Bonneville America Forums Forums Off Topic Discussion Forums Lounge Was It worth selling the Harley,then?

Been quiet of late as, almost as soon as I took delivery of the TBA I went on holiday(sadly by train) to South of France.
Been back 6days and I've now put 1200 miles on the TBA ..for what it's worth, heres what I make of it so far.
Cosmetically- quite good,but some detailing is rubbish .e.g this years model replaced that lovely white faced speedo with a plastic chrome giant egg cup-vile...and the paint on the frame is dull and lifeless....and the mudguards('fenders' to some) are plastic-yeughh,though they wont rot along the trailing edges if you use the thing in winter I suppose.
Oh and the wheels-very pretty,but I bet they're water soluble...time will tell.
On the other hand I think overall the bike looks the mutt's nuts and its nice to ride a bike that handles properly....makes my late and unlamented Glide seem like a carthorse by comparison.
Its also surprisingly good two up- I wasnt expecting that and my Beloved is agreeably impressed(and thats not an easy verdict!)
The proof of the pudding,though, is in the mileage I've done.....great mixture of roads from back lanes of rural Kent and Sussex to Motorways (o.k, o.k Freeways if you must)
and I have another 500 miler planned for this weekend to Gower in Wales(go on,Google Rhossili Bay and weep) if the weather holds.....
Do I miss the Harley?
Pah!

Al

Sounds like you made the right choice. Glad you're enjoying miles spent with her!

I did some reading about Gower in Wales and Rhossili Bay ...Very cool stuff and BEAUTIFUL!!! I hope the weather does hold and it's a good trip.

Congrats on your choice, it sounds like you are enjoying your decision. I just came from the UK and rode that part of Wales you described. Wales is probably some of the best riding I have ever done in my life...beautiful! Riding through the West Midlands to get into Wales is simply incredibly. I miss old Blighty and would love to take my Trumpet back there one day to ride again. Have fun on your TBA and stay off the motorway as much as possible...the B roads is where it is at when riding in your country!

Personally I dont mind the motorway too much....I'm one of those who relishes a long fast ride as well as the back lanes....and Gower is a mixture with a long hard blast to get to the locality,then a gentle dawdle through the beautiful bits...oh and theres a decent pub up the lane for the eveing too....does it get much better than this?
On the other hand though, Gower lies south of the end of Ireland-that means that whatever weather the Atlantic's got,it rolls it ashore there.
Looking forward to this one....and with luck i can fill the tank on the TBA and wont have to stop to refill till I'm in Wales-my Glide couldnt do that,and my Sportser was just a pain ...looking for fuel every 80 miles or so.....
Roll on the weekend .....

Al

Hey you could come all the way up to Dent and meet up with like minded Triumph Cruiser riders . . . check out the Dent thread in "Rides, Rallies & Events"

Is the rear fender plastic now too? Previously only the front was. Only bothers me since I can't powdercoat the front.

Maybe another time ......I've been doing this ride for 30 years and this time I'm taking 2 friends (one rides a Rocket 3 ,the other a VN900) and they're looking forward to the trip.
Thanks for the invite though....will take you up on a run when possible.

Al

'Fraid so....plastic it is for this year
Al

I let a fellow employee take my bike for a ride yesterday. He used to have an old Bonneville and now has Hardly's. He took it for a pretty good ride and I told him, don't be afraid to give it some throttle as it likes RPM's. After he came back he said he was impressed with the way it ran and that it would outrun his for a couple miles but then he thinks that his would outrun mine. The one thing that he did not like was the fact that trucks will blow it around a little. He said that the trucks do not blow his 900 pound Harley around. He was contemplating an addition to his stable but now not so much. Oh well his loss!

I've been down that road myself- and there s no difference so far as I can tell between the stability of the TBA and of my late and unlamented twin cam-neither gets blown around by trucks-I've just done a 260mile motorway trip on the TBA (80-90mph most parts )and noticed no difference-other than the improvemnt in handling of course..and the fact I wasnt stopping for fuel so often....and...and and....

Al

Just want to ask, you have mentioned you hate the paint and the mud-guard & the speedo & some detailing is rubbish...... So why did you buy one?
If I had those issues I would of looked elsewhere. I think the paint is better than on a Harley and so is the power, looks and ride quality & handling and so on... the only thing that lets down the Triumph is the clothing catalogue isn't as big as Harleys. now you see why I brought my 2010 speedy.

Wrong-I dont hate the paint- I just dont think the quality of application on the frame is as good as it could be or should be....theres a difference...neither do I hate the mudguards- I'd just have preferred them in metal- again there is a difference.
The short answer is that I didnt buy it for the detailing but for a number of other reasons to do with reliability mostly.
I like the looks of it a lot,dont get me wrong, but I dont want to be blind to where it could be better-in the UK this machine is competeing agsinst the sportster- in that market you need to benchmark your product against HD-especially as the TBA costs more here than the base model 883-lots of potential buyere wont get past an appreciation of the cosmetics-they'll never get to find out just how good the TBA alternative is.

Al
Oh and ,come on, does anyone really like the plastic eggcup they used this year ss a speedo?-I think we should know!

My little 865cc TBA walks past my buddy's HD Sportster 1200cc Nightster, he blames it on his HD gearing.

See Alscot, you really do love the TBA... hehe

Yes,I admit it-it's A great machine....there,I've said it...I feel much better now thank you Dr.

Al
ps-they could still do better on the detail finish