Bonneville America Forums Forums Off Topic Discussion Forums Lounge Were you here before you bought?

Just curious... how many of us were here checking out posts about our bikes before we bought? I did (on the old forum). And if you did, how much was this forum a part of you deciding to buy your Speedmaster or America?

No. I hadn't heard of the BA site until I met Uncle Charlie through the TRat site and he invited me to a "tech day". Speaking of which, what ever became of Big Poppy? He got me started on carb mods by changing out my main jet and then he moved down south and I haven't seen him post in a long time.

No, but as soon as I bought my bike I found this site and was lurking around.

I don't think it was quite around yet when I bought mine. I read a debut article about the TBA in a motorcycle magazine. That's what got me to the dealership.

I went to the dealership looking for a BMW, then saw the Cardinal red TBA. Wow. I didn't find this site for 3 months after my purchase.

Yes. I spent a year trying to decide what bike to get and then to find one, and this is one of the site I used in my research. Of course when it came down to it the research didn't mean squat (other than that there wasn't any strong negatives) and it came down to what was right for me.

Actually registered about a month before I found my bike, at a time when I did not think I was going to find one meeting my condition/price criteria.

Bought the TBA first, then found the site. Having a great time on both Thanks all!

No. I had a friend that bought a BA and I liked it. I bought mine maybe a year later. I found this site several times but never read the posts when looking for custom parts. When I saw this wasn't a parts supplier site I left. I finally joined a couple years later.

I got the first Bonnie America my dealer had.
October 2001.
long before this site was born.
I was an early member to this site.

Well this is like the chicken and egg For me the bike 1st. as a TBA was the only bike I wanted . then came, the looking for parts info etc . which this site does 100% cheers eveybody

Yep, I sure was. When I was set on buying a Yamaha, I was asked to look again at the Triumphs, so I did. I did some research and came across this site. And the more I looked, the more the bike grew on me, especially the look of the parallel twin engine. When I saw the blue/white 07 TBA, there was no doubt I was going to buy a Triumph America. I never regretted the decision and can't wait for my replacement 07 blue/white TBA to get here next month.

Thanks for asking Soren. Good topic!!

Found the site after seeing the ad with the speedmaster on the dock. Pat conned me into my purchase.

I saw the 2002 TBA in a magazine,then found the this site.Took a test ride in December and the following May bought it then ended up meeting some very nice people to ride with!

I had actually put down $$ for a HD that I was gonna buy used. Then on the way home I drove by the Triumph shop, decided to stop in and have a look see. The rest is history.
I wish I found the site first though, I would have saved a ton of $$ instead of buying the overpriced under-qualitied Triumph accessories.
Still happy today though.

Well, I hate to admit it, I was but a poor lost soul who used to smoke, drink and dance the Hoochie-Coo UNTIL I saw The Light*!

(*-"The Light" being a cover page test ride article in Motorcyclist magazine written by Alan Cathcart, circa Summer of 2001, about the soon to premier Triumph Bonneville America model of 2002)

And so no, I didn't become "a true believer" because of this website, but because of my ongoing subscription to the afforementioned periodical, and after reading said article immediately plunked down my deposit for my '02 Cardinal Red BA months before they hit the showrooms and a few months before this website was started up.

nope...I saw the bike in the Cruiser Magazine Buyers Guide, went to look at one, loved it, took Karen to look at it, she wont admit it but she loved it too.
Read a bunch of reviews and such online BUT in all my searches BA.com never came up.

After selling the Harley back in '02, I typed Triumph in the old search engine and this site popped up along with articles on the America. After three years of lurking and gathering info, I bought.

pretty sure i was on the site first. I was shopping various bikes and was leaning toward a legend but the America in green won me over.

The funny thing is I was fifty-five at the time and thinking "weel, if I'm going to buy a new bike I'd better do it now - I'm not likely to do it when I'm sixty-five". Hah - Just watch me!

watching the twin towers crumble

in all fairness, I found this site after my purchase in Oct of '01. Googled bonneville america and starting reading about giving a buck to Robert. Who the heck is Robert and what is this dollar talk? seems like a lifetime ago.

Yes. Saw an America outside Rugby Truck Stop and admired it for a mo, (admired the blonde lady rider aswell when she came out, but thats by-the-by ).
Did some searching online and found this site and was most impressed, especialy as a load of Yanks liked the bike over Harleys (yes I was considering one ). I didn't join 'til I got the bike cos I didn't want to feel like a wannabe.

So thanks to you guys and dolls I am now the proud owner of an 08 America. The bummer was that between ordering and delivery the doctor told me not to drive, but I'm alright now.

There's a bloke near me who admired mine and is now the proud owner of an 07

I was checking out a craig's list ad at our local Triumph dealers. He had a 2009 Speedmaster that someone had bought in June and traded back in in Oct. He had added $1700 in Triumph accessories and put 5200 miles on the bike. In June he paid $10,800 for it and they were asking $6995. After a demo ride I was sold! I traded in my purple 04 Honda Sabre and brought speedy home (never buy a purple motorcycle, you can't give them away! I am really suprised that Harley has the identical color purple on some of their bikes now!) I joined the forum after the speedmaster was in my garage.

