Bonneville America Forums Forums Off Topic Discussion Forums Lounge Hate being a Newbie.....

But that is what I am, at least to modern Classic Styled Triumphs.

I'm 44, been riding since I was 12 years old, and have owned many motorcycles over the years, chief among them and still my favorite to this day is my 1979 Yamah XS1100 with 124K miles on a never opened motor except for tappet shims back in the 90's. One of my other favorites was the XS650 which looked like a British Twin. Regret selling that one...

Since 1990, I have ridden Sport Tourers almost exculsively, with Concours, RT's, Trophy's and my last an FJR 1300. I've outgrown these styles, too big and not great for how I ride anymore. Sold all but the XS11 off, tried an FZ1, but found it too sporty for my aging body and tastes, not to mention that my abilities to take a bike to its limits is failing.....

I love my XS11, but dont want to abuse my pristine baby as a daily rider, and am looking back to the classic style, but modern performance and reliability, so this obviously leads me to the Speedmaster & America which seem to be 99% of all I want, and most importantly, the wife likes..... Here is my one concern, I've not owned or ridden a sub 1 liter motorcycle in almost 20 years, and my wife and I ride two up all the time. I want for us to be able to ride with plenty of reserve power. No more racing or track days for me, but I want decent power.

I actually was about to pull the trigger on a leftover 07 Tiger, when I decided to look at the Triumph site, and was blown over by the Speedmaster & America.

OK, enough yapping, here are my questions.

1. I see the HP/Torque stats, but whats the real deal? How does the power and dynamics of the motor compare? I see lots written about torque but what is the real world comparison? Power at top of rev band? lower? or mainly middle? I'm thinking it has a healthy mid range torque & power output.

2. How is the Speedmaster Two up for day trips? with Luggage for a week?

3. What is the Speedmaster like over Long Distances? Leave you sore and shaken? Optimum cruising speed? (the sweet spot)

4. Fuel Mileage and Reliability?

5. I've found links for quick detach luggage, but how easy is it to swap out the seat? I like the standard seat on the Speedmaster, but would want the Touring seat. Is it easy to swap for those weekend trips?

6. What are you guys seeing as far as easy bolt on performance upgrades? Pipes/Filters, Jetting, etc.

7. I wrench my own stuff, about 99%, what can I expect?

OK, I know much of this is discoverable in searches and I have been and will be looking. Sorry to be a pest, but I'm excited about this, am in Iraq and about to head home for my mid tour leave, plan to spend some of it on a new Motorcycle!

Cheers!

Steve

Hi Steve

I think you will be happy with the performance of the speedmaster, or the America. I have the America and ride two up quite a lot with the Mrs, who says she falls asleep on the back. Not like a Hardly they are very smooth.

I get around 150miles before I think about looking for a petrol atation (IN THE UK REMEMBER) as for touring very comfy it's like being sat in an arm chair.

As for bolt on products, maybe not as many for us at the moment but we have a good few places that are changing this. The performance can be increased by changing out the pipes and rejetting and if nescessary you could fit the BB kit.

I'm sure someone else will chime in with other bits n pieces I have not mentioned. Safe riding

Welcome!! and thank you for your service!!!

1- In the real world, you have oplenty opf torque and HP. No problems at all with having enough.

2- Riding two-up is not a problem. You may want to get the touring seat or the America seat with pilon pad for passenger comfort. I have the touring seat and havent had any complaints from passengers even after a several hundred mile day.

3- I have put 600 miles on in a day. Other than the normal tiredness of a long day, I felt good. I have found the sweet spot on my bike (not measured in speed, but RPM) is about 4500 rpm. I have the 18 tooth front sprocket and in 5th gear, 4500 RPM is an indicated 80mph and leaves me with plenty of instant roll-on power.

4- Highway riding I am averaging 52 mpg.

5- Changing the seat is a two minute job.

6- Upgrade to an 18 tooth front sprocket. Pull the snorkel from the airbox. Pipes are going to be a matter of personal preferance and jetting will vary with the different pipes.

7- Not much. These bikes are awesome. In four years no mechanical problems.

