next bike musings

[mr72]

well they sold that Newchurch while I was on an airplane between NYC and Austin.

Back to surfing craigslist.

[Watcher]

well they sold that Newchurch while I was on an airplane between NYC and Austin.

Back to surfing craigslist.

Story of my life.

[mr72]

The good news is that I was able to define pretty close to what I want, so I know what I'm looking for now, and truly that Newchurch was not precisely it. That bike was very good in many ways but it did have $400 worth of Triumph saddle bags that I didn't really want to pay for and I wasn't the world's biggest fan of the Newchurch blacked-out color scheme.

I have basically settled on finding a 2012-2015 Bonneville standard (not a T100) that is not black with around 3K miles or less and no mods. I will consider a Thruxton if all of the planets are in alignment on it but I think I prefer the Bonnie's 17" cast alloy wheels and 4" forward pegs. Plus most Thruxtons I see have had further "look at me" cafe racer mods done like removing the rear fender and adding a fly screen or front fairing, and the seller thinks that makes them worth $1K more for stuff I'd have to spend money to reverse.

I am traveling again next week and can't shop then, then the week after I have a mid-week trip I have to take (seems October is the season for business trips for me), but when I get back for the weekend of the 20th there is a "vintage and European" motorcycle rally and show that my dad and I are going to for three days nearby and there will probably be dozens of bikes just like I want for sale at the event. There's a reasonably good chance I can find just the right one there.

[mr72]

I rode a couple of Triumphs yesterday, a 2014 Thruxton and a 2011 Bonneville SE, both with some PO mods, both at the same dealer in College Station.

First of all let me say this about the dealer. The bike I was going to see was the 2014 Thruxton, which I could have spent maybe $500 below their asking price on it had I been so inclined. I called them and talked before making the 2 hr drive. When I got there, immediately I discovered that there was a big dent in the top of the tank with a small but deep dent from a harsh impact right next to it. This damage had been deliberately omitted from the pictures of the bike online. Not only that, there was damage to the right side pipe and engine cover consistent with being laid down, also not in the pictures. Once I called and told them I was driving from Austin to see it, they should have told me, "oh by the way, it may not be easy to see in the pictures, but there is some damage on the tank and also it looks like it's been laid down, the right side pipe is dented and scratched and there's a gouge in the right side engine cover". But no. So I was pretty livid when I got there. Closer inspection revealed that they (or the PO) must have been storing this bike outside, since many of the fasteners including the clutch adjuster were rusted. But to top it off, the bike wouldn't start. The battery was dead. Essentially at that moment I decided there was almost nothing the dealer would be able to do to convince me to buy anything at all from them.

Anyway. On to the rides.

Since the Thrux wouldn't start, I decided on a lark to test ride the Bonneville SE. I wasn't really that interested in this bike because #1 it was not really the color I wanted but mostly because it was just too old. I really want a 2014+ bike, and I'm willing to pay for it, this one though is a 2011 with only 1400 miles on it and the low miles put it in the must-try category. Other than surface finish, especially the mags in need of polish, it was basically mint condition. However, I would have expected a dealer inventory bike to have been detailed and look fantastic, and this one could have looked brand new with just a couple hours effort in prep. Freakin college town.

Oh hey, side note, speaking of pictures, for that 2011 bike, the pictures the dealer put on the web site were Triumph's pictures from the original web site for the 2011 Bonnie SE! Not the bike I was looking at, not at all! They were press pics. So word to the wise: stay away from Action Powersports in College Station.

Anyway, what was I saying? Oh yeah, the ride.

The Bonnie SE fired up instantly, and this bike had a pair of leather saddle bags and a big wind screen added on by the PO. First thing I noticed was that the clutch didn't engage until the lever was nearly all the way out, almost out of my hand's reach, and this was something I didn't get used to at all during then 10-minute test ride. The bike was surprisingly nimble at low speeds and very easy to maneuver, and I didn't feel the extra weight over my GS really much at all. The seating position was too upright for me, which I think would be remedied by a lower handlebar with less pullback. The bike felt very torquey and responsive at low revs and was very user friendly to ride. Acceleration was about like my GS, only more of it happened lower in revs, it peters out much over 7K and I even hit the rev limiter at 8K. The big windscreen was noisy with sort of a howl to it, and I'd have removed it immediately, probably even if I had seriously considered buying it, I would have talked the dealer into removing it as well as the bags and knocking a couple hundred bucks off as compensation. This bike with stock exhaust was so quiet I could barely tell it was running and once going fast enough for wind and tire noise to show up, you couldn't hear the engine at all. And the forks were leaking, more on one side than the other, but fresh oil wound up on the tubes on both each time you braked or went over a bump. But in the end I could imagine a handful of easy mods (handlebars, brake and clutch levers, maybe Thruxton rear shocks that're an inch longer) that would have made me happy with this bike and I can see myself owning a Bonneville SE, absolutely. This one was pretty good but didn't scream "BUY ME NOW" so I parked it.

