Bonneville America Forums Forums General Motorcycle Forums Other Bikes BIG MISTAKE! LARGE!! HUGE MISTAKE!!!

Yesterday, after riding 380 miles with my disabled bride in tow - and today, 315 miles back to Birmingham (AL), we stopped at Bogart's Motor Sports to check out Triumphs, BMWs, Ducati(yuck) and Vespas (for her), we knew we needed a touring bike for two up.
We were talked into riding a BMW K1200LT. MY GOD, WHAT A MOTORCICLE!!! From the storage, to GPS, to reverse, to electro/hydraulic center stand, sound system, super handling, very low COG, seating positions and ABS brakes - This is my next bike.
Of course I'll keep my America! My bride even said it (almost had tears in her eyes when she said so) . But after our ride, she said: "we're getting this bike, conversation over." I've tried for years to get her on her own bike, but she said no. I've recently discovered that when her knee surgery was done 30 years ago, they sacrificed her saphenous(sp?) nerve and she can't shift gears consistently.
This motorcicle is a bike that I can ride coast to coast in 45 hours, yet do figure 8 doughnuts with in a parking lot. At 85 MPH, not one bit of a PUFF of wind, not even when I passed a semi truck with a bad crosswind.
The most perfect touring bike ever. 116HP, 87 ft/lbs torque (i think).

Now, if Triumph releases something other than the "LAME ROCKET GT" for a tourer, I'll consider changing OUR mind.

That's definitely the A#1 Touring Bike.... can't go wrong with an LT !!

Thats a cool bike! Compared to a Rocket3 though, I think it cost about 8 grand more.

I always thought one of those luxo-barges would be great for retirement riding. I've got 25 years (at least!) to save up for one...

Dennis,

I have some friends, a real nice couple, with an LT, she has MS. They like it (a lot). If I remember correctly they had an old (new then) 650 while dating. I never see it putting around town, as when they "go for a ride", it's to places like the coast or British Columbia.

I gave one a showroom lookover last spring out of curiousity. Hummm? Better stick with what I have. Although I would like to demo ride one for my own education .

JH

Rocket 3 with floor boards, chrome extras, windshield and Corbin beetle bags = $20,700.
K1200LT with GPS = $22,052. These two were sitting side by side with price tags on the bars.

And the sales manager also said he is sure the Tiger is getting the 1050 engine and a much needed facelift, but rumors of the larger cruiser are wishful rumors. Bogarts is having track day at Barbers Motorsports Racetrack the same weekend as the Triumph dealers meeting. They've had it scheduled for a long time. Maybe I should call them back, I'm not going to track day, maybe I could represent them at the dealers meeting.

I think it is safe to say Triumph as, and continues to lose a lot of buisness to BMW since dropping the Trophy and not doing a proper tourer from the Rocket.

My neighbor picked up a used LT for about 18 and some change, less than 2k on the bike. He loves it and it blows away all the other cruisers we ride with - stereo blasting all the way! One of the major cycle mags just did a shoot out with the LT, GW and Ultra Classis. They said riding the Ultra for 10 minutes in the rain, they got wetter (is that a word!) than 10 hours on the LT or GW.
Liz and I sat on a Gold Wing a few months ago, very tempting!
I saw a mock up for the Rocket in sport-touring guise, very LT like - I keep hoping they'll produce by the time I'm ready for a "geezer mobile"! <g>

I have a friend that had a Harley softail he and his wife rode. He bought the BMW1200LT for a traveling bike and kept the Harley. He actually had MORE money in the Harley than the BMW. He recently sold his Harley as he rarely rode it since getting the BMW. They love the BMW and use it more than they ever thought they would. He's thrilled that his wife wants to travel more. If you look at all the bikes out there, I don't think anyone makes a touring bike comparable in features, performance, AND price!

To dress up a Rocket cost 4,000! dollars!.... Another one of my reasons not to own one.

My neighbor also sold his Electra-Glide to buy the BMW. No regrets on his part. He's already been coast-to-coast once.