The Speedmaster is an awesome all around bike. It is great for around town, the open highway or back road twisties!

Soren

30K miles and I've never been stranded. Plenty of power for 2 up riding. Regularly ride 300 plus miles a day with very little to whine about.

1. What is not so obvious from the spec's is that these engines produce a flat torque curve from just off idle to redline. They have none of that annoying "peakyness" you get from other bikes this size. You don't shift up and down hunting for the torque, you shift because the engine is close to the end of the range and you don't want to lug or redline it. The end result is that you can easily stay with bikes with twice the displacement.

2. With the Speedmaster, you will probably want to replace the seat for serious touring. That gunfighter style seat gives the passenger the feeling that they might slide off at any moment. Of course, this makes her want to hold onto you all the tighter, so it isn't all bad.

3. I have an America, which is a bit different as far as rider position, but I have had no problems riding several hundred miles at a time. I'd rather ride it on a long run than the wife's Roadking.

4. No reliability problems at all. Riding it hard, I get 43 to 45 MPG. By hard, I mean triple digit speeds in the desert with a headwind. Highway riding at some semblance of the speed limit gives me around 50 MPG or a little more.

5. There is a bolt at the back of the seat and a quick release latch in the middle, so the stock seat comes off easily enough. The 2 piece seat that comes on the America (the touring seat looks like it would be the same) has the same bolt at the back. The rear seat pushes forward a little to disengage it from a slot in the middle bolt and it then lifts off. Undo the middle bolt and the front seat lifts off.

6. The sky's the limit. At a minimum, aftermarket pipes, removal of the air injection system, removal of any rubber tubing in the airbox and rejetting would serve you well. There are kits to eliminate the airbox altogether for a marked improvement in breathing. The later bikes come with very mild exhaust valve timing, so anything you do to improve performance would be greatly enhanced with a different cam. You can get a big bore kit that increases the displacement to 904 CC without harming the street behavior at all. There are some of these bikes modified for racing that have been bored and stroked to 1200 or bigger.

7. These bikes are easy to work on. The engineering is excellent and makes me think the designers are also home mechanics. For an example, the cams are driven by an idler shaft that is driven by the timing chain. You can take the cams out and replace them without having to risk losing the chain down into the crankcase.

If you get any of the Triumph twins, you will not be disappointed, but the America and Speedmaster are the best of the bunch.

The Speedmaster (which I just sold, long story, but it involves needing cash) has more HP and torque than my Harley's 1450cc engine.
It takes off way faster, doesn't like to cruise as fast (85-95 on the Harley Softail) ONLY because the Harley is heavier and doesn't get blown around as much... I ride solo.
Oh, I was doing a lot of riding in extremely wind, 50 lbs of stuff on the back is not equal to a passenger.
Ok, except out in West Texas, 85 is illegal anyway.

I only took a couple of short trips, maybe 700 miles each round trip, no problem. The bike just hummed along. although I did have to donwshift a time or two to pass...ok, I didn't HAVE to downshift, but hey! How're you going to know what redline sounds like if you never get there? <G>

The America was more comfortable, but I bought the Speedy because at that time (06) it had twin front disks. Most of the stopping power is in the front, the Speedy will stop way faster than the Harley with one disk does. And I like the look of the Speedmaster better.

Plenty guys on this forum ride two up all over the country. No problem. Unless you're 6'5" and you, your passenger and your luggage outweigh the bikes weight limits, you shouldn't have any problem.
Do some kind of AIS removal, makes a huge difference. Plenty of info here.
Take care and ride safe.
Mary

I've got an 07 speedy.....like already mentioned, please don't get caught up in stock numbers.

By just removing the top snorkel, rejetting and adding bub pipes, I ended up with almost 5 footpounds of torque.

It will NEVER compair to the liter sport bike type engines but the triumph twins' power curve is so linear that it makes for an excellent 2 up bike when compaired to similiar displaced cruisers.

I traded an 800cc vtwin metric in for the speedy. HOLY COW is the speedy better at everything. Off the line, rollons, stopping and handling in the twisties are all FAR better.

