The 2021 Triumph Scrambler 1200 XE is no wallflower. With top-notch equipment, it?s ready for any terrain you can throw at it. Photos by Kevin Wing.

Time travel is one of those concepts that holds universal appeal. Who wouldn?t want to rewind the clock to alter history for the greater good, avoid making big mistakes or just order cheese enchiladas instead of the taco salad ? oh, the places a mind will wander! Science fiction usually depicts time travel with awe-inspiring vehicles navigating the temporal plane. True time travel may be pure fantasy, but a motorcycle like the Triumph Scrambler 1200 XE comes pretty close.

Few manufacturers were immune to the scrambler craze that hit a fever pitch over the past few years. Offerings have spanned the spectrum from warmed-over retro rehashes to hotted-up beasts ready for action. What many missed is an authentic and tangible connection to the past, which the XE has in spades.
Triumph considers itself to a humble steward of the scrambler genre, which is fitting since the brand is intimately tied to its origins. Many of the scramblers prowling American deserts or trails in the late 1960s were modified Triumph Bonnevilles, bestowed with high pipes, knobby tires and heavy-duty suspension. Those homebrewed steeds were the forefathers of today?s dual-sport and adventure motorcycles, and they weren?t for the fainthearted.

The modern Bonneville T120 has become Triumph?s two-wheeled version of the ever-versatile Mr. Potato H...