Bonneville America Forums Forums General Motorcycle Forums Other Bikes CRUISER SUCH A LOSER

I read this article in one of the UK rags (The People) and practically choked on my tea and crumpets. What an a$$ hole. I'd love to go head to head with him on a Ducati and me on either the America or a Thunderbird and head out for a 2 or 3k mile tour. He would need hospitalisation (from the riding position obviously.. not due to any physical agresion on my part... or though... )

This may get moved to other bikes i guess... your call mods.

CRUISER SUCH A LOSER
Thundering bad idea from mighty Triumph
by Paul Myles

Imagine if a car maker like Ferrari made a city runabout to compete against Nissan's Micra - it would be a travesty.

And travesty is the only way to describe Triumph's new Thunderbird cruiser.

Because Triumph, boasting a proud 100 years' history of making some of the finest handling machines the world has seen, has created one of these tragic wastes of metal - a custom cruiser.

These feet-forward, laid-back monstrosities with elongated front forks and podgy, fat-arsed handling are a pain at slow speed. The stretch to the bars makes manoeuvring so cumbersome and unwieldy.


And, at high speed the rider is forced ever more backwards by wind pressure until the arms scream with a pain matched by the agony of hours locked in an unnatural riding position. Cruisers are simply THE most uncomfortable modes of travel for any journey lasting more than a couple of hours. Epitomised by the dreadful rubbish made by Harley-Davidson, cruisers are more about show than go.


For a noble brand like Triumph to enter this lunatic market is proof that someone at the Hinckley factory has lost their marbles, particularly as the US market for Harleys has plummeted in the recession.


The best way I can describe the experience of riding a cruiser is that it provides all the excitement and pleasure you would derive from beingfitted for your first Zimmer frame. Yet the saddos on the other side of the Pond have voted the Thunder-bird best cruiser of the year.


To be fair, the Triumph trounces almost every department the Harley in almost every department except the engine.


It corners free from the fear of falling over and is arrow straight and stable at motorway speeds.


But at speed, the 1,597cc trademark parallel twin engine begins to feel buzzy through secondary vibration and less pleasant than Harley's big V-twins.


It's pretty thirsty too, sucking fuel at 32mpg - the same you'd get at full chat on a Ducati 1098R Bayliss. I know which I'd sooner end my days on.


Styling is a straight rip-off of H-D designs of recent years but the Triumph's superb build quality puts the shoddy rust-prone American machine to shame.


So if you've given up on being young the Triumph is a much better choice than the Hog. I just hope the Yanks buy so many that we never see them on our roads - getting in the way of the proper sports bikes Triumph builds.

I guess Triumph never made a cruiser before the Thunderbird? So do we ride sport bikes then?

I guess our bikes slipped under his radar or something?

Hes going a little overboard trying to compare ride positions for long periods of time. Possible higher speeds at long periods of time?

Either way its just his pro-racing bike opinion...make way for all the pro-cruiser opinions written below....

new baby fatboy reflections...

Take away Paul Myles thoughts about feet forward riding (and get his nose out of the ozone) and I would say Myles just about nails how I felt about the new Thunderbird this past August 1, 2009.

Boy, he must've upchucked in his shorts when the Rocket III arrived on the scene...

Too bad they don't allow comments on the web site: http://www.people.co.uk/tm_headline=crui...-name_page.html

But they do have a contact page: http://www.people.co.uk/contactus/

Responding to this tosser's uneducated, small minded comments only validates them. If he's lucky one day he'll get his head out of his rear and realise there's more to riding than narrow twisty british roads and that great big chunks of the world have highways that will leave the average sports bike rider crippled from being doubled over after 2-3 hours. It's unlikely that he'd want to get so far out of his comfort zone that he might have to question his beliefs however, so I won't hold my breath.

The writer obviously has an opinion and a preference for sport bikes. To each their own, and I'd frankly rather not have him(her) associated with our delightful crowd, anyway.

My guess is that he(she)it doesn't like deliscious Jaffa Cakes, either.

His comment about the recession and the introduction of a product to compete with Harley is mighty short sited, in that no one (or very few) saw this recession coming, it nearly landed over night, and the new Triumph was on the drawing board for a long time before the recession hit.
When such a glaring lack of fact or forethought is present in any article, it fairly invalidates the author's ability to present a balanced and true piece.

Just let it go.
When you argue with a fool people have a hard time telling
who is who.

Well, someone missed their coffee and jaffa cakes this morning !

I'll bet he's quite used to "unnatural riding positions" he's just not usually on top.

Everybody has an opinion. I like my bike. That's the only opinion that matters.

When I was young (yes, motorcycles were around), I rode only sportbikes, and have rode to both coasts on one. I preferred the sportbike riding position, as I felt I had more control over the bike.(one reason cruisers aren't rode in competition road courses. ).
When your young, you don't hurt your little muscles like old farts do!

Somebody woke up grumpy.

Just another cruiser review by a sport-bike rider. You might as well let a PETA member review a hunting rifle (or a NRA member review a Michael Moore movie). Who cares what he's got to say if he was pre-disposed to hate it?

Hey chump ,why waste site space on your nonsense and stay in your sport bike sites where you pussies belong.

This is like the lists that magazines and web sites throw out there - "Top 100 Songs of All Time" "Top 20 Rock and Roll Bands of the 20th Century" "Top 10 Muscle Cars" etc...

You read 'em, you realize they were written by some 20-something zipperhead who wasn't even a zygote when this stuff was going on.

You get ****** and reply, venting your spleen, and that is exactly what they wanted in the first place. Attention.

Well I'd like to cruise on over to that loser and show him a thing or two!!!

Cruisers make losers outta crotch rocket users (not near as provocative as before I edited this post).

The People contibutes as much intellectual stimulation and reflection on reality as The Beano! A fine example of tabloid trash! Always prefer to make my own informed judgement when parting with hard earned cash.

Otherwise a fine article!

i am absolutly in lust for the new thunderbird.
it is a beautiful bike that just needs a few changes to make it perfect.
i luv the fact that it has such a huge vertical twin engine with the misterious 6th gear.
cant wait till i can get one.
when will this depression end???
stv

Glad to see The People is more bike friendly these days. I can remember a campaign they ran when i was at school that only just stopped short of making all bikes have two extra wheels and a roof, with enough room for a passanger to sit next to you. Can't remember many details as it was 26 years ago, but am fairly sure all pillions would be banned, engine size and power so restricted that you'd struggle to overtake a pushbike and so much leather you'd never run short of milk. Haven't read the rag since for some reason