The New Triumph Bonneville Speedmaster 2024 Modern-Retro With a Relaxed Authentic British Style

No the second paragraph was just a comment on the original post and general thoughts as to why one might purchase such a bike. I should have added it in a second post I suppose. Getting lazy.
 
worntorn said:
I've talked with a few owners of restored Bonnies here. No one seems to want to use them for the kind of longer distance riding I do with the Commando or the Vincent.
They are much like my BSA Super Rocket, ok on lower speed roads around our valley here.
Not to say the longer rides couldn't be done on an old Triumph, but I never encounter them out there.
I do see the occasional elderly BMW far from home as well as other Norton Commandos.


Glen
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I largely agree
The reason I moved away from triumph twins to commando's was almost exclusively because of vibration
I used to ride my t140 down to Cornwall from where I am that's around 250 miles holding 80 -90 mph and I used to lose various bits on the way due to vibration
A mate of mine is an extremely high mileage rider of a t140 but it's now laid up due to the frame cracking at the swinging arm pivot point
As you say it's not impossible,just not as comfortable
 
baz said:
I largely agree
The reason I moved away from triumph twins to commando's was almost exclusively because of vibration
I used to ride my t140 down to Cornwall from where I am that's around 250 miles holding 80 -90 mph and I used to lose various bits on the way due to vibration
A mate of mine is an extremely high mileage rider of a t140 but it's now laid up due to the frame cracking at the swinging arm pivot point
As you say it's not impossible,just not as comfortable
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Yup.
Isolastic v.s. Paint shaker from hell.
I sold my T140SJ when I got the Commando, never looked back.
 
Modern Triumph caters for all from sports bikes to cruisers, bobbers, to cafe style to just a stock Bonnie, the SM is a cruiser and caters for that market, as for the fake carbs I don't look at them while riding and I do ride my Thruxton, can jump on it anytime and travel long distant without any problems at all and have done it many of times at short notice, throw my saddle bags over the rear seat with my gear on and off I go, have done many 15hr long rides in the saddle on my old AC Thruxton and on my WC Thruxton and all I do is change the oil and chain maintenance, coming up to 6 years on my Thruxton 1200 S and 30k on the clock and haven't even looked at the valves yet. (I would have a lot more mileage on it but covid and lock downs stopped a lot of my travels)
I have owned my 850 Norton for 47 years now and I did a lot of traveling on it over that time but a lot more maintenance needed for doing that, but the Thruxton is so much smoother on the road and that helps for long distant travels and the smoothness of that big 1200 motor no matter what revs or speed you do its always on hand when needed and it will do it all day and night long.
As for the older Triumphs I brought a new 81 650 Triumph Thunderbird same size bore as the 750 Bonnies but shorter stroke and single Amal carb, it was a very smooth bike to ride and in 9 years of ownership I clocked up 250k kms on that bike and when the wife came along we did a lot of long distant travels on it visiting friends who moved away, with the shorter stroke it was pretty quick and a lot quicker than the 750 Bonnies, the biggest mistake I ever made was selling that bike, 250k on it before I did a top end rebuild before I sold it, we learn by our mistakes.
Back on the subject the Speed Master is a cruiser, not my style of Triumph but its made for the market and what some like to ride and cruise around on, same as all of Triumph models they cater to the market and they been around a long time now, they are a popular motorcycle, are very reliable and they sell.
If you think the SM has big tyres have a look at the tyres on the Rocket 3, such a big motorcycle and one of my mates brought a new one and for its size and power it handles pretty good and is pretty nimble in the twisties.
I am a true Norton man but I also love my modern Triumph and my Norton everyday duties has been taken over by the Thruxton, I am not interested in any other Triumph model as I always wanted a Thruxton from the first day they came on the market, but it was 2013 when I bit the bullet and brought my 900 Thruxton and said it be the last new bike I ever buy, well till the 1200 came out and is the first bike I ever owned with a 270 swing crank and the Thruxton with the lighter crank, I just love it and gets me into a lot of trouble.
Its easy to judge a bike without owning one but until you ridden or owned one is another thing and I thought the same thing owning a 270 swing motorcycle just wasn't thought of till I rode one and put a deposit straight down on the 1200 S (old new stock at a heavily reduce price) and the S model was better suited for my long distant travels compared to the R model.

Ashley
 
worntorn said:
I've talked with a few owners of restored Bonnies here. No one seems to want to use them for the kind of longer distance riding I do with the Commando or the Vincent.
They are much like my BSA Super Rocket, ok on lower speed roads around our valley here.
Not to say the longer rides couldn't be done on an old Triumph, but I never encounter them out there.
I do see the occasional elderly BMW far from home as well as other Norton Commandos.


Glen
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A few years ago a good friend of mine did 8 + half thousand miles in 11 days hitting every North American Mainland state on a 69 T150 Trident, the only mods were big oil tank , front disc and electronic ignition. It was on an IBR rally and was told by many he wouldn't get out of the first state. The bike never once broke down , although clearly had a few running issues. I hold John in the highest esteem, to ride that bike for 18+ hours a day is incredible. Forgetting - it also had a Vetter Windjammer up front and Mikuni round slides.
 
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I have never owned a Trident but I've been told that they do not have the parallel twin vibration problem.
I would guess that the Trident is also a fair bit more powerful and than a 650 Bonneville.



Glen
 
worntorn said:
I have never owned a Trident but I've been told that they do not have the parallel twin vibration problem.
I would guess that the Trident is also a fair bit more powerful and than a 650 Bonneville.



Glen
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They don't have the numbing vibes of a Triumph twin but they do tingle at high revs, a Trident will see a bonneville off anywhere except in the twisties where the weight makes itself felt. They are great bikes to ride and I have more miles on them than anything else. They are also very tunable , obviously with associated expense but not at the expense of reliability. I've had my second one nearly 40 years now and my other close to 20. All I ever wanted as a youngster was a Trident, a Commando and an H2 Kawasaki which sadly it looks like I'll never get.
 
trident sam said:
They don't have the numbing vibes of a Triumph twin but they do tingle at high revs, a Trident will see a bonneville off anywhere except in the twisties where the weight makes itself felt. They are great bikes to ride and I have more miles on them than anything else. They are also very tunable , obviously with associated expense but not at the expense of reliability. I've had my second one nearly 40 years now and my other close to 20. All I ever wanted as a youngster was a Trident, a Commando and an H2 Kawasaki which sadly it looks like I'll never get.
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All good points Sam…

But you missed the bit about how freakin’ AMAZING they sound on full chat !
 
The modern Triumph triples have a fantastic sounding engine as well.
I guess it's the same type of noise but goes on up to 12k rpm or so.

Glen
 
trident sam said:
There is nothing (save a Spitfire's Merlin) that comes close to the sound !
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This sounds kinda ok too…😈

IMG_7970.webpIMG_7975.webp
 
I have a T150v 850 and a Commando 850 with a few tweaks. Norton wins on reliability and general
all around ride-ability. The 3X is faster and has a better seating position and is easier to start.
Norton wins for comfort at 70mph...no real vibes. The Trident's biggest flaw is it is over weight and a
pig to move about in the garage or on any iffy surface. This really only applies to Old Men and esp.
skinny old men.
It will kill me to sell either. But......Father Time don't care.
 
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