It’s understandable if you aren’t familiar with Brixton Motorcycles. An Austrian-owned brand with a British-sounding name and similarly British-looking bikes manufactured in China, Brixton is best known for its 125cc and 250cc bikes currently marketed in Europe and Asia, but as yet, does not much of a presence in North America.
Back in 2019, Brixton presented its initial forays into larger displacements with a pair of 500cc models and a 1200cc concept that looks to be a direct rival to the Triumph Bonneville. At the time, Brixton’s parent company, the KSR Group, said it intended to put the concept into production, but provided no timeline, saying it wants to “take its time in creating a technically mature vehicle that exceeds the high quality standards in these displacement classes.”
Fast forward to 2021, and Brixton is eyeing expansion into the U.S., with the 1200cc Parallel-Twin roadster leading the way. While we haven’t heard anything official directly from Brixton, KSR recently filed a design with the European Union Intellectual Property Office what appears to be the production model.
The design filing looks fairly similar to the concept, but with some noticeable changes that hint at its production readiness. The license plate holder is the obvious clue, with the designs showing the rear turn signals now integrated into the fender. The seat now looks like what you would find on a production model than the more custom saddle on the concept. The twin peashooter exhausts are longer on the design drawings, extending well past the rear axle, likely to make room for Euro 5-friendly emissions equipment that wouldn’t have been required on the 2019 concept.
Other changes include a center stand, a new headlight mount, Nissin brake calipers and a different rotor design, and beefier-looking passenger peg mounts now bolted instead of welded. to theframe instead of welded.
Fine details like the lettering around the ignition lock (including an actual key!) plus the handlebar position markings not only suggest the bike is production ready, they also indicate these line illustrations were extracted from scans of an actual physical motorcycle rather than simply drawn by computer.
Despite the level of detail on the drawings, we are no closer to knowing what the production model will be called. Brixton didn’t even give the concept a name, and the illustrations don’t provide any clues. Most of Brixton’s existing models are named after streets in the London neighborhood that lends the brand its name. KSR did file a trademark for Lexington which may be a potential moniker. Lexington St. is in Soho, a completely different part of London, but at this point, it’s the only potential name that has been linked to the company.
The engine takes a page from Triumph’s playbook, with two upright cylinders displacing around 1200cc. Like the Bonneville’s engine, the Brixton Twin is styled to look like it’s air-cooled even though the radiator proves otherwise.
From a styling standpoint, the Brixton certainly looks the part of a Triumph Bonneville T120 competitor. Whether it can hold its own against the Bonneville remains to be seen. Adding a 1200cc model to a lineup of 125, 250 and 500-class bikes is an ambitious move for a company like Brixton, but it may be necessary if it has designs on the U.S. market (and to that end, Brixton’s official website says it is “coming soon” to North America).
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