Triumph Originals 2026
A big-bore supermoto, a retro rally machine and a Scrambler made to look as though it has already travelled around the world. Triumph Originals has returned with seven very different answers to the same custom-building brief.
This year’s theme is Time Capsule, with teams from Canada, China, France, Italy, Spain, the UK and US drawing on different chapters of Scrambler history. Their starting points span the Scrambler 400 XC, Scrambler 900, Scrambler 1200 X and Scrambler 1200 XE.
Public voting is now open and closes at 10 pm AEST on Tuesday, September 22, 2026. Those votes will be combined with the decisions of an international judging panel to determine the winner.
The competition follows Brazil’s victory in the 2025 Triumph Originals contest, when Shibuya Garage’s Gaijin, a Speed Twin 1200-based café racer, took the honours. This year’s focus shifts to the Scrambler family, although that has hardly narrowed the builders’ imaginations.
Canada – A 1200 XE with supermoto attitude
Canada’s Motos Illimitées has taken one of the biggest departures from the familiar Scrambler formula, turning the 1200 XE into a muscular supermoto.
Led by Pascal Lauzon, the team drew styling inspiration from Triumph’s TF 250-E enduro machine, then fitted 17-inch Thruxton RS wheels, Moto-Master wave discs and a custom Zard exhaust with twin silencers.
The detail work goes beyond the obvious wheel change. Front indicators are incorporated into the radiator shrouds, the instruments and ignition have been relocated, and the rear lighting is tucked beneath the rear guard. Motocross-style footpegs and lace-inspired graphics complete a build that looks ready to make a nuisance of itself on a tight mountain road.
China – Tiger Trail inspiration
BVL Garage has looked back to the 1981 TR7T Tiger Trail for its BVL-VMX-900, using the new Scrambler 900 as the foundation for an Eighties-inspired trail bike.
Under team leader JOMO, the build combines a yellow tank with silver-leaf detailing, an oversized front guard, a handmade rear guard and a white frame. Changes to the suspension and wheels give it a taller stance, while metal 3D printing brings a modern manufacturing technique to the vintage motocross theme.
The yellow-and-white finish, high guards and stripped-back bodywork make the period reference immediately clear, even with a modern liquid-cooled twin underneath.
France – Red Dust
FCR Original and Triumph France have stayed closer to the traditional desert-sled idea with Red Dust, a heavily modified Scrambler 1200 XE.
Sebastien Guillemot’s team drew on the style of the Sixties, with the finished bike combining a vivid red tank, pared-back bodywork, high-level twin pipes, and chunky dirt tyres.
FCR’s stated aim was to keep the bike usable off-road. The emphasis is on a robust, rideable machine.
Italy – Dune 400
South Garage Motor Co has taken the Scrambler 400 XC towards the desert-rally machines of the Eighties and Nineties with its Dune 400.
Giuseppe Carucci’s Milan workshop has added protective side fairings, a larger screen, tubular crash protection, an upswept exhaust and knobby tyres. Sand-coloured paint ties the package together, with the broader bodywork giving the little single a substantially different silhouette.
South Garage describes the project as practical, ride-ready, and replicable, giving the Dune an appeal beyond the usual one-off show circuit.
The donor bike is a sensible fit for that approach. Our recent Scrambler 400 XC review found an approachable, well-finished machine best suited to road, gravel, and light trail use, with its 150 mm of suspension travel limiting rougher terrain. South Garage’s bodywork and protection take the adventure theme further.
Spain – Tamarit’s retro racer
Spain’s Tamarit Motorcycles has used the same Scrambler 400 XC starting point for a much leaner-looking interpretation.
The Alicante workshop’s entry wears cream bodywork, a red seat and number 41 side panels, with high guards and knobby tyres that give it the look of a classic off-road competition bike. It contrasts with Italy’s more enclosed rally treatment of the same platform.
Team leader Quique Berna was a judge in last year’s competition. This time, he and fellow Tamarit co-founder Matías Canales are on the other side of the process, with a build intended to bring past and present together in one machine.
UK – A lifetime of adventures
Charlie Stockwell has approached the Time Capsule theme through the motorcycle’s imagined history.
Built by Stockwell Design with the LIND Group and Triumph London, the UK Scrambler 900 draws on the raw, functional machines of the Sixties and Seventies. Its weathered finish and brown seat suggest decades of use, as if it has travelled the world before returning to muddy English lanes.
Stockwell’s team earned a British Originality award in the 2025 competition with its Bonneville T100-based Sunraiser. This year’s entry exchanges that machine’s polished finish for carefully created patina.
US – A tribute to Pacific Northwest adventure
Liz Rubin and Triumph Columbia River have drawn directly from their surroundings in Portland, Oregon, for the US entry.
Based on the Scrambler 1200 X, A Tribute to PNW Adventure draws inspiration from US Forest Service vehicles, Pacific Northwest landscapes, and childhood memories of Smokey Bear in the Rocky Mountains.
The green paint, small front screen and rear rack give it a practical outdoors character. Custom details and CROOKED brand additions are part of a build conceived as something to ride and enjoy every day, with contributions from Portland’s motorcycle community.
The judges and the public vote
Triumph Chief Product Officer Steve Sargent heads the judging panel, with a particular focus on originality, technical creativity and the methods used to execute each build.
Steve Sargent – Triumph Chief Product Officer
“Triumph Scramblers are recognised globally as the perfect starting point to create a custom build that reflects the personality and creativity of the owner. This model has inspired generations of motorcyclists to build their perfect bike and now with our current range of 400cc to 1200cc Scramblers, custom builders have more choice than ever to fire their imagination.”
Chase McQueen, grandson of Steve McQueen and son of Chad McQueen, brings a family connection to one of the most recognisable names in Triumph’s off-road history. He works with his sister Madison on projects and events preserving their grandfather’s legacy.
Author and journalist Eric Hendrikx also joins the panel. His book Motorcycle Life: Stories, Wisdom, and Obsession brings together the experiences of more than 100 riders.
Custom-building expertise comes from Satoshi, co-founder and lead mechanic of Fonk Motorcycles in Kobe, Japan, whose work centres on vintage Triumphs. German motorcycle journalist and FUEL magazine founder Rolf Henniges completes the five-person panel.
Readers can see more of each build and cast their vote on the Triumph Originals website. Voting closes at 10 pm AEST on Tuesday, September 22, 2026.
