That's why this board gets so much credit for selling so many bikes!
I was right where you are 5 1/2 years ago, drooling over a VTX and never had ridden a bike before, other than just a couple of times as a kid.
Once I found the SPEEDMASTER and this forum, this forum, and the activity on it, sold me on the bike, and on TRIUMPH.
I thought I needed a water cooled engine and shaft drive, and a lot of displacement. WRONG!
It's been a great 5 years since I bought the bike, and my only regret is I didn't ever get the itch earlier in life.
I bought the Black Speedy because I didn't think I cared for the Tornado Red, Sky Blue, or Racing Yellow offerings at the time. It wasn't because I liked Black. Now, after seeing a few vintage Triumphs at our annual New Ulm Rally here out of Houston, I realize that some of these colors are coming back around from years gone by, and that's cool.
There was a Root Beer colored Bonneville 750 at the rally this year......BEAUTIFUL.....
If you can or intend to do any wrenching on your new bike, the carbureted models are easy to work on, and it's fun to do your own maintenance and mods, and learn about things like carburetion as you go. The fuel injected bikes may limit some of the opportunities for that, but I'm sure they would both be reliable mounts.
You won't be sorry.......