Very nice bike.
If you're doing any miles at all, I doubt there's anything to touch it for serious two-up comfort.

They are at a level all their own. I just made a 300 mile ride around the Blue Ridge Mountain area with a group made up of 2 BMW LTs, Ninja, Speed Triple and me on my TBA. Both BMW and T3 riders are long time riders, numerous track days etc., but the pace those big BMs kept was amazing. These are tight 2lanes, the Speed3 rider said at one switch back he was riding hard enough to be locking the front tire to make the transition. ABS and huge torque numbers make those BM's deceptively fast. As Benny observed, one of the BM riders previous bike was Triumph Trophy.

Ride safe,
BobW

John,
What is it with you and the oversized passengers.
Or was it just that one? I've got a local convenience store clerk wanting to go for a ride too.
Our bikes' payload is 440 lbs.

It was just the one. I can either DTB or she can get her own bike (which she wants to do anyway). Actually, she's only the third passenger I've ever had. The others pushed the limits of the 440 limit with my fat a$$ on the bike, but the one last week obliterated the limit.

Anyway, I've been meaning to upgrade my suspension for quite some time. Might have to get that handled this winter.

Benny, Triumph is actually outselling BMW. Their sale for the past year was largers than Bmw.....Angelis

There is a 72 year old woman that rides out of Austin and tours the country on one. I would not have beleived it if I had not seen her manuever that bike in the parking lot. She has a couple of Iron Butt awards.

Does anyone know how many America and Speedmasters Triumph has sold? How popular are they in the Triumph line?

A 72 year old woman with an iron butt, yuk, what a nasty image..!

Nice bike. Cant go wrong with a Beemer. First class touring machine and deceptively fast and agile.

The trophy was such an awesome bike, a guy had one in my dealer when i was getting some warranty stuff done... beautiful. I would love them to put that back into production, why did they stop?

I don't know why they stopped. I know the 1200 engine in it was the only bike it was on, so maybe just too specialized. But with the big tripple motor avaiable, or a smaller version... There's just no excuse!! Heck, even modifying a Sprint for more proper touring duty would work!

For some of us - read "short arses" - anything taller than a TBA just won't work. I can't get my leg over (ooh err missus!) anything taller than 30.5 inches without using a footstool! The Rocket III just happens to be low enough for me to mount (oh no, yet another double entendre) so I hope that the much-rumored 1500-1800 turns out to be a low cruiser and not tall persons ride.

Siggy

The Trophy had one drawback. It was chain drive. From what I understand that was it's undoing. Folks who tour want reliability and low maintenance. It had sluggish sales in the US.

I wouldn't trade the 220hp / 247 ft.lbs. of torgue my Roc ket delivers on the open road for nuttin'. I am hoping the next generation has a better tour package for protection against the elements. It's either bare naked or fully dressed in my book and either way; 140mph has never felt so smooth

Uh oh, shouldn't have read this thread and started looking at Beemers. The new K1200GT is sweet! I'll have to add it to the list of possibles for next year's quest of a 2 up sport-touring machine for the wife and me. The on-the-fly adjustable suspension at first glance sounds gimmicky, but I can see where it'd come in handy. Cruise down the slab to get to the twistys on the soft setting, and then firm it up with a touch of a button once the road starts to snake. 125 hp at the rear wheel, 10.77 sec 1/4 mile, and all those options from the factory mod happy Germans. Of course a new one will set me back 20 grand.

trophy: 900 or 1200. 4 cylinder. chain drive. i will admit it was a great looking bike. i looked at a blue 1999 trophy at the dealer today. the guy traded it for a 2003 1200 cc bike that had never been out of the box. triumph makes a 1250 cc trophy triple with shaft drive. ok!

I'm 49 years old, and would gladly retire today if I could, and head out on the open road.
Added buying BMW K1200LT to Powerball win to-do list.
Dark green would be nice.

You would have to win the Powerball for this bike.

I have owned a Triumph all my life, but this bike is beautiful, just do not have the $22,000 if I did I buy one this is one seriuos touring bike.

great bike but too much $ for me.

cat