Bonneville America Forums Forums Technical Forums General Tech America Miles/Problems

I am shopping around for a bike after a long layoff...from dirt bike riding when I was a teenager. I'm 33 years old now. I've never ridden street except on a street and trail bike from the woods to my house and will be enrolling in a safety course before I buy.

That being said, I had a friend point towards the America. I like what I see and what I've read, but I am worried about maintenance costs. My dad's pushing me toward a Shadow (probably Sabre) due to Honda's reliability record, but I want something with a little more character such as a Triumph or *gasp* Harley. I want something I can grow into without having to trade it for a bigger bike in a year.

Long story short...how many miles does your America have on it and what have you had to repair and what did it cost?

Thanks for the help. I'm really leaning towards the America, but as my dad (Valkyrie Interstate rider) said when I was looking at a Sportster 883, you want to be able to ride it instead of visiting it in the shop.

Kev

The Honda's are probably the most reliable bikes on the planet, however, they have no character. HD wannabes.
The Triumphs are unique. If you want something "special" get a Triumph, if not, just buy any old bike, an HD if you are a lemming. Be sure to put a tall antenna with one of those orange styrofoam balls on it so you can find it in the crowd though, it will get lost easily as they all look the same.
I have 16,000 miles on my 03 Speedmaster and have had only one problem, and that was not the bikes fault. I do all my own service and buy tools with the money I save so I can do more work myself.

Hey Kev,

Bought mine in August last year, just rolled 6100 miles yestrday, no problems. I was in the same place as you back in August. If I knew now what I knew then I would have bought one off eBay.

Best ride, handles, I say again, handles better than a Sportster and rides much better. For the money you will not be sorry. As Pat says you want proven track record get a Honda, but then again, my CB 900 Custom had weird motor problems in that the stud bolts started coming right out of the motor base (with threads) for no reason. Nothing is certain. With the warrenty on the Triumph you can't go wrong. If I was in the market for another bike, I would buy another America, without a question.

ed

I have an '02 TBA. Spent its first wwinter outdoors as I didn't have garage back then. I am just at 10k miles. Outside of my speedo cable breaking early on I have not had one problem with the bike unless I caused it myself. I guess you are supposed to keep them upright and all. Runs like a top. Easy to customize to your tastes. Reliable as he_ll. And you want a Honda why?

I appreciate the replies. I am curious why you say you'd rather have bought on Ebay. Is it just the cost savings off of sticker? What's the benefit? I feel dumb asking, but...

I know what you mean about the Honda. I've heard people talking about a "ticking" sound in the Sabre at times that seems to come and go. I guess you could have problems with any bike.

The cool thing is there is a dealership about 20 minutes from my house that sells both Triumphs and Hondas. I can do some side by side looking at the two. Then, I'll come bug you guys for pointers on what to look for in a used bike.

'02 TBA with 7K miles. Zero problems. I ride it daily now (it spent it's first 3 years with an owner that never rode it, just polished it). I've owned HDs and BMWs and they had nothing on the TBA in terms of quality or reliability.

6,800 miles on an '03 America. Only problems I have had were either self-inflicted or fixed under warranty/recall. My neighbor has a Honda Shadow that has a leaky shaft drive seal. His warranty is up and it will cost $250 to fix at the Honda dealer.

If I had to buy again, I would buy Triumph. I might look at the new Speedmaster for the bigger engine or wait on the new '07 mystery cruiser. Love the America though! I want them all.

Ride Safe!

Ryan

I bought my America new in Jan. 02.
21,000 miles now and all I have done is replace both tires, rear brake pads twice as well as regular maintenance and thats it.
I am a happy camper !

02 Red America, never a problem .
12k on it now.
04 Thruxton ( red )never a problem
1k, then it fell on me and I broke my leg.
so I did some mods and made it faster.