I own a T595 and when the speedmaster came out was always looking for the ideal opportunity to own one after many times finding myself drooling over the display models in the local triumph dealers ( I think they were a bit sick of me tuning up at the shop and sitting on their bike and going brrrummm brummm).

Well my wife was getting a bit bored with me going out on the bike and coming back with some great tales so she wanted to tag along but wasn't very keen on sitting on the back of a sports bike (neither was I to be honest).

Anyhow I spotted one on ebay and bought it and never looked back since.

Well I did look in here as a bit of a lurker from time to time and met Jane and Keith at a family party and was suprised to find out she had a speedmaster too and they told me about Dent which I turned up for and then for those who know me.........the decline began.

Since then I have ended up sleeping in a tent full of water, changing a chain in Eastern Europe and making a complete drunken ****** of myself in many a rain soaked field and having the pleasure of sharing some fine ales with a great bunch of folks from this site.

All the time I've generally been navigationally challenged.

I'm going to miss the British and European folks i've met on this part of the adventure but can't wait to begin the American leg when I get sorted out over there and get myself another speedmaster across the pond .....or who knows maybe a t'bird?????

Nope, A HD co-worker knew I had been admiring the Thruxton's, and after a particulary bad day, he tell's me we should go to the Triumph shop by his house, and just take a look. I did, and decided I didn't like my feet behind me, and the Bonnie and Scrambler seemed a little tall at the time and the Speedmaster still had the old school look that I liked about the Bonnies, Thruxtons, and Scramblers.
I came in the next morning and they said, they had expected me an hour before.
I went to our local RAT breakfast about a month and a half later and met Soren. He told me to check out this site. It's really the only forum I actively participate in.

~Brent

Yup. Was lurking on another site back when they were not so quick to remove links to other sites... found this site and lurked here for a couple of months before buying my 2007 America.

Got my 1st info from the rat.net site , followed the link to the "old" site here ............ while waiting for my finances to work out, I rolled in the "old site" like a dog on road-kill.... so, the "old site" served as a passifier till I could buy the much loved 2002 Bonnie-A.....

Bought my bike first and joined up a few days or a week later. My buddy Dave aka Roadworthy told me to join the site. Glad I did.

I had my bike for about 15 months before I found this site. Brent from newspeedmaster.com told me about it. Before that I was just taking stuff apart in the dark, no idea what I was doing

I had found this site a couple of weeks before i bought my Speedmaster.I have been in love with the Speedmaster since I first seen one online back in 2007.I honestly was one of those guys who didn't know they still made Triumphs,I saw a Trumpet in a movie and thought I would look online to see if I could pick up a old one,Google led me to the Speedie and it was love at first site.I previously rode a 1999 Suzuki Savage,and there is a site called SuzukiSavage.com that is very thorough,they are just as hardcore about their Savages/S40s as we are about ours,which thrills me to know end to know that I have all the support for my bike that I need here at this site.It took me a while to get finances squared but I was able to pick up 2003 Speedmaster back in May and have been overjoyed with it,heck i even ditched my girlfriend when she said I needed to spend more time with her than with the bike!

I found my first post

Quote:

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Sold my Yamaha 3 yrs ago. Wife said next bike is a HD Lowrider. I said, well get you one, I wanna Triumph.

She's coming around and is laughing at the HD posers now.

The final debate... Speedster vs Bonnie.

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I ended up with a 07 America with no remorse... but I'd still like to have a Bonnie Black.

I first saw the Speedmaster and America at my dealer. I went home to search online about them and that is how I found BA.com and read just about everything. I was going through a divorce, so it took almost another year before I was able to get my Speedmaster, by then I think I knew just about almost everything there was to know about our bikes.

This site was first by about 4 years. I wanted an America and researched extensively on this site but couldn't afford one at that time. I got a used V-Star instead. Got my new 09 America back in March.

I was on here for about a month before i bought mine in June of '03. I was originally looking at an 883 or a V45 Magna, and completely "stumbled" across the America after seeing a black/silver one at a Honda/Yamaha/Triumph dealer through the darkened windows on a Sunday afternoon. Luckily, I was smart and bought a blue/silver America...

I bought my 07 America solely on the appearance of the bike. I figured since it was a Triumph it would be prone to leaks, loping, and backfiring. I was resolved to working on it every other month. I am glad to say I was wrong. The bike hasnt had a wrench touch it other than the minor mods I made to it. I came upon this site after the purchase and what a great site this is!!!

Nope. I had given up on the "return of Triumph" when they first came out and offered only triples and triple copies of the old style bike. I didn't hear anything different from my ill informed friends, even years later.(They still won't accept my newer twin. They call it the "triyamaha. Stuck in the 60s, I guess) Not until 2008 did I stumble across my slightly dented, but low miles BA in a small dealers shop. It was love at first site. I had only gone into this small shop to ask about some old NOS parts for my 69 Bonnie, and it was on the show room floor with only two other older, jap crotch rockets. I walked around it more than once, and admired the lines. No intention of buying it. But I couldn't get it out of my head, and went back the next day to test ride it. I wasn't overly impressed with the ride, (too smooth, and it didn't handle as well as my old bikes), but man, those beautiful lines, even with a few small dents! Bought it the following day and have enjoyed it a lot ever since.

Oh, and this site is "icing on the cake!"