This has been on my mind- why I don't know- but I realized that given any circumstance other than the one that brought me here, I never would have come to ride a Triumph. I thought since someone asked, i'd share.
It was just dumb luck that I rode out of the office a different way one afternoon. I saw a shop on the side of the freeway that I had not been to before. It was Mar and Tony's EuroCycle here in Ft Worth (good folk's). I was in the market for a new bike. My 02 Concourse was jut too dang hot to ride in Texas heat. They block wind so well you can ride them in the rain and only have wet toes if you can keep her moving- anyway another neat bike but not a Texas summer friendly bike. I stopped into EuroSports and low and behold found a used Sprint 955i. I wanted it, and made a deal for it. I went home and got the wife so she cound go for a ride on it before the deal was done. I had brought home new toys before (suprise!) and she hated them- lessons learned. We rode the Sprint and got back to the shop and she proclaimed that she was tired of riding all up high and scrunched up. It scared her. The previous sport bikes I had owned were not her bag. The councourse was better, but She wanted something with a backrest and a comfey seat. Then, without warning, she pointed to the all black Speedmaster on the showroom floor and said, "why don't you buy a man's bike like that one?" I'm 38 years old, 6' tall and 225 lbs. Shaved head and goatee. I work out 5-6 days a week with heavy weights, play racquetball, and box in the fall. I never thought what I was riding was anything but a man's bike.
So, my ego puffed up, and having never owned a new bike before, said shure, why not? She was getting into going for rides and if it made her more comfortable, my happiness would be improved as well. We made the deal and took the speedmaster home. Two weeks later she was pregnant, and has been on the bike a total of 1 time. I guess it is a man's bike, huh?
I never would have bought a Triumph. I never would have bought a Speedmaster. After owning one, I'm hooked. This will be the first of many. A Speed Triple is on the hit list next, then a T100 or Thruxton. I'm a Triumph man now- to the bone.
Here is a little true story that makes owing a Triumph all the richer. I stopped at the beer store the other day. My neighbor down the road pulled in beside me on his 05 Softail that is overchromed. Three groups of people came over to look at the bikes- everyone was interested in the Triumph. No one even commented on the Softie. That's twice that has happened, and it pisses him off to no end...
