I own BOTH bikes. A 2004 America that looks ABSOLUTELY nothing like stock. I made an old school bobber out of it, and LOVE it like no other. Its a wicked lookin' street sweeper that gets looks everywhere I go (like I care). I fixed it for MY tastes. I bought the Thunderbird so my girl and I could cruise hundreds of miles quite comfortably. We could do this on my America, but choose not to. I don't consider the Thunderbird an upgrade, merely a different animal for a different purpose (BTW, it draws a huge amount of attention too--like I care AGAIN). When I want to wake up the neighborhood and shred some curves, I jump on the bobber. When she and I wanna bust out 300 miles in a day and save our eardrums, we break out the "old man bike". Both are beautiful, both are Triumphs, so who cares? Apparently those who give a crap what other people think...one day I'm also gonna own a Speed Triple, and she's gonna have a red Thruxton. And SOME day the '73 Bonnie on that Ironhead frame sleeping quietly in my garage will be awakened and there's gonna be a Triumph party in Birdtown, North Carolina. Everybody's invited.