More tantalising facts are beginning to leak out about Triumph’s eagerly awaited Scrambler 1200, which is expected to hit the market in 2019.

This is an important model for the British company, as it will go head-to-head with Ducati’s 1100cc Scrambler, which is being heavily promoted around the world.

We first saw this machine being tested in April, but the latest test bikes are getting ever closer to production specification, judging by this prototype that we again spotted at the firm’s secret testing site in Spain.

The new pictures also give our first view of the bike’s right-hand side, complete with trademark Scrambler twin stacked exhaust pipes.

The pipes show how close the machine is to completion, as they sport a very neatly finished, production-spec heatshield arrangement.

As on the smaller 900cc Street Scrambler, that cowling is a clever way to disguise the collector box and catalytic converter, although its design is subtly different to the exhaust on the smaller-capacity model.

The mechanicals seem unchanged from the earlier version, but the styling has been altered.

Firstly, there’s a low-mounted fender hugging the road-oriented front tyre.

Many other details remain as before. They include the beefy aluminium swingarm – a hint at the Scrambler 1200’s performance and off-road potential – and the relatively smaller LED headlight.

Although this model looks close to being finished, we’re not expecting Triumph to release the Scrambler 1200 until the traditional show times towards the end of this year.

The Details

Flat seat helps keep height low but it will be interesting to see if this is revised before final production. Sturdy alloy grabrail appears to have pannier or luggage carrier mounts.

Where are the handguards? The earlier prototypes featured exotic-looking aluminium handguards but the latest ones go without that detail. We think they’ll be an option rather than standard equipment.

Road-style front mudguard is a surprise. We’d expected a more motocross-style, high-mounted effort. The earlier prototype had no front fender at all. We’re still confident a high version will be offered, probably combined with more knobbly, off-road-style rubber.

Flat-track-style guards protect the lower fork legs from dirt. However, the latest prototype’s forks still carry Brembo calipers on the same radial mounting brackets as the machine we saw in April, suggesting a decent-spec Öhlins fork.

Shock of the new

Where the earlier prototype we busted sported gold-coloured Öhlins forks to match the twin rear shocks from the same supplier, the latest version features more subtle black front suspension. One potential explanation is that this is the expected lower-spec version of the Scrambler. Just as Triumph makes two derivatives of the Thruxton – the base model and the Ohlins-suspended ‘R’– it’s expected to offer two levels for the new Scrambler 1200.

At the back it’s still very clear that the prototype is fitted with a pair of remote reservoir Ohlins shocks, with the same dual spring arrangement seen in April. We’d expect the lower-spec Scrambler to use a cheaper version.

by Ben Purvis