I had to add the oem floorboards to REALLY get comfy after about 200miles of riding. I also added a corbin seat which was great to begin with but even better when I installed the floorboards.

as far as luggage goes, it's all up to what luggage set up you go with. It's easy to add a givi box and a larger set of bags which will give you a ton of space.

Lots of guys and gals add aftermarket suspension to their speedy/america. I added a set of progressive 440's that are AWESOME. Awesome compaired to the stock and awsome compaired to ANY suspension that i've encountered.

oh! I forgot.

I rode the speedy from up state new york to the boston area last year....i was solo. I felt that with a 1/2 helmet and no windsheild that 70-75 was my sweet spot. BUT quick role ons up to 90-95 was great for this displacement. Again, it isn't a liter inline 4 by any means but MUCH better then a 900 (or much bigger) vtwin.

first season I had my 04 Speedmaster Wendy and I rode 2 up all the time since she didn't have her America yet. Loved it so much bought her America for the following season. We did both day long trips and week long trips with luggage. We are not light I go over 200lbs and she isn't light. We didn't carry too much luggage but enough for a week in the hotel room. We also rode from here in north east PA to Laconia NH with no issues and plenty of power and reliability. Still no breakage with my 04 SM or her 04 America. The Laconia trip was from here to N Vermont in the driving rain and never missed a beat, we were with my friend on his America too and he was 2 up and same thing no issues.

question 3 see above and the return trip home was straight through at 80 to 90 MPH with bursts of well over 100 MPH 2 up. Didn't leave me with any ill feelings and runs very smooth.

Seat swap is 2 bolts and EZ Brackets are the way to go for luggage, twist of a key and they lift right off.

Pipes , filters, and jetting are all a piece of cake. I like my gutted stock pipes but there are plenty of made for the bike options as well as 1 3/4" HD intended stuff that will work.

They are very easy to work on and all of the info in this thread is searchable and would be found if you sifted through all the resutlts.

My 02 America does not like to run in the rain. It also broke down twice on a trip from VT to Missiouri. Thanks to the members on this site we were able to get where we needed to go! While my husband rode a 03 Sprint, we were both comfortable with our rides. We did up to 600 miles in a day.

AND Thank you for your service to our country!
aka vtladybiker
Cindy

Just get the thing . You won't be dissapointed . BTW - THANK YOU for your service .

These are very cool and versatile bikes. Some have toured two up and are satisfied, but I wouldn't do it ('course I'm 6'4" 265, so it just leaves a little room for cargo).

It depends on you and your wife, you may find it quite adequate.

For oft two up riding on the Speedmaster, get a different seat. The pillion part of the stock gunfighter sux.

Riding by myself, all day on the Speedmaster with Corbin seat is easy. While the Corbin is an improvement, the stock Speedmaster seat is very comfortable for solo use.

I have an '04 Speedmaster and I have left the original 16 tooth front sprocket on. I like having the extra grunt out of turns and for city riding. With a rev limit of 7800 rpm I don't worry one bit about cruising at 5000-5500. (80 mph indicated is about 4800 rpm).

Quote:

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Here is my one concern, I've not owned or ridden a sub 1 liter motorcycle in almost 20 years, and my wife and I ride two up all the time. I want for us to be able to ride with plenty of reserve power. No more racing or track days for me, but I want decent power.

---

This is the part that concerns me. You may well find the America/Speedmaster inadequate. If you can, try one.

The SM is a quality bike. I personally prefer the SM over the BA for the bars, tach, wheels and dual disk front brakes.

With pods and pipes the power will be adequate. Going from EFI back to carbs is like stepping back in time, however.

Based on my 07, if you want to tour 2-up then plan to upgrade the front springs & rear shocks. The gunfighter seat is great solo (I actually prefer it to the solo seat), but not so for 2-up. If you put bags on the bike then you may want to relocate the passenger pegs forward.

This is one of those bikes that grows on you the more you ride it. The BA & SM can be readily customized to your liking. From my perspective a stocker is really just a starting point...a 2-wheeled blank canvas, that if done properly, you will get to paint into your own masterpiece.