I have an '03 America just short of 5K miles. The only problem was that the wee ruber loop thing on the front fender that keeps the speedometer cable from flopping about broke. I don't really count that as a problem anyway because it gave me an excuse to buy the nice chrome one from NewSpeedmaster.com.
If you invest maybe $400 in aftermarket pipes, anyone on an 883 will have to make a much bigger investment in performance parts to keep up with you.

Hi Kev,

Vera is a pre-fire '02 Bonneville America with 36K miles and no real problems. Never stuck in the shop. Of course there are side stories ... I'm with dinqua: Do maintenance yourself and tool up with the money you save. Trump dealers that have a decent service department are very hard to find (as are any dealership, not just Triumph). Triumph's warranty is rock solid. Two years, unlimited mileage.

Triumph shop charges are 200 bucks for regular service and around 450 for valve adjustments. That translates into about 50 bucks for regular service and 80 bucks for valve adjustments if you use a shade tree.

Step up to Avons or Metzelers for tires. Watch the stock rear brake pads as they wear down quick--7K miles. EBC organics when you change those out. The stock petcock gets stuck and leaks. The Stock handlebar risers might need some spacers. The speedo cable loop breaks after 1 year. The speedo reads about 10% too slow. Your aftermarket options are incredible: Brent at newspeedmaster, Mike at BellaCorse, and Bill at Bonneville Performance, to name a few...Dealers to order genuine Trumpy parts include Bob at Palm Beach Triumph, Florida (usually has an inventory that he can ship out same day) Big4Cycles in Indiana (site sponsor, free shipping) and Team Triumph in Wisconsin.

As far as you purchasing a piglet, ride one first. They are tiny, top-heavy and the 883s are underpowered. Piglets are Lady bikes. Remember that all Hardleys leak oil. (Oil blow-by problems have never been an engineering concern of the Milwaukee boys.)

As far as a Honda Shadow, I am looking for a used one myself. Not to ride but to have as a beater bike. Ride to work, leave in rain, ride it and park it where I wouldn't want to ride and park Vera. But that is another issue.

What to buy? The triumph is a bit more than the Shadow, but you are getting a major bang for the additional bucks. The Milwaukee machines are three times the price of our trumps, with no bang for the additional mula. So whatever you buy, learn to wrench, treat her right and enjoy!

Kev, where in NJ are you? If the weather is right and lunch is involved, I might even take a ride over and kick tires with you sometime.

Like everyone has said, maintenance is the BIGGEST expense by far. Defintely spend the money on a lift and tools. Just do some searching and asking here before you attempt anything major and you'll be fine. Oh and I hear a shop manual is good too:)

12k miles in a year on a 2004 Green TBA. Have done 1k mile days with no problem. Had to have a front rotor replaced under warranty after riding for hours in the rain from the tail of a hurricane, in the mountains, warped it. But this machine is night-and-day different from the lemon 2003 Red TBA it replaced at 3k miles. That machine spent 4 months of the first 11 in the shop for warranty work (oil leaks, bad bearings, oil leaks, xmsn problems, oil leaks, bad starter, oil leaks, bad lower case machining, did I mention oil leaks). In the end, with a bit of back-and-forth, Triumph gave me another one.
So, if you want reliable, the odds are in your favor with a Honda/Yamaha/Kawasaki, soley based on the numbers. But you may note, with the option of getting my full purchase price including everything it took to get a new machine on the road (ttl) or a new bike, I took the bike. This is my 3rd Hinckley. I've had a Meriden Trident, a couple of BSAs, and many, many Japanese bikes. Back in the day, a motorcycle rider had to be a full-time mechanic. Man, today every make out there is basically a good bike. When thinking about a 2nd machine it's a really tough choice, but every time I get on the TBA there's no arguing about the first bike. Maybe it's easier to have a list of everything and start cutting out those you don't like.
Good luck with whatever you get (hey, maybe a Suzuki DL1000).
I'll take a breath now.

13,000 on my 03 speedmaster. the battery went bad early on and was replaced under warranty. no other problems. runs great and smooth.

cat

Hey Kev.

