 Re: New Thunderbird ...wow
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Loquacious
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Loquacious
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Quote:
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Yes, it's been a huge disappointment. Fast, agile and comfortable for the long haul.
No comments were made in the disappointment or performance departments. Just that is is a fugly machine. Straightforward and simple fall through the ugly tree for that thing. That being said, all I have read about its performance have been very positive. Still fugly!
If ugly sells like the Vision, there's hope for the TBird yet. 
Kevin - Luceo Non Uro
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Re: New Thunderbird ...wow
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Learned Hand
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Learned Hand
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Agreed. What you see as ugly in the T-bird I find in the Vision that you seem to so adamantly be defending on a Triumph based website. So yes, I guess there is hope for the T-bird after all. Thanks for helping us to resolve that the fact that something is hideous in ones eyes will still sell as it is not hideous in another's. Well said!
Ride On!
Airguy
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You gotta' be smart to be lazy(and get a job done)
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Re: New Thunderbird ...wow
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Saddle Sore
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Saddle Sore
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Here's what I'm betting, there aint gonna be any fins on this thing. That would include shark fins! 
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Re: New Thunderbird ...wow
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Loquacious
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Loquacious
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Agreed. ... Well said!
It's all in good fun. To each his own, as long as we're all on 2 wheels.
Enjoy & ride safe. 
Kevin - Luceo Non Uro
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Re: New Thunderbird ...wow
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Hi Fasteddy, The T-BIRD has a very comfy seat, the tank is BIG to look at but it does not feel big between the legs and the forward controls are well positioned.The handle bars felt similar to the Speedmasters.The dual speedo and rev counter will take a bit of getting acustomed to in my opinion.
My name is phil . . . I ride a TRIUMPH
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Re: New Thunderbird ...wow
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Loquacious
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Loquacious
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(BTW T-Man...like you ALSO said above, Judie says it's a good thing I'm not completely sold on the T-Bird's looks, because, well, like you said above......) 
Here's a time frame for you.
My bet is that around mid-August of next year you'll be turning on the charm.
(You know why I am saying this date).
Bedouin.
Blessed are those eyes that have seen more roads than any man! (Homer).
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Re: New Thunderbird ...wow
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Learned Hand
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Spoke with a dealer today. He will be more than happy to take my $500 deposit. He thinks July and in the $11k-$13k range. He said he expects to know more after the new year. We shall see. I am still gonna shoot for the $14k+ price for the T-Bird fund range. Better over than under IMO. We'll see. I would like to see color selection and options and such. Definitely destined to become the road trip bike so as then I can do some more playing with the America and all.
Ride On!
Airguy
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You gotta' be smart to be lazy(and get a job done)
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Re: New Thunderbird ...wow
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Learned Hand
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Dealers all pretty much say that the production bike will look different than the pics we see, there will be changes in the looks.
Our Liberties We Prize and Our Rights We Will Maintain
If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and will never be.----Thomas Jefferson
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Re: New Thunderbird ...wow
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Learned Hand
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Thinks for the pics Phil. Beaneater (Harry) and I where also at the UK show yesterday. We carried out a scientific experiment to show all you guys and girls who have not sat on the bike its size. 1. Harry was placed on the Thunderbird. 2. Harry wes extracted from the thunderbird and placed on an America. Pictures where taken at each stage and then and are avalible to view here 08 NEC Bike Show RESULT. We will have to go and do it all again next year as Harry put his feet up on the high pegs fitted on the America  I thought the new bike looked great, sitting on it it feels not much different from my America, tank is bigger, headlight lower, ( see pictures) I would say this is it finished as it was fitted with loads of extras, note chrome switches and covers over brake resevoir. There are some cooling type fins on the barrels should you wish highlight them with a dremel. Only minor thing I would change would be there is a big gap where the float bowls would have been on the RHS. never mind I guess it would be a good spot for a tool box. Enjoy the pics, I certainley enjoyed the show, sorry I cant get them to view here, perhaps somebody can, feel free.
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Re: New Thunderbird ...wow
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Loquacious
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Loquacious
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Thanks for the pics and experiment (linked below), NIBiker. I know Triumph are tight-lipped about specs but did you manage do get anything, like weight perhaps? Is it my imagination or do those cooling fins seem to be a bit more visible? Dwight! Who have you been talking to???  /08nec5.jpg) and the experiments: /08nec1.jpg) /08nec2.jpg) (I had to copy pics to another location in order to link them here).
Last edited by Bedouin; 12/05/2008 10:12 AM.