Thanks all, this looks to be a great group, and I have been skimming the archives. Yesterday the wife informed me that she has chenged her vote to the Yamaha Road Star...... Something about seeing a group of Hardly Ablesens (what my son coined them) Roaring up the GW Parkway over the weekend. I've avoided the V Twin thus far, and plan to continue. Problem is no Triumph Dealer near her.

I was suprised when I told her that the difference in coin was $3-4K, and she said so....... It will be my decision, but you know how it goes..... Happy wife.... Happy life.

I am concerned about max power, but loving the flat torque curve and tractability of the motor. What I love most about it is the classic look. My Yamaha XS11 isnt up to modern liter class bikes, but it is so raw in its power delivery (and still does 11.8 1/4 mile runs) that it feels very fast.

Anyone have 1/4 mile speeds on the SM or BA?

Cheers!

Based on your original post. I think you will find our bikes inadequate for two up touring. Its all relative as some are perfectly happy with our bikes in that regard.

If you want plenty of reserve torque however other options for two up would seem more practicable

Before I bought my TBA I test rode alot of the japanese v-twins, and my seat of the pants impression is that they didn't feel a whole lot different in power. Bigger engines almost always equal much heavier bikes. I compared power to weight ratios on the Honda 1300 and the Yamaha 1300 and the Triumph bested both of them, by being a MUCH lighter bike. The only trade off that I've noticed is that I'm more affectd by crosswinds and passing semi's than a heavier bike would be , but since I do most of my riding solo and around town, I appreciate that lightness as it makes the bike much easier to throw around.

Thats the point I make. If you are running two up with a good load of gear/luggage and you want the kind of response to really move out and pass another vehicle "right now" then a bike with more sheer grunt is probably more in line.

I know at least one Speedmaster owner in town who recently bought a used Rocket 3. He says the same thing. He can carry his pillion and as much gear as he wants and the bike shrugs it off like a bear swats a gnat. he can twist the throttle at just about any gear and the bike takes off like a shot.

The bigger Honda metrics are not going to respond like a Rocket but they will be better than ours in the response regard with a full load.

You cant get that response from ours. But of course our bikes are much more handsome than all the rest.

Go for it Bulldog!!! I can't think of a better "coming home from Iraq present" to yourself than a brand new Speedie. You can get anything you need for any type of riding. Check out the pictures under Rides and Rallys, there are many couples here that tour, of course it would be better if you could get 2 Triumphs. One for you and one for your wife.

One thing, before you plunk any cash down, test both Speedmaster and America. The biggest difference is in the riding position, and you are certain to like one better than the other. Which, is a matter of personal taste. It would be a shame to buy on looks alone just to sit and admire the bike but not ride it because it doesn't feel good to ride.

I went 7000 miles on my speed and no tail/bottom problems at ALL!!! From Southern OR to portland,ID, WY,SD,WY,CO,KS,OK,AR,MO,OK fabed and mounted A rear hitch and towed a trailer back, TX, NM, AZ, CA,OR. no problems or power issues entire way!
AND back alive!!!

I would choose a speedy just because of the brakes. I would also up grade the way it breathes & front springs and you'll be very happy boy!

Scott

OK, a bit of an update. SWMBO (She Who Must Be Obeyed) has now agreed that the Speedmaster is "Our" next motorcycle, and I am psyched. She of course wanted a Harley, or a Big V-Twin Cruiser, so I told her to go look, compare, etc. She did and fell in love with the Speedy........ "Just like our XS but newer!" (Just for the record, the XS is MINE ;-)

Still looking researching, reading, really enjoying the site, and the "attitude" that pervades here, is awesome, and I look forward to contributing not just taking. I'm building my short list of Mods. I am psyched. BEST part? I could buy TWO Speedmasters for what SWBO had approved budget wise....... So she is happy. And when Mommas happy....

You have just exposed my devious plan, get her hooked, get her licensed, get her her own. My wife really is awesome, especially when we agree

She knows it, it pre-dates her several years, but I love that she is as attached to it as I am and calls it "ours"