My 04 America (Sophie) has only had one issue - a troublesome oil pressure switch that was replaced under warranty. Other than the regular services the only surprising thing has been the relativley short duration of the rear brake pads (about 9000km/5000miles). Having said that, replacing them with sintered metal pads seems to have solved that issue.

Of all the bikes I've read about on this site I've only heard of two "lemons" which is a pretty good average. Another benefit of the Triumph over the Honda (other than character & street cred) is that the european bikes hold their value better than the japanese ones.

I've done 23500km (just over 14600 miles) in 18 months and she's never missed a beat. As for needing a bigger bike, I tow a trailer with mine regularly and have done so with a pillion, so you shouldn't have too many worries there.

Matt

A lot of this depends on how much maintenace you do yourself. DIY oil changes are a must if you want to save money because the Triumph oil runs you about $50/gallon. Doing it yourself, you can buy some Mobil 1 or other brand and cut that cost in half or more.

I have a 2003 Speedmaster with 27,000 miles on it, and outside of routine maintenace I've had little to do on the bike. Valve adjustments are the biggest cost if you can't do them yourself, about $250 every 12,000 miles. Maintenance costs between each dealer can vary. Might want to ask what your local dealer charges before buying. If you're looking at a shaft drive Shadow, you can save dough there over a chain drive.

As for reliability, I think it'll be hard to beat these Triumph twins. Since starting to make our bikes, Triumph has seen fit to lengthen the service intervals from every 4,000 miles to every 6,000 miles. Valve adjustments went from 8,000 miles to 12,000 miles.

I've been around this site for 2 years now, and I can't remember anyone blowing up their motor. However, I just had a quick look at a Honda Shadow board and came across this post:

"What he[mechanic] found is that the crosshatching on the rear cylinder was crap from the factory and the front cylinder was bad also, just not quite as bad. I now have a shot top end with 21,000 miles. He said it would take a total top end rebuild. New pistons, etc..I called the Honda dealer in Pasedena, Texas and talked to the service department. They said yes, they have dealt with several Aeros with the same problem from the factory and it will require a top end rebuild."

Now that doesn't sound like a reliable bike to me. The only caveat to buying one of these Triumphs is the aftermarket is slim on them. So if you like to just flip open the JC Whitney catalog and find 10 different sissy bars to choose from, then a Triumph isn't your bike. If you want something unique that won't see very often, then get a Triumph.

But really you shouldn't be making this decision based on maintenace intervals alone. Go sit on each and take one for a spin if you can. Buying a motorycle should be a visceral decision...one based on what your heart tells you. A motorcycle isn't like a car. For most of us it's a recreational thing, something you ride for fun. Whatever you choose, good luck and ride safe.

Quote:

---

1k, then it fell on me and I broke my leg.
so I did some mods and made it faster.

---

Pete, maybe some mods to make YOU faster would have been wiser?
Yea, I'm a wise-a$$

I can do just about any type of maintenance if either I have someone show me how to do it the first time or have step-by-step instructions. Sure, I'll have busted knuckles with as much blood as grease on them when I'm done, but I enjoy it. I have a one car garage on my 50 year old house. So, I can't get my car or my wife's SUV in it, and it looks empty. I'm thinking of bike workshop mod for it.

I feel a lot better about the build quality for the Triumphs hearing your experiences. I had read on motorcycle.com that the build quality was vastly improved, but you never know who's in the manufacturer's back pocket.

I've sat on the Sabre and thought it felt good, but there's still that rebel in me, still rebelling against my father and his Honda ways... I look forward to sitting on an America to see if I like the feel of it.

Thanks.

kev,
check out coyote's green BA, it's a steal at $5400, best of both worlds there.
Ads for maintenence, check out the really cool site at Pat's Triumph site lots of glossy 8x10s with circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back explaining them. Oops, sorry, I was watching Alice's restaurant the other day. Dating myself there eeh?
No, not dating myself like yota!

Cool, well I travel to Parsippanny fairly regularly for work, in fact I have a meeting next month there. Maybe we can grab a bite or kick some tires. My buddy James from Staten Island knows about Freehold I think... Anyway, been meaning to catch up with the guys in NJ anyway.

