By Ben Purvis
Back in 2019 , Brixton fired a warning shot at Triumph ' s Bonneville by showing a large-capacity parallel twin concept bike with 1960s-inspired styling . Patents have now emerged that show the finished version of the design . The indications are that Brixton , which is part of the Austrian KSR Group , with bikes built in China by Gaokin , will be ready to reveal the showroom version of the bike later this year . Although the company was light on technical details when the concept version appeared in 2019 , it ' s understood to use a 1200 cc parallel twin , with water-cooling but fins on the cylinders and head to give the look of a traditional air-cooled motor . The engine appears to use a similar layout to the Bonneville , with an outline that suggests a single overhead camshaft design with rocker-operated valves - although we ' ve yet to see inside it to confirm that . The new patent images confirm that the production bike ' s styling will closely follow the original concept version , ticking all the classic ' Britbike ' boxes with a cradle frame , gaiter-clad forks and twin-shock suspension . The parallel twin engine forms a major part of the bike ' s appearance , with finned rings clamping the exhausts to the cylinder head and pipes that splay either side of the frame ' s downtubes and run into a separate , low-slung silencer on each side . Where the concept had short , stubby pipes , the production version has to meet emissions and noise limits , and Brixton ' s solution is the same as Triumph ' s , with a cleverly hidden exhaust collector box under the engine . So , while the pipes are designed to look like they sweep straight from the cylinder head to the silencers , in fact the gasses are diverted into the collector box , containing all the required catalysts and emissions control kit to bring it under the Euro 5 limits . The production bike also gets a revised frame design , with bolt-on pillion pegs rather than the welded-on design of the concept . That ' s a move that means it will be easy for Brixton to make more variations on the theme , for instance a single-seat café racer or a high-piped scrambler , without having to change
THE BRADLEY REPORT
the chassis . The patents also show a level of attention to detail that ' s likely to please customers . The Brixton branding is moulded into the bar grips and etched into the radiator ' s grill , and also appears on the bar clamps and the ignition lock . The company ' s X- shaped logo is also seen on the filler cap and even the footpeg rubbers . It ' s detail stuff , but the sort of thing that separates generic rebranded Chinese bikes from purpose-designed and manufactured machines . We can also see that the brakes are from Nissin , replacing the Bremboowned J . Juan calipers of the concept , while details like the seat , licence plate bracket , headlight and instrument mounts are also refined for a more production-ready appearance . www . idnmag . com INTERNATIONAL DEALER NEWS - AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2021 35