Bonneville America Forums Forums Off Topic Discussion Forums Lounge Ripping Triumph Bonnevilles (in Ducati article)!

What's wrong with this guy (see his Ducati here MotorcycleUSA.com) ripping Bonnevilles?

"...Products of this disingenuous attitude are such truly awful motorcycles as the Kawasaki W650 and the breathtakingly ugly and nauseatingly dull Triumph Bonneville. Fat boring bikes, with styling taken straight from the "Supersize-Me Fat Club Yearbook" do not excite, or even interest, me. What these young designers forget is that we too were young once - and lusted after Manx Nortons and Gold Stars, not emasculated concrete mixers on two wheels..."

Does he EVEN know what he is talking about? "Fat" in describing a Bonneville???

Definitely not handling his increasing age very well based on his numerous references to the "young".

By the way, does he LIKE the Ducati or not?? Can't figure his article out.

I don't know if it is one of those "man that is an ugly bike" things that eventually grows on you but for the moment, I think THAT Ducati is an ugly bike!

Now I am not necessarily a total fan of the Bonneville, that is why I ride an America, but it certainly does not measure up to the bashing this fellow rendered it. He must be mentally bulimic as it certainly is not a fat bike!

This guy's an idiot !!

I'm not a Bonneville fan but this bike is no bad looking bike and NOT a fat .In my opinion blok is a T.W.A.T !!!(and it does not mean The War Against Terror)

This what makes America great! Freedom of speech, and opinion. I don't share this guy's opinion... If I had the cash I would own a couple of retro Triumphs, they're totally cool in my book. As for Fat...... I prefer Sturdy, or substantial to describe my America. I threw a leg over an 883 Sportster at the bike shop the other day and it felt like a tooth pick between my legs, Definitely less of a bike than my TBA. So to all those pre-pubescent designers over there in England, this Boomer says "job well done, bring on a big bore!"

That guy would not make a pimple on a good writers a@s.
He's an idiot, is right.

jerry

Who cares what some snooty Italia-phile thinks of, well, anything? Nobody should be getting upset. Opinions are just that, opinions and you know what they say, they're like arseholes, everyone has one and they all stink.

i have to say though that i consider the sound of the b'ville power plant one of it's weakest points.

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An engine which can be seen - and look like a real bike engine, not a blob of amorphous metal. An exhaust note which says that things are going bang inside a real engine, with valves opening and closing and pistons going up and down.

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His email is sean@ducatistore.co.uk (not that I would encourage anyone to blast him in an email! ).

Note the ducati in it. I would expect nothing less from a shill.

Mr.Melling's article is very similar in tone, if not execution, to the lastest issue of Motorcyclist Magazine in which they do a comparison test between the new Ducati 1000S and the Triumph Thruxton. It's entitled "Cafe Racers".

The writer of that article presents them as "nice" but rather "weak" reproductions of those bikes during the days of yore when the "Ton-Up Boys" were out on the road in the 1960s and 1970s.

It's basically says the Thruxton is underpowered but a pleasant ride if you don't push it too hard. The Ducati is given the nod in power and road-holding due to it's better suspension, but is uncomfortable to ride as compared to the Triumph.

Now considering the Ducati is almost $2500.00 more and has a larger engine by about 150cc's is also discussed BUT not made much of, in that article.

THIS FACT is the VERY REASON why I have been saying since the new Bonnevilles were introduced back in 2001 that Mr. Bloor NEEDS to supply the public with an "S" model of this line of bikes. With a 1000cc engine AND upgraded(fully adjustable on BOTH front and rear) these twin-cylinder Triumphs could capture their FULL POTENTIAL.

THEY SHOULD COME FROM THE FACTORY THIS WAY, MR.BLOOR, and THEN there would not be this perception by much of the riding public that the Bonneville line is "just a cute little retro machine".