By the time I got back from my Bonnie test ride, they had jump started the Thruxton and it was running on the side stand, so I decided to give it a whirl too. This bike had the British Customs Predator Pro shorty mufflers and was ungodly loud. And this wasn't a good loud either. My GS has a 13" long Yosh racing muffler but this Thrux was easily twice as loud. It would need sliencers in the mufflers to be usable. Anyway, as soon as I got on it I could tell a huge difference fro the Bonnie. Night and day. This bike had "Progressive" rear shocks added to it, and the rear was ok, but the fork was very soft compared with the Bonnie. It didn't help that the handlebar was clip-on low, which put a lot more of my weight on the front end. It bottomed easily. And the clutch take-up was even worse than the Bonneville. That's when I discovered the next thing sort of alarming about this bike, which was that it had a terrific dead spot in power between idle and about 2K or so, making it surprisingly challenging to get underway. My suspicion is that when the PO had the pipes installed, they didn't correctly remap for the new setup. So it took kind of an acquired skill to get it underway. But once underway, boy how different this thing was than the Bonneville. Above about 2K RPM it ran like a bat out of hell. The hotter cams and compression bump of the Thruxton plus the engine improvements from 2011 to 2014 were readily apparent. The thing is, it was kind of like an on/off switch. Low throttle and low RPM and the thing just about wouldn't go at all, but once you got above about 1/2 throttle and it picked up to 2500 rpms it takes off. I never ran this one to the rev limiter which is 1K higher on this bike than the older Bonnie, but 70mph came up in 2nd gear in what felt like an instant when running it to 8K. That's where some of the flaws started to show. The low handlebar and rearsets didn't lend themselves to good control at all. You have so much weight on your hands that fine steering control is difficult, and the rearsets make it worse. And probably because of a mismatch of front and rear spring rate, the bike felt sort of wollowy or wobbly when leaning at higher speeds like over 40 mph and it was difficult to control at low speeds. Oh yeah and it wanted to auto-turn the handlebar into the turn at low speeds. All of this was not at all what the Bonnie did, which was odd, considering they share the same frame and engine. Anyway, even though the Thruxton was clearly quicker than my GS I am quite confident on a curvy road the GS would box its ears and my GS is WAY more rideable in traffic and neighborhood streets. Maybe it's because my own GS is pretty much dialed in for me.

Anyway, the Thruxton was a big "NO" but that Bonneville was a "maybe". Mostly this told me I don't want a Thruxton no matter what, but a 2014+ Bonneville SE would be pretty fab maybe with some more free flowing pipes and a more sporty remap along with some superbike bars and higher-rate springs. So now at least I know exactly what I'm on the hunt for.

There's a 2015 Bonneville SE on CL with 2K miles that would be nearly perfect except it has been dropped and the tank is ruined. Finding a replacement tank doesn't look easy, but it's cheap enough that I could probably get it and a new tank plus aftermarket exhaust and even have the tank painted by a pro for $1K under my budget and the bike would be worth at least $2K more than I had in it after all was said and done. But I'd be making payments on a bike that would sit up waiting on parts for probably two months, and that doesn't sound ideal. I still will probably go test-ride it just in case, maybe the owner is desperate enough to knock another grand off the price making it too good a deal to pass up. I certainly don't mind doing mods and repairs.

I still think the "right" Bonneville will probably show up, so I'm going to keep looking. Now I want to go ride my GS. Looks like we have a break in the rain for an hour or so and I have an errand to run. Riding these 20+ years newer Triumphs with nearly 2x the displacement and over 2x the price gave me a renewed appreciation for my GS. Neither of the Triumphs I rode yesterday were clearly better than my GS. One was quicker but worse in every other way, the other was just different but not really better. One of these days I'll get on one that will knock my socks off and I'll take it home.

[mr72]

Went yesterday and rode a 2015 Bonneville and agreed to buy it, shook hands and then took off for the bank to pull out the cash. The seller called me while I was driving to to the bank and said "I hate to do this to you but..." and proceeded to reneg on our deal, said someone else showed up after I left for the bank and offered more money with cash in his hand so he sold it.

Awesome.

Anyway, wasn't meant to be. There are a bunch more. Next time I'll have cash in my pocket but I hate carrying around $7000 in cash!

[mr72]

I have an appointment Saturday to look at an "intense orange" Bonneville SE. Price is right, as long as it checks out there's a good chance I will buy it, with plenty left over for upgrades, mods and accessories.

[qcbaker]

I have an appointment Saturday to look at an "intense orange" Bonneville SE. Price is right, as long as it checks out there's a good chance I will buy it, with plenty left over for upgrades, mods and accessories.

[mr72]

I bought it.

$4K for a 2012 Triumph Bonneville SE. This is the seller's CL picture, which is not great.



Handful of cosmetic things to sort out, need to fix the turn signals and I'll replace the bars and exhaust right away just for taste. Thing runs like brand new and the paint/tank/finish is perfect. "Intense Orange" which is really about the color of a ripe tomato. I like it a ton.

[Watcher]

Congratulations!  Can't wait for better pics.