Kev
I had a Honda, it ran fine, no problems, dealership was five miles away, but it was a motorcycle with no soul.

I now have a Triumph. I had wanted one since I was a kid. It runs great, & no problems so far. The dealership is 95 miles away, but now that I have one, I can't imagine ever being without one. It definitely has soul.

Kev:

Another possibility: take a look at the classifieds on this site. There are usually BA's and/or SM's for sale. Odds are, they have been properly maintained by the member.
BTW, my year-old SM has given me no problems - NONE! Which is a good thing, because I am an incompetent mechanic (but luckily, Phil lives close by!)

And everybody knows that an 883 is no match for our bikes.

Palmer

Since new, I've had one problem I can't cure - I JUST CAN'T STAY OFF IT!

Best advice? Take a test ride... Then bear in mind that the America's just get better and better as they break in. I had some email/ordering dealings with Green Brook and they seemed like good people. But it wasn't their service department..... so I can't vouch for them.
Next best advice? Explore this site.. you will find more help and support here than anywhere else for any other bike ever made.........that kind of loyalty has to mean something...

Bought my 02 America used at 1,200 miles. Total maintenance costs exclusive of regular items (oil, brake pads, etc.):
$11 - Starter Relay
I had a year left of warranty when I bought the bike but never had any reason to visit the dealer. Good luck!

Benny, get over there and let him here what a Triumph with real pipes sounds like. Me thinks we will have a convert shortly thereafter! Save him! We are counting on you.

Ride Safe (on the way over).

Ryan

'02 Red TBA, 14,000 miles. No problems whatsoever other than routine maintenance. BTW, my friend her at work has an 03 Red Sabre. I have ridden it. No comparison. Mine handles better, is lighter and faster and just like you said has tons more character.

My 2002 Red TBA has 31,000 on the clock and I too have had no problems whatsoever with the bike. Freezing cold, blistering heat, pouring rain and not even a single hiccup!

What are you waiting for?

Kev, I can say that my America is as reliable as my old VF700 Sabre (also bulletproof). Mine turned 2 years old yesterday, and I have 17,800 miles on it. I have had no problems to speak of except for the following VERY minor issues:
1. Indicator lenses for Neutral and Turnsignals have come out 3 times, all replaced under warranty. Waiting on my last one to come in this week, and then I will apply superglue to all lenses and should never have another problem. All have come out at high (80+ mph blasts down the freeway).
2. Bike would not start twice. Once right after a hard ride, the battery was "Dead". Turns out it was corrosion buildup between the battery cables and posts. As soon as I cleaned them, and put a dab of dielectric grease on them, never again another problem like that. Second time, was right after washing it, I washed it in areas I never normally have, with a solid stream nozzle instead of the 'gentle shower' mode I ususally use, and it would crank but not fire up. It sat for 1 1/2 days, and dried out, ran just like nothing was wrong. I now know better.
To me, those are extremely minor issues, none of which makes me feel my bike is unreliable. I think you will find this bike just as reliable as a Honda. And, as others have noted, it feels like it has a soul, my old Sabre didn't. It was a fun bike to ride, but I was not 'in love' with it, like I am this bike!! Maybe love is blind, but in this case, it hasn't been a let down, I haven't found that blind love to have misled me!! BUY ONE, you won't be disappointed.

It's Monday the 11th.... If the weather is good I'll try to take the bike.

Workin on it Ryan:) My Epcos are on the way....

Kev,
My '02 came in March '02 - Now has 37,500 miles on it.
Only three problems I've had is:
1. I can't keep gas in it - have to fill it up again every
130-150 miles.
2. I can't stay off it.
3. I had to replace the chain at 28,000 miles.
That's It,
Dennis

You got it Kev. I think about the only auto groups about as anthusiastic as this might be Jeep guys who go offroading, do as many or more mods thant we do, etc. I'll keep you posted on the 11th. PM me your e-mail when you get a chance.