A rather interesting rendering has appeared on social media showing what looks like a more capable and off-road-focused version of the Triumph Scrambler 400 X.
There’s not much to glean from the image, although it is clear that the bike is making use of Triumph’s 389cc, 49bhp ‘TR’ series engine. Around that engine sits a familiar fuel tank, headlight and handlebar set-up. Likewise, the frame seems, from what we can see, to be the same as the currently available Scrambler 400 X.
Now, it would be easy to simply see this as the work of some over-enthusiastic graphic designer who is looking for a bit of attention on social media. Although the person who has shared this post is a bloke called Felipe Lopez, and he’s the former lead chassis development engineer at Triumph. In a nutshell, if it left the Triumph factory in the last ten or so years, he’s the guy who made it handle the way it does. Felipe now has Tramontana Motorcycles noted on his LinkedIn profile, so it's not totally clear if this is actually an official Triumph effort or something he's doing with his new company.
Felipe’s post is fairly ambiguous and simply claims that a new ‘Tramontana’ is coming soon. The Tramontana name, which is a cold wind that blows in the western Mediterranean, is closely linked to Felipe, and you may remember that Triumph previously showed a Tiger 800 Tamontana model in 2017. That bike took part in the Panafrica Rally, bagging a credible second place in the Maxitrail category with Felipe at the controls. That bike became the 2018 Tiger 800 XCX and helped to lay the foundations for the current generation Tiger 900 Rally Pro.
While there isn’t much more to say about the bike, it is safe to say that Felipe wouldn't be linking a bike to the Tramontana name without gifting it with some serious off-road ability.
