FD as BMW I'd pay extra to not have a shaft.

[Saddle Tramp]

 

In reality, FD failures occur on 2% of units sold.

[tdragger]

BMW FD failures.  That's the #1 fear of any Iron Butt Rally rider.  BMW is having their annual lovefest nearby in a couple of weeks.  I thought about setting up a vendor booth to sell replacement FD units.  Probably not a good idea...

One of my friends had a FD failure 2 months prior to the IBR on his K16GT.  He bought a used GSA for the rally but it failed also on the first leg.