Triumph Bonneville
 

Had a test ride of a Street Triple booked today, when I got there the last bloke was there with it and he'd dropped it:smt092:smt092:smt092. So that was me with no ride as the fork leg was bent. They offered me a go on a Bonnie, but only for an hour or so. Well why not;). I was really surprised I enjoyed nearly every minute. Its 50kg heavier than my gixer but felt much lighter and easier to handle at low speeds. Was a very enjoyable experience when riding in town or sedately, however when I got to a few country roads I know well and started to make progress it wasn't happy at all. One thing I was surprised about was the lack of grunt, I did think it would have more go. The question is am I getting to old or does the Bonnie make sense when you just want a bit of a potter about?.

Re: Triumph Bonneville
 

Its just different, aircooled and a bit strangled by emmision controls.

But you still can make spirited riding just keep the corner speed up.

Did you try the T100 or the new one, the new one felt a bit quicker than the T100 when I had a mess about.

Re: Triumph Bonneville
 

Yeah, I thought it was gutless too, hit 80 then just stopped!

Re: Triumph Bonneville
 

it is what it is :smt102, built to a price and for a certain market, the thruxton engined version is slightly better, but they aren't performance machines by any means, as a commuter or gentle sunday bimble they aren't at all bad, the shortfalls are generally made more apparent when in the company of sports bikes, but otherwise it's an "own pace" type of bike.

I took out an Enfield Clubman on a test ride recently and it was great fun on my own, it to didn't achieve any great speed, but the riding experience was as rewarding as many far more powerful bikes I've ridden, and that was getting off a superduke just beforehand....

Cheers Mark.

Re: Triumph Bonneville
 

I took an Enfield scrambler out with a grand total of 40bhp and I enjoyed every minute even with its crazy nobbly tyres.

A good bike is a good bike no matter how fast it goes in a straight line.

Re: Triumph Bonneville
 

Yes all of the satisfaction of my usual ride but at a slower pace.
It was the SE version I rode.
The bloke who dropped the Street Triple was an advanced police motorcyclist.