Bonneville America Forums Forums Off Topic Discussion Forums Lounge Howdy all! New 03' SM owner!

Hey everyone! Keith here. I live in Long Island NY and am the very proud new owner of an 03 SM. Have not had a bike in years, well street bike anyway. Had a KZ1000 in my youth and a Ninja later on. Many, many hours/years of dirt riding though. Finally decided to buy a street bike and just fell in love with the Bonnies. My older brother had a BSA and a T-120 when I was a kid. Triumphs have always been a picture in my mind of what a bike should be. Anyway my original intention was to get a T-100 to blast around the traffic ridden area I live, but could not take my eyes off the SM once I saw one in person. I picked up an 03 red/black with 7k miles. I love the bike even more after riding 1000 plus miles the past couple weeks. What a fun bike! Not much of a learning curve. Already scraped my pegs, with some effort though. Killer ride and handling next to my friends HD's and gigantic Hondas.

Anyway I guess my first question is how off is the speedo, or is it something on my bike?
I have the Triumph roadster screen and get alot of turbulence, and some buffeting if I sit up straight. Any ideas? Just take it off maybe?
I have no manual so I need info like tire pressure, maint schedule etc.
Any ideas for a tool set?
Also there are crome risers that I think may be a bit tall for my taste. They seem to be 2-3" taller than the oems. Not into tall bars, never was. Not that they are tall but I think my hands are too high for long rides. Anyone change them? I am 6' with a 32" inseam. I like blood to flow in my hands, call me crazy .
Sorry for soo many ?'s but this is the first day I have not been riding. If anyone can steer me in the right direction and offer somne tips it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks all!

Kieth welcome you found the right site to have all your questions answered. Look through all the forums and the answers are there. Now one thing be careful of the guys that have there names in red or green dudes cannot be trusted. And just remember this its all about throttle position, its actually a secret password.

Welcome to the site Keith. Looks as if you have already been warned about the color coded icons here There will be folks with all your answers post up here before much longer. The speedo, from my experiance and reading posts, is about 10% off for most of us. Of course your results may vary.

Keith, Welcome! You definitley found the right site for are your questions. I'll start by answering your Roadster Screen question. I also have one and experience the same affects that you do. I have seen a mod done on another bike where they made new brackets where the shield fastens to the top of your forks.The brackets were made longer to push the angle of the shield up, thus moving the wind flow higher above your head. I rode the bike and there was quite a difference. there's also other things you can do also, just take a little time on this site and research it for other options. There's a nice tool kit on web page
Enjoy and Ride Safe!
Kerby

Keith, whereabouts on the island are ya? Come on out and visit sometime, I have a manual and a lift, we'll get ya all fixed up. Can't speak to the screen, but the speedo is very optimistic! And risers are an easy swap. Start searching the Tech Vault and I bet you'll find a bunch of your answers...

Where'd ya buy the bike? Drop me a PM anytime...

keith,
where on LI are you? the LI/Brooklyn/CT gang is gathering for a ride next Saturday. the boys are coming to New Haven--we're gonna do some amazing apizza then cruise the roads.

want in?

contact me or bennybmn or read the BA.com Takes CT thread in upcoming rides and rallies.

mert

I welcome you also Keith. You have a great bike there. How much did you pay for it? The tire pressures are on the tires themselves, if not in the book. Do the SM's have a secret compartment for the manual under the rear seat like the BA's do? Happy riding. Get your avatar straightened out, it is a peeeve for me. TR

Actually my bike has the pressure on the sticker on the frame just behind the steering head on the right side... The pressure on the tires is a maz I believe...

Welcome Aboard(I'm also a boater/fisherman). I'm in Norwalk,CT, with easy access to the BPT/Port Jeff ferry, and the Throgs Neck Bridge. I hope you can join us for the BA.com takes CT ride on Sat. the 29th. I know some great roads in upper Westchester County, NY, that I love to ride. Beautiful scenery, and lots of twisties. I also want to go over to LI, and ride out to Montauk. Looking forward to hooking up. Charlie

Wow that was quick. Thanks all. I have a house in Patchogue but I live much of the time on the north fork, about a 20 mile ride to Orient. Hey benny I have been jeepin for 20 years. I have an XJ 4" and 32's, my 6th Jeep. And Charlie I am a diehard fisherman. Sold my boat over the winter but I also do alot of surf and freshwater. I also like to raft/kayak and my brother is a raft guide for 15 years, one of the best. Anyone interested in a ride/whitewater trip to WV? About 460 mile ride each way. I've done it but in a Jeep. Planning on going soon by myself but could probably use a ride partner. Have tons of road trip experience, do a few a year including a few around the country. One was over 10,000 miles in 5 weeks and have driven through 44 states, but NEVER more than a couple hundred miles on a bike.
I have my kids next Saturday but I will definately see if I can find a sitter. I would love to do a ride.