Bedouin.
Blessed are those eyes that have seen more roads than any man! (Homer).
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Re: New Thunderbird ...wow
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Learned Hand
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Thanks Thanassis, I just added the rest of my photos. Those fins do look bigger.  [image]http://motorcycles.fotopic.net/p55243318.html[/image]
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Re: New Thunderbird ...wow
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Fe Butt
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Fe Butt
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Hmmmmm. Well, whaddaya know?! It looks like Mr. Bloor DID take my advice afterall, when I told him that if all else failed he might try applying a little Miracle Grow fertilizer right there where those fins SHOULD BE, and then wait and see if that helps!  (actually, sorry guys, I don't see those four little "fin-ettes" lookin' much larger there...that cylinder head still looks a little bit like Popeye's arms here to me...all forearm, and no biceps)  Gotta say though, that blue T-Bird is NOT UGLY at all. I like it!!!(well, except for my one reservation, ya know) And BTW, ya know what that area needs right behind those EFIs to cover that bland looking hose aft of it and just ahead of the side-cover??? A perforated chrome faux air-cleaner cover, just like what's on our bikes!!! Now hard was THAT to figure out TOO, huh?!
Last edited by Dwight; 12/05/2008 2:56 PM.
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Re: New Thunderbird ...wow
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Learned Hand
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How odd that the plaque under the bike reads " New Thunderbird." Is that so we don't confuse it with the old one?  Say, what are those two things way up on the crash bars? Ankle rests?
'08 America Blue/White; Custom Headlamps, Custom Lowers, Clearview 20", Bafflectomy
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Re: New Thunderbird ...wow
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Nice pictures NIbiker  Looked like it was quieter the day you visited the N.E.C. than when I was there, I could not get any close ups too many people in the way 
My name is phil . . . I ride a TRIUMPH
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Re: New Thunderbird ...wow
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Fe Butt
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Fe Butt
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Ahh, come on now, Jack!!!
You're gonna pick on the ACCESSORIES on it???
Dude, if you're gonna do THAT, then pick on the fact that there's a chrome housing bolted on that radiator which draws the eye to it!!! Which I'll NEVER understand WHY even the "Chrome-aholics" out there would want to draw attention to any RADIATOR on ANY motorcycle!!!
(note to those who will purchase this machine: DO NOT BOLT A CHROME BEZEL AROUND THAT RADIATOR...PLEASE!!!!)
Yep! Just like a good Single Malt Scotch, you might call me "an acquired taste" TOO.(among the many OTHER things you may care to call me, of course)
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Re: New Thunderbird ...wow
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"I know Triumph are tight-lipped about specs but did you manage do get anything, like weight perhaps?"
Bedouin in "Cycle World" Nov 08, where they tested the T-Bird (as said in a earlier post) They say the seat height is 27.5 inch, Wheelbace is 64.6 inch, Overall dry weight expeted to be about 650 pounds, Fuel tank 5.6 gallons And ABS will be a optional on the triple 310mm disc brakes.
Hope that answers some of your questions.
My name is phil . . . I ride a TRIUMPH
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Re: New Thunderbird ...wow
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Learned Hand
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Learned Hand
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With water cooling we can squeeze more hp out of the motor for a given size since we can remove the heat more quickly and efficiently using water as compared to air.
The types of motors we typically use don't fall in this category of needing HP "squeezed" out of them. In fact, you can really only do that in two ways: A) Increased displacement, which creates heavier motorcycles (and still doesn't require water cooling until more radical volumes are reached), and B) high performance tuning, which sacrifices broadband torque for a narrowband increase in volumetric efficiency. This is highly undesireable in a cruiser/touring bike.
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It is also partially for this reason that we can run higher compression ratios and such (i.e. greater heat generation) to get a more complete combustion of the fuel used.
Higher compression ratios also require higher octane. This is neither a solution nor a requirement to meet government regulations. In fact, many combustion chamber designs intended to make better use of high compression ratios are inherently "dirtier" than otherwise, offsetting any potential gains in this area.
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Maybe you can put your engineering head to the problem
It's not an engineering problem. Al Gore isn't bitching about motorcycles. One only needs to get the point established that these motors emit far fewer contaminants per mile travelled that autos and trucks. Hold our machines to the same standards per mile travelled and all this goes away. This problem exists in large part due to the negligence of the motorcycle industry in failing to address and present these issues appropriately to government rulemakers.
