Oh, yeah, the point of the thread. All I want from a bike is for it to be affordable, to have a decent frame and a reliable and flexible engine. In other words, the basics. I can sort the rest out as and when I can/want to afford it. I bought my Speedie because, overall, it's the prettiest bike around. I love the outline, the seat, the wheels, the pipes, the forks, the blacked-out engine and the clocks. I hate the dash, the cheesegraters, the mirrors, the pumpkins and the rear light. What Triumph have done is given me a beautiful blank canvas and then made it road legal by throwing a few cheap bits on and, for that...*breathes*...I thank them. I broke my budget to buy my Speedie, not by much but any more would have meant I looked elsewhere, probably at the Sportster or Suzi SV650S that I was also considering. Eventually, all the things I hate will be gone to be replaced with items of my choosing/design-some of them already have.
All that said, part of me wants to agree with you; they should offer factory options. Not just the usual pipes and seats but upgrades for everything-mirrors, nuts and bolts, indicators, eckt...in effect, they should offer the Mulliner treatment. (See Bentley)
BUT, doesn't that go against Triumph values? Personally, I feel that Triumph is 'the peoples bike'; it's a bike to be ridden by the common man, not trailered by accountants. And that means keeping the purchase price down and that means making cuts in certain areas.
And that is why I ride a Triumph.