Well if you want to come, Mark and I are shooting for the 9am Ferry out of Bport, and we're meeting at the Park n ride by the LIE/N Ocean ave at 8 or so.

My Jeep's a Liberty And before you go wise crackin, wait till you see some of the pics from one of the trails I took!! Plus it's a company car, so who cares if I break it? Down side is I have to give it up soon, up side is I'm getting a charger to replace it! Someday I want to get something of my own to go wheelin and mod. So yeah, keep us posted on the 29th, and if not maybe we can meet up mid week sometime. I live in Bellport, but north right up by Horseblock Road.

Hi Keith,

Congrats on having the good taste to get an Speedmaster, and in the best color too! My GPS says that the speedo is about 10% high which is what others have found also.
If your experience is like mine you will love the bike more and more as you put the miles on her.

SpeedRacer

Welcome to bonnevilleamerica.com where Triumph owners rule and Harley owners drool.

I'll warn you now that this site is addicting. There is also another site you have to be warned about.
www.newbonneville.com don't go there unless you have lots of money and belong to a chrome support group.

Welcome to the Triumph comedy club. Congrads. !!!!!!!!

Buuuuuuuuuuuuurrrrrrrrrrrrpppppppppppp !!!!!!!

My speedo is almost dead on after installing a 120/90-18 tyre. Before it was about 10% off...

Kars,
Welcome to ba.com and congratulations on your new purchase. Around here you have to be able to separate the real info from the tongue-in-cheek joksters. Stay on your toes. Everyone is great though and quick to answer any question you have.

The service manual says this.

Tire pressure
Front 31 lbs/sq in
Rear 31 lbs/sq in

Fully laden
Front 31 lbs/sq in
Rear 36 lbs/sq in

At the very least get yourself one of those folding hex key tools with the assorted sizes. Make sure it's metric. Everything on the bike is metric.

Regards,
Cody

Welcome back to the land of the living! And welcome to the pleasure dome! The Speedmaster is the absolute best bike ever built!

Soren

Good work on the avatar, Keith. I see that you have already met some of us and have been invited on rides. We are all together on this site. Well, some of us are all together, some are less so. No names, you shall see for yourself. Watch out for some of the big men from across the pond. TR

Hiya Keith
Welcome aboard - enjoy

My SM says 36/36 front/rear psi on the frame sticker? I'm confused, is it 31 or 36 psi? Not to sound anal but after years of running mud tires on Jeeps I know what a difference psi can make and I'm sure its only more so on a street bike.
I'm gonna swap the risers and see if I like it better. If so I may have a pair for sale soon. They are the ones on newspeedmaster.com, the tall round polished. Anyone know if the riser bolts go through the bottom or if the nuts are on the bottom?
Of course red is the best color, isn't it the fastest too?

Welcome Keith, I hope you find this site entertaining and helpfull. I'm an old Brooklyn and L.I. boy myself. Haven't been back home in years though....Angelis

Welcome Kars. You got the right bike and the right color. You are correct about the tire presure. It is different than the America. It's 36 p.s.i. front and rear. I believe this is because we have different rims and tubless tires. It makes the ride a little harder,but cornering better.

Dave

Quote:

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Of course red is the best color, isn't it the fastest too?

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Aye, the new boys got smarts.

Welcome to the club Keith. Oh, and to answer your question about the red ones.....YES. But keep it quite, it does tend to upset the others.

Hey kars, are you going to join us this weekend, or what?
Charlie

I hope so. I have no definate answer yet for a sitter. May not know til the last minute. If I find out sooner I will PM or email you guys. Thanks for asking!

Drop me a PM and I'll shoot you my cell number too. My plan right now is to hit the 9am ferry from PJ. It's a 20 min ride for me, straight up 112, so I'll be heading out by 8:30, so even if I don't answer the phone, you can basically just meet me at the boat (probably best anyway). I'll bet you lunch I'll be the only other Triumph on the boat

Is there really that few Triumphs around? I don't understand why more people dont like them. How about others like sports, standards, are they more popular?
I'll buy lunch just for the invite!

Actually there are a bunch around, but on the average day how many bikes do you run into? Then the percentage that are actually triumphs out of the bagillion HDs and various others.... Not many. And couple that to the few that will be on the boat at 9am... Even less. Just me!

Right you are! Starting counting today just for the hell of it. I saw more bikes than I thought I would. 29 total, 22 cruisers, 17 of them HD's the other 5 various metrics, 5 sport, one standard and suprisingly one Triumph, a T-100 in blue parked on the road where I was walking. Though that was the first Triumph other than sport that I have seen in the few months I have been looking at them.

like all the others have said over and over again. WELCOME!!!

Funny what you notice when you start looking! On a nice evening, head on in to Port Jeff and walk around and count too Or tuesdays at Bald Hill!!