'08 America Blue/White; Custom Headlamps, Custom Lowers, Clearview 20", Bafflectomy
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Re: New Thunderbird ...wow
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Fe Butt
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Fe Butt
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Sorry Jack. Your last paragraph there is not true. The average motorcycle IS "dirtier"[emissions-wise] than your average modern passenger car is today. Many, if not the majority of privately owned motorcycles in this country have had their exhaust systems and/or their fuel delivery systems modified by their owners after their initial purchase which contributes to this fact. This idea that because motorcycles on average have fewer combustion chambers than does your average car, seems to contribute in keeping your "theory" alive with many motorcyclists, but once again, it's not true. See attached: http://www.mrf.org/pdf/WhitePapers/Volume1-1993/MotorcycleEmissions.pdf
Last edited by Dwight; 12/05/2008 3:49 PM.
Yep! Just like a good Single Malt Scotch, you might call me "an acquired taste" TOO.(among the many OTHER things you may care to call me, of course)
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Re: New Thunderbird ...wow
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I saw the Thunderbird in the flesh today also. Nice looking machine. I still prefer my Speedmaster though.
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Re: New Thunderbird ...wow
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Learned Hand
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What are the actual sales numbers and demographics of those buyers? Are the numbers of any real significance in the context of national sales of motorcycles? And how many of those buyers are ex-HD/Honda/Kawa riders "moving over," rather than current or ex-Triumph riders "moving up"?
your putting to much thought into it.. now triumph may keep track of this stuff .. but the last bike i bought..no one asked what bike i owned before or how old i was ..i waked in was looking at the tiger.. asked about it.. took one for a test ride.. and the next day i was riding a new one home.
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Yet, in real numbers, Triumph holds only a razor-thin slice of the market. The Thunderbird won't change that, and in fact, development of this machine in deference to one more broadly marketable will cost Triumph additional share. I'll go a step further by predicting that the process will accelerate due the current economic crisis. Rather than pushing aside its competition, the Thunderbird may very well be destined to a legacy not unlike the Edsel.
i know guys like you..who said the same thnig about the
rocket III i see almost as many of them on the road as
our bike..
triumph will do very well over the next few years because it is a smaller bike maker..and also it owned by one man..who does not have to answer to any one
ED 
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Re: New Thunderbird ...wow
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Learned Hand
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Looked like it was quieter the day you visited the N.E.C. than when I was there, I could not get any close ups too many people in the way
Usualy we would go for the first Saturday of the show and make a weekend out of it staying in Birmingham, this year we just went for one day ( Thursday ). Booked early and got a return flight over for £50 per person, still a good day out although most of the bargains gone in the stalls.
Probably do the same next year.
I will be interested to see the price of the Kawasaki 1700 Voyager, that thing is kitted out well standard.
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Re: New Thunderbird ...wow
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Booked early and got a return flight over for £50 per person, still a good day out although most of the bargains gone in the stalls.
Thats just over double what I paid for a lift down to the show and you would not have had the hold ups we had 
As for the bargains . . . I don't think there was many to start with
My name is phil . . . I ride a TRIUMPH
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Re: New Thunderbird ...wow
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Some cheap helmets but I thought the retailers were pretty thin on the ground.
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Re: New Thunderbird ...wow
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Loquacious
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Loquacious
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Quote:
The average motorcycle IS "dirtier"[emissions-wise] than your average modern passenger car is today. Many, if not the majority of privately owned motorcycles in this country have had their exhaust systems and/or their fuel delivery systems modified by their owners after their initial purchase which contributes to this fact.
This idea that because motorcycles on average have fewer combustion chambers than does your average car, seems to contribute in keeping your "theory" alive with many motorcyclists, but once again, it's not true.
Dee wight! Your bringing back REAL BAD MEMORIES for me and my beloved H1 & H2. 
And you may see me tonight
With an illegal smile
J. Prine
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Re: New Thunderbird ...wow
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Loquacious
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Loquacious
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Quote:
Overall dry weight expeted to be about 650 pounds.
Yes I saw that article ... somehow that figure doesn't sound right.
We'll know soon enough.
Bedouin.
Blessed are those eyes that have seen more roads than any man! (Homer).
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Re: New Thunderbird ...wow
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Freelance Jedi Knight
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   more pictures here.... Thunderbird btw tyres are 19 inch front, 17/200 rear
Last edited by Grzegorz; 12/06/2008 9:58 AM.
