Hey Gary! I too was there last year. And I kind'a know what you mean in regards to the "real Bonneville" thing. And trust me, I know the "thoughts" of many of the standard Bonnie/Brit Iron Rebel crowd too. Most, if not all, are very nice people who know a lot about bikes and are pretty decent riders.
But I too felt "a little out of place" among that group. There is somewhat of an undercurrent of sentiment that the concept of a Triumph "crusier" is mildly "sacrilegious" because those boys in Meriden "back when" never produced such a "animal".
Well, I can kind'a sort'a see their point alright, but what THEY don't seem to realize is that first...times change, and second...many many old Meriden Triumphs were bobbed in an american custom fashion back in the day, and as I recall(because I'm old enough to remember back then) some of those old "custom american-style Bobbers" kinda' sort'a resemble our own BAs and Speedies of today.
AND, what they seem to have forgotten(or maybe just never knew before) is that these modern Triumph "cruisers" ALSO HAVE that certain old characteristic that has defined Triumph Motorcycles for many many decades...THEY HANDLE EXTREMELY WELL.
And so, last year at that rally when I passed a few of the Brit Iron Rebels on the straightaways there around Atascadero AND THEN continued to PULL AWAY FROM THEM in the TWISTY STUFF...well, let's just say I may have surprised a few of those folks a little and juuuuuust may have made a few of them realize that even a Triumph "crusier" still has that certain something that makes it a "Triumph"!
(but I doubt it...I mean, you know how hard old misconceptions die, don't cha dude?!)
