Sampling Triumph’s Scrambler 1200

There’s no doubt that the adventure-touring segment is red hot these days. And while this class of motorcycle offers plenty of performance and utility, they can be a handful in a new riders hands. Plus they look funky and take up too much real estate in the garage. Does Triumph have the answer with its new Scrambler 1200 XC and XE duo? Curious to know more, the guys head to Portugal to be among the first to ride it during the official press introduction.

We outline that experience during the 2019 Triumph Scrambler 1200 XC And XE First Ride Review. While we were impressed with the performance and versatility of the new Scrambler 1200 duo, we headed home wanting to know more. Specifically, how will these bikes fair in the real rough stuff? So we headed to the off-road desert riding mecca of Baja California to find out with Triumph's up-spec and long-travel-suspension-equipped Scrambler 1200 XE.

Baja and competition go hand in hand, so we did our own version of the Baja 500. The mission: Ride 500 miles with $500. Easy, right? Well, it’s a bit tougher with two bikes, and a nearly unlimited supply of savory taco stands.

We traced some of the Baja 500 racecourse which took us to the El Diablo dry lake bed. After testing the Scrambler’s ability to wheelie and power-slide over fluffy dirt, we sought out go-go juice (you can’t Google maps a gas station in Mexico as you can in the States). After spending the night in the hills at Mike’s Sky Ranch we pointed the compass west toward the Pacific to see if the Scrambler 1200 can play in deep wet sand.