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Re: New Thunderbird ...wow
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Check Pants
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Check Pants
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There are times a little more ooomph would be nice, passing, riding two up, etc. I wonder how the mounting points compare with an America regarding seats, sissy bar?? Leaving an option of transferring the add-ons.
jh
"It's not what I say that's important, it's what you hear" Red Auerbach
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Re: New Thunderbird ...wow
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Learned Hand
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Gregorz. Suits you sir.  Good photos as well, thanks.
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Re: New Thunderbird ...wow
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Quote:
The average motorcycle IS "dirtier"[emissions-wise] than your average modern passenger car is today.
Now c'mon there Dwight - didja really think I was gonna be convinced by an article from 1993??? A case of Tsingtao says my <20K 5.4L F150 emits far more contaminants per mile of travel than this little 0.9L Triumph motor. Really man, if you can prove otherwise, I'll ship to your front door.
'08 America Blue/White; Custom Headlamps, Custom Lowers, Clearview 20", Bafflectomy
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Re: New Thunderbird ...wow
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Bar Shake
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Bar Shake
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Gregorz.
Suits you sir.
Good photos as well, thanks.
+1 That's the first picture I've seen with someone on it besides the early spy shots. It doesn' look a lot bigger then ours. I like it. 
"Catching a yellow jacket in your shirt at seventy miles per hour can double your vocabulary" Author unknown
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Re: New Thunderbird ...wow
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Learned Hand
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Learned Hand
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Quote:
I wonder how the mounting points compare with an America regarding seats, sissy bar?? Leaving an option of transferring the add-ons.
First thing to transfer would be the motor. 
'08 America Blue/White; Custom Headlamps, Custom Lowers, Clearview 20", Bafflectomy
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Re: New Thunderbird ...wow
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Freelance Jedi Knight
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Freelance Jedi Knight
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its not bigger than america ..one thing what u feel is that is a bit wider and to compare I'm 5'8" or 173 cm its really comfy
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Re: New Thunderbird ...wow
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Loquacious
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Loquacious
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There are times a little more ooomph would be nice, passing, riding two up, etc.
As clearly and almost fatally demonstrated in the Czech Republic during our ride (me on the BM) with Eddy (on the SM) in August.
Bedouin.
Blessed are those eyes that have seen more roads than any man! (Homer).
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Re: New Thunderbird ...wow
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Quote:
Quote:
I wonder how the mounting points compare with an America regarding seats, sissy bar?? Leaving an option of transferring the add-ons.
First thing to transfer would be the motor.
GET OVER IT . . . 
My name is phil . . . I ride a TRIUMPH
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Re: New Thunderbird ...wow
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+1 That's the first picture I've seen with someone on it besides the early spy shots. It doesn' look a lot bigger then ours. I like it.
Check out page 9 Paul for a few more.
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Re: New Thunderbird ...wow
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Wow, real world pics, thanks! I like it when I see the shots from 3/4 front, but then I see a side shot and that hot-waterbag looking tank kind of throws me a bit. It looks like it may handle okay. And I dont like the Thruxton stripes.
Ridin' and playin' 'til I can't.
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Re: New Thunderbird ...wow
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Grzegorz Any information on the blue one? Will that be the final spec? It's just there seems to be an awful lot of chrome on it. I thought Triumph would go the HD route and make everything an optional extra...and gouge us lol.
...yes, that is a single seat...no, I will not put the other seat on...yes, I am selfish...yes, you should buy your own bike
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Re: New Thunderbird ...wow
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Freelance Jedi Knight
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Freelance Jedi Knight
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who knows how would they realy look as a basic sale model both of Thunderbirds on the show had aftermarket adds on...show bikes had floating brake discs those on the pictures published before had solid ones
blue Thunderbrd had chrome swingarm cover front calipers covers ..don't know if chrome control housings are OEM or aftermarket...what my dealer told me few weeks ago about this annual dealers meeting was that there was lots of add ons for this bike separate accesory book for Thunderbird
and the blue one looks best for me but seen silver one without all this shiny stuff on month ago and looked really good and looking at other triumph lines there will be probably all black thunderbird either
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Re: New Thunderbird ...wow
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Loquacious
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Thinking this is the bike for me to "road-out" verses the Rocket III since I have taken the course of turning my Bonnie America into a stretched cafe' racer....thinking the Thunderbird with the hard "beetle" bags and floor boards with a heel/toe shifter
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Re: New Thunderbird ...wow
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Got a tip from the dealer on the pricing scheme:
$12,999 for Standard
$13,799 for ABS model
No more info on a release date, though!
2007 America, Phantom Black/Sunset Red
Deposit down on 2010 Thunderbird - can't wait for it!
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