[mr72]

Pictures are coming. If the rain holds off I'm going to clean it up today and take some pictures, which will serve basically as "before" pictures.

Just from riding the bike home yesterday plus the test ride (all of the riding I've done on it) I was again reminded how different it is than the GS. It obviously has more power and has a really torquey feel, will really get up and go from idle on up, while the GS really wants to start going at about 4K. And the Bonneville has much taller overall gearing; 70mph comes up in 2nd gear without getting close to the rev limiter (that's as fast as I've gotten it). It's so quiet due to the stock mufflers but also it has basically zero vibration, and this along with the flat torque curve makes it feel almost electric. The GS by comparison is more raw and untamed, seems feels like it benefits from the rider having more specific experience with it to make it do all it can do. In a way it's kind of a more engaging ride on the GS. At least for now.

Also getting them side by side in my garage it's obvious just how much taller and really bigger the GS seems next to the Triumph. The GS has a longer wheelbase by about an inch, my GS with the Kat600 rear shock has probably 2.5" or more higher seat, loads more ground clearance, and I have a wider handlebar coupled with the top box which adds a lot of bulk. Next to the Triumph, the GS looks like an adventure bike. Hard to figure where Triumph is hiding that extra 80 lb.

This bike is basically in mint condition, had a Dart fly screen on it that I took off (might put on the GS!), includes Triumph bar end mirrors which are pretty cool, has basically brand new Avon Roadrider tires and otherwise is bone stock.

I already ordered a set of shorty levers for it and will order a 2-1 exhaust probably tomorrow. I'm told that can shave 40-60 lb with one mod. I'll also do a bunch of other mods, standard stuff really, along with the exhaust, which includes some surgery on the air box, removing the SAI system and O2 system, and welcome to the 21st century, I'll be able to re-map the ECU using my phone! The Triumphrats forum (where you will be able to find me in the future, same name) has tons of info on doing all of this, and again I'm told these mods plus remapping is good for like 12-15 hp on a stock EFI Bonneville. If there was $500 worth of mods that would have added 15hp to my GS, I might not have been in the market for another bike.

I'm going to look at some aftermarket rear shocks today that will raise the seat height up probably close to 2 inches and I'm going to swap on my spare Superbike bars if I can locate the in my garage. I'll probably spend moths settling on a handlebar for this bike just like I did with the GS and eventually order an alloy handlebar of the bend I prefer on it.

Cool thing is I wound up over $2K under budget buying this Triumph, which means my mods are included in the budget.

Now let me say this, then I'm going out this morning to swap handlebars and do some deep cleaning of my "new" bike. The generous and knowledgeable members of this forum, many of whom have commented on this thread, are really deserving of a huge Thank You for equipping me to even contemplate any of this. In just two years I've gone from pretty much a complete motorcycle noob to a confident home mechanic ready to take on pretty much any challenge, and I also learned a lot about myself as a motorcyclist and saw a piece of the motorcycling community that is very different and better than the public face of the biker community. I'm not going anywhere, but I did want to stop and say thanks. You guys (and gals, SBW) are pretty terrific folks and I appreciate it.

[mr72]

Here we go.







This morning I swapped the original handlebar for my old Bikemaster Superbike bars which are nearly perfect for me. It had rubber knee pads on the tank ("Triumph" logo) that were falling off so I took them off and prefer the way it looks without them.

Now I just need to get some new bar end mirrors to make it complete, get it inspected and registered, etc. so I can ride it.

[Watcher]

I already ordered a set of shorty levers for it and will order a 2-1 exhaust probably tomorrow. I'm told that can shave 40-60 lb with one mod.

40-60lbs from the exhaust?  What is the factory system made from, concrete?

Now let me say this {snip}

Same reason I've stuck around after moving on from my GSs.  This place is great!





I keep forgetting that your picture album is problematic, I can only see the final picture.  Links to your album?

[mr72]

Yeah here's the album:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/2jM7Ymk4Dyyv6pzQ9

I rode the two bikes back to back yesterday, the GS just around the cul-de-sac to re-park it into the garage and again I was surprised with the different feel of the GS. I might take a few minutes today and go wring her out just for kicks. The GS is taller and feels it. The bike actually feels heavier due to the higher center of gravity. In fact I noticed on the roundabout in my neighborhood that always felt so sketchy on the GS, I could probably do that at nearly double the speed on the Triumph, it's just so much more stable in turns. The GS clearly has more suspension travel and has that long-legged feel. And the pegs are much higher so even though it's taller, it feels more cramped. This is the curse of having longer than average legs I guess.

My dad rode the Triumph yesterday a little bit, and he's about 5-6" shorter than I am. He was stretched out like a cafe racer reaching my superbike bars and seemed to be nearly on his tip-toes where I sit on the seat with my feet flat on the ground and my knees bent. And he looked like he was about to lay down my beautiful "new" bike as he tip-toed it and struggled to gain confidence with the longer-reach clutch lever. That was an unpleasant sight! After riding it around his neighborhood, his immediate response was, "man! that thing's fast!".