Bonneville America Forums Forums Technical Forums Performance Mods Too slow - me or the bike?

Recently went away for a weekend (from south of Sydney to Victoria, Australia) with a bunch of Triumph riders, mostly T'birds and Bonnies, me on my '06 Speedmaster - all of us with panniers or luggage bags to cater for a 4 day ride.

The first 2 hours down the freeway were no problem keeping up with the bunch at 130 kph. We then turned off onto the old road, and the others took off leaving me in their dust. For the rest of the day, about another 500kms, I couldn't catch them, some Bonnies with pillions.

I only got to see them for fuel stops or at turns where they would wait to make sure I went the right road.

I reckon I push the SM pretty hard, it's got Staintunes, been re-jetted, K&N air filter, dyno-tune, Ikon shocks and springs, and going pretty well I thought.

Most of the roads were fast with sweeping turns, nothing too tight. I thought this would be great for my bike, but I was sadly mistaken.

I still enjoyed the trip but maybe the problem is me, and not the bike. I don't think I could have pushed much harder and still kept within my limits.

Hey its a cruiser 130+ ? maybe you bought the wrong bike I have a speedy and have recently taken the 2006 bonneville for a spin and was surprised just how easy it was to ride and manoevre in comparison. The two may share the same motor but are very different machines. The bonneville for me doesn`t come close in style and comfort.

I recently rode a 04 Speedie from Mt Colah (Nth Sydney) to meet up with Sandmann in Brissie. It was a hire bike and as stock as they come. Even still had the AI on.

I'm used to throwing my bike around the corners. I've even done a track day and kept up with the others. (Except on the straights but it was only a short one...) I'm not saying you are a bad rider, but maybe just need to go that little bit further - but not beyond where you feel happy. I went for a ride with the guys out to Queen Mary Falls and was keeping up with a bloke on a Honda ST thing. (A Pan European over here) So it can be done.
Just remember that the SM is a lot heavier than a standerd Bonnie and so is gonna be a little slower getting up to top speed. I've been riding a Thruxton for the past 3 weeks and was scared that was gonna lose me my license....the Bonnie isn't as fast but is still faster than a SM/America off the mark.


I'd question whether you wanna ride with guys that won't wait for you. You are on a trip with them. Not a trip just trying to play catchup.

i know what your on about I took my SM for a ride with a few mates in a straight line a guy on a thruxton passed me at 150kms like i was standing still .it winds out but not too responsive over 160.

You will never keep up with the Thunderbirds, they are much too strong. It sounds like they just drive faster than your comfort level. The bike has 20% more than you were pushing it so its not the bike.

I would have been riding with you. 160 or 80MPH is a very good cruise. There is something wrong with the ride but it had nothing to do with you I am afraid. Find a new group.

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I would have been riding with you. 160 or 80MPH is a very good cruise. There is something wrong with the ride but it had nothing to do with you I am afraid. Find a new group.

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What he said.

T birds will smoke you every time. The bonnies may be a bit quicker, probably mostly a ridibg style thing.

I agree with Gina, I think it more who you rode with than anything else. Even when I ride my 64 BMW R50 my friends don't leave me behind. Even if they take off for a min or 2 they slow again so I can catch back up. To leave you behind and only wait at fuel ups is unkind and inconsiderate. My R50 is very slow in comparison to everyone I ride with and they don't leave me and we all have a great time. I have no problem keeping up on my SM though either and I tend to cruise about 80 MPH on it.

It's one thing to have one particular stretch where everyone knows ahead of time " you're on your own" but not the whole ride!

I agree with Satxron and Pipedr. Find a new group, your on a cruiser so cruise. If you want to feel better hang out with some H-D guys with baggers and watch um scrape their boards. The speed is well within the capabilities of a modified SM just not comfortable all day...I dont mind giving it a squirt but with no shield and an open face it gets a bit much after a while.

Gotta love these forums. Thanks for all the great replies. I agree with the consensus, that I should ride with another group, though I'd only ever ridden with the leader of this group previously.

FYI, I also ride a '02 Speed Triple, which is a bit like Jekyll and Hyde compared with the SM. I love the ride of the SM, as well as the looks (all black, incl. black shocks), so maybe I'll continue to take the ST for a 'fang' and the SM for a 'cruise'.

Oh man we should hang out If I could get a second bike, the S3 would be it!!

The Tbirds have more power and the Bonnies are some 24 kilos lighter and geared differently. On top of that, the seating position and fatter tyres on the SM and America adds more drag. Now, if you get everyone on the freeway and just go and go at around 115 KPH, you will probably have them begging for mercy before you get tired of riding.

It's only a wheelbase question.

TBA/SM have too long wheelbase for twisties, and if you arrive too close to the inside of a curve you're abliged to brake if you don't want to go out on the other side risking to go offroad or crash with a vehicle coming from the opposite.

To drive with a so long wheelbase you've to prepare curves and learn how to drive in a racing circuit for best time.

Arrive large to the curve and close the stearing just at the last moment to go tangent to the internal of the curve.
You'll be faster and will be able to stay closed to your friends.

With their shorter wheel base they can go faster on twisties, also if they're not good driver.

A good driver with a TBA/SM can go faster than a bad driver of a bonnie/thruxton.

That's why in Italy we don't like easy roads.
And if a road is too easy, in some kind of races we make artificially more difficult...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMMwUeKQ3qg

Come to Italy, me and some friends of mine will teach you on our mountains.
If the bike's world championship is italian, there's a reason...

Speedmaster to NC and the Dragon. After having a Speedtriple in the mountians the last 6 years I was concerned about taking the 06 speedmaster. Turns out I had nothing to worry about. I enjoyed all of the N Carolina roads as much or even better then when I was on the Speed Triple. Our group was 3 Tigers and 1 Speed Triple and the triple was the only one to give me fits since I obviously did not have the power to keep up - especially coming out of the corners.