Triumph Bonneville T40 May Well Be The Prettiest Beginner Bike

When Triumph brought out the Speed 400 and Scrambler 400 X back in 2023, they were breaths of fresh air to a beginner-bike market that needed more modern-retro options. When the company unveiled the Tracker 400 and Thruxton 400 last year, it was neat to see Triumph branch out into more traditionally-styled small-displacement motorcycles. Now the company is bringing out a bike it probably should've had from the start: A single-cylinder Bonneville called the T40.

The T40, as the name implies, carries the single-cylinder 400 mill used in the company's other bikes. It slots in below the larger T100 and T120 models, though it shares the Black variant of its biggest brother. The rest of the bike, though, has little in common with either its Bonneville brethren or its fellow 400s, putting it in a spec that ought to make it stand out in a crowded field. It looks great, to boot.

The new baby Bonnie looks like its bigger brothers at first, but the kickstand side gives away the game — there's only one pea-shooter exhaust, meaning only one cylinder beneath that classically-shaped tank. The proportions, too, feel a bit more squat and compact than the larger bikes. Overall, this ought to make the little standard appealing for all those beginners who want the classic style without the added weight of a second cylinder. Triumph claims a beginner-friendly wet weight of 421 pounds, well below any other Bonneville variant. 

To differentiate from the other 400s, Triumph paid special attention to the Bonneville. The bike gets a unique frame for its twin-rear-shock setup, as well as a unique engine tune and cam profile that Triumph says makes the Bonnie a more torque-heavy, easygoing bike. That means a peak power number of just 30 horses, and peak torque of 27 pound-feet. The Bonneville also gets its own gauge cluster, a single four-inch circular TFT screen with phone connectivity, and new ride modes through which to manage the lean-sensitive ABS and traction control. I'm not sure you really need five ride modes to manage a whole 30 horsepower, but Triumph seems to think otherwise.

The Bonneville truly seems to be the apex of Triumph's 400 series, at least so far — the unique frame, engine tune, tank, electronics, and styling all point towards this being a nicer piece of kit than the already-pretty-nice Tracker, Thruxton, Speed, or Scrambler. Of course, we won't know what all those pieces mean for the bike's cost until Triumph releases MSRP numbers early next year, but expect this bike to come in above its same-displacement siblings.