Cheers,
Dwight
(But I KNOW, like a lot o' things I say to people, this'll fall on deaf ears ALSO)

The guy starts out with the disclaimer that he dislikes retro bikes (among other stupid comments). Wot??? That's like doing a review of the upcoming baseball season, but first declaring, "...I must tell you that I hate the game of baseball. Never could stand the game. So now, on with my review..." Doesn't that sorta blow your credibility right outta the gate? You would think they would find a reviewer that at least likes the retro genre.

Maybe he should just buy a Ducati Monster and put an 'I like Ike' sticker on it. That kind of retro would suite him better.

Well, I don't know about the "I like Ike" sticker, John.

Seein' as how that there Cafe Racer thing never really caught on too well with us 'mericans back then, I'd say something along the lines of a "Rita Tushingham Rocks" OR maybe even a "Get out of my way, you bloody Mod" sticker would be a little more appropriate, wouldn't cha think?

(I mean, anybody remember "how well" that XLCR Harley sold back in the '70s in The States here?!)

Maybe I'm gettin' a bit long-in-the-tooth, but this past saturday I went to the Cycle World Int'l Motorcycle Show in Long Beach, and was very impressed with the new Ducati 1098. It's a absolutely beautiful machine.....WHICH....MAYBE.... one half of one percent of the riders out there who will purchase it will have the riding capability to fully utilize IT'S capability....NO MATTER their age.

That's what I LIKE about these so-called retro machines. you can easily modify them in order to have some fun in the twisties and thus use a lot more of the bike's potential, compared to these modern machines that almost have no place for them OTHER than Willow Springs(or whatver your local racetrack's name is)

And, these "new-fangled" babies sure AREN'T much fun on the Interstates or anywhere there's an absence of mountains, are they?!

Cheers,
Dwight
(I guess the writer of that article has never heard the ol' saw..."It's more fun to go fast on a "slow bike", than to go slow on a fast bike")

Who cares what some dipsh!t writer like that says.

Here's my review of my 03TBA:
I LIKE IT!
I like it alot.

That's all that matters to me.
Uncle Charlie

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Here's my review of my 03TBA:
I LIKE IT!
I like it alot.

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I like mine '02, too, ALOT!

The guy obviously has no imagination. I'd love to have a standard Bonneville to go with my America. But being imaginative, I'd change the paint scheme to a more retro look to improve the rather Spartan design. The Bonneville is gorgeous sitting next to a Ducati, any Ducati. And with some minor mods, the Bonneville will fly too.

The guy is obviously biased from his email address. I would take anything from this Ducati snob with a grain of sand. The article has no meaningful insite or facts. All it has is this blow-hards opinion.

I'm not defending what he said but he does start by saying he doesn't like retro bikes. If you read further down he rides race bikes and so something retro like the Bonnie is gonna be absolutely no interest to him whatsoever. Maybe if he rode a Thruxton he might like it.

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The guy is obviously biased from his email address. I would take anything from this Ducati snob with a grain of sand. The article has no meaningful insite or facts. All it has is this blow-hards opinion.

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The email is for the bloke who sells them at Ducati Manchester. Not the bloke who wrote the article.

oneijack:

'Twat' is a vulgar term for the human female naughty bits. It is not normally used in polite company or as a complimentary term.

Xoxo,
JB

I was able to redeem one bit of comedy from the article's opening paragraph..
"a fully paid up member of the trashed-bodied, bald, old wrinkly user group"

I'll give the geez' a one handed clap, for that one.

A Bonneville fat? And that thing in the picture with the 30 gallon gas tank and a regular rear mudguard grafted onto a farting grasshopper frame and what looks looks like a broken water cooled HD engine is not ugly as sin? That fool needs glasses.

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A Bonneville fat? And that thing in the picture with the 30 gallon gas tank and a regular rear mudguard grafted onto a farting grasshopper frame and what looks looks like a broken water cooled HD engine is not ugly as sin? That fool needs glasses

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Oh Ed,
You're so good. My feelings exactly.
Ride On, Dear Brother.