In my teens and twenties I rode dirt bikes. My first street bike was a semi-chopped Triumph Bonneville 750 with the right side shift. Once I learned to work on it and keep it going, it was a very dependable ride. Very stable and comfortable. A friend let me ride his Harley (78 soft tail?). That bike rode good but I didn't like the way the air cleaner forced me to sit with my knee out to the side. I later rode another friends sportster. I liked that one okay. But my Triumph just almost seemed to drive itself. I stopped riding for about 20 plus years. I'm 50 now and been back in the saddle since 2002. Nowadays every jap bike mfg has tried to clone the V-Twin cruiser with a lot of success and many improvements. Nowadays every other bike on the road is some type of V-Twin with Harleys in the minority. If I every get a V-Twin bike, I want it to be an old-school Harley. The newer Triumphs are so much better than my old bike. I just keep gas in it and the regular maintainance kept up and ride. I could do that with the new Harleys as well but I don't like to drink the koolaid and be like everyone else. The Triumph parallel twin design is unique to the motorcycle community. The Rocket family of cruisers are getting better with every year model and Triumph and the aftermarket vendors are producing more quality accesories every year. Don't get me wrong. If you get a Harley I think you will get a great ride that you will love. But for me, there just is nothing on the rode like a Triumph.
