Bonneville America Forums Forums Off Topic Discussion Forums Lounge Triumph reliability

When I read about all the mechanical problems of Triumphs on this site (it seems like there are ALOT), I wonder what I am in for with my America. Is this because you guys have tweeked your bikes for performance etc or what?? I like the Triumphs alot and wish the company had put a little more quality into them-- instead of 'chromed plastic' on the fuel tank for the lights, etc, or maybe a better quality metal(?) for the fenders. Are there people out there not having any trouble at all with their bikes??? I don't know whether to cut my loses now and get out or what!

Haven't had any problems at all with mine (that were not my fault). It's a great bike, hang on to it.

Soren

I've owned mine for 2 years / 7000 miles, and bought it new. Here's the list of problems I've had:

2 indicator bulbs blown (a faulty indicator was replaced under warranty at the 500 mile service)
2 headlight bulbs blown
2 speedo cable loops broken (both replaced under warranty)
Paint peeling inside neck of tank (tank replaced under warranty)
Clutch cover fell off (replaced under warranty)

None of those problems stopped me riding, and the vast majority were sorted out quickly and easily by my local dealer. I can live with that level of reliability

I can honestly say that any problems I've had with my bike were my fault. I've done quite a bit of modifying and I'm still in the tweaking process. The basic out-of-the-box bike has been extremely reliable. Wouldn't trade it for anything.

sidekick- glass half full or empty. You normally find niche sites tend to bring out problems and then the solutions follow. I for 1 have never had a better bike. To have a site which spends time patting each other on the back and congratulating each other never reads so well.

If you have experienced no problems on your bike then you may be a lucky one ...keep hold of it-you wont be disappointed

I've had my TBA since '02 and not had 1 problem. I rejetted, changed pipes and removed the snorkle. I even have the original battery!

I tinker quite a bit and after 6000 miles had no "real" problems to speak of. Don't muscle in the pillion screw or rear foot peg hanger screws as they will strip quite easily.

I noted you have a '68 Triumph chopper. If its equipped with Amals and Lucas electronics, you'll notice a vast improvement in reliability and maintainability in the Hinckley era bikes. Most people wrench because they want to nowadays, not because they have to.

I believe the most common problem I've read to date is the front brake disk warping and the quick necessity to change the rear pads. Being used to the old Lockheed brakes on Norton's and Meriden era Triumphs, I for one have always down-shifted to the point of using minimal brakes and have yet to have a problem.

To keep the bikes "relatively" inexpensive, costs were obviously cut as evidenced by the cheapo plastic fuel tank "dash", plastic front fender, and less than great chrome work. Keep in mind the tin work, paint, and chroming were done in Thailand, once again to probably cut costs. So, there are some quality issues, but IMHO nothing substantial.

Although I loved my old Norton and Bonnie, there can be only one (two kids in college) and to date, I'm glad I made the decision I did to sell the Norton and trade the Meriden in for the Hinckley. No longer do I "not drive a Triumph farther than I'm willing to push it home".

Stick with it,

Tom

I couldn't imagine finding a different bike that is more reliable. My TA is almost a year old and the only work that bike bike has needed is tweaking modifications (as others have mentioned). A lot of what you read on this site relates to user mods, changes, and improvements. I read recently that Triumph warranty claims since 2002 are less than 1% - better than most manufacturers out there.

mine is a 2006 with 1900 miles..no problems at all, i hug the bike at least once a day..its all about the love

the only work I've done on this bike is that which I wanted to do...having had a 1979 Bonnie, I have driven only just over 1K on my new 05 and I can say that that is 5-6 times more than I could have gone on the 1979 without having to "fix" anything

'02 BA bought new, now with over 22,000 mi. Still have original battery. Chrome in some areas could be improved, but I live on the beach and expect this to happen. No other problems, just routine maintenence, and some mods. Just wish I had known about the AI removal early on to prevent the blueing. One of the most dependable bikes I have ever owned.

Tom.

Any problems I've had with my bike were a result of my own tinkering. I've got just under 19000 miles in 2.5 years and I absolutely love my bike. Wouldn't trade her for anything. I've had a minor crash and a couple driveway drops (I let her down as gently as I could once I figured out what the F was happening) and she is practically bulletproof.

sidekick,
23000 miles and these are the major problems I've had:
-neutral indicator lamp lens blew out-warrantied
-highbeam indicator lens blew out-warrantied
-broken speedo cable at back of speedo 2 times, found that if I routed the cable a tiny bit different the 2nd time it relieved some stress where the break was occuring, no more problems since- both under warranty
-oil pressure switch fell apart ($18 since out of warranty)
-new brake pads and front rotor due to normal wear and tear(and I wanted the EBC Floating rotor)

So, if these are big issues, then better stick with a Toyota. Otherwise, stop worrying, your bike will be good to you. Mine has been more reliable than my previous Honda, so...

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I can honestly say that any problems I've had with my bike were my fault.

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sidekick,
Don't worry. I'm with blackdog here, my very few problems were due to me doing my own wrenching & tweaking.
One of the older salesmen at Bogart's in Birmingham, Alabama told me he was at first worried about carrying the Triumph line, but since has realized that Triumph's quality is right there with BMW. He said the only thing people bring Triumphs in for is scheduled maintenance and occasional 'working bugs' out. And the Triumphs are a WHOLE lot cheaper to repair if needed. He also mentioned that their Ducati line is still a total maintenance nightmare compared to Triumph.

If you come to a web site like this you are going to find alot of tech talk. Thats the whole point. If you buy a Honda or a Harley then sign up with one of thier sites you will find a a lot of tech talk on those brands as well. That is the nature of these forums. I can assure you, having owned a couple of triumphs myself, that you will not find better reliability with any other manufacturer.

It is not all roses. I'm on my 2nd BA. Triumph took the first one back (a red 03) after many months in the shop in less than a year for leaks, severe knocks, and assorted other crap and ended up having to give me another one (a green 04, not a pretty story).

If you want something a little different with the odds of getting a problem bike a bit higher, get a Triumph.
1 Meriden Triumph and 2 of 3 Hinckley Triumphs have served me well.

But you have to do the numbers. If you want bulletproof, the odds are better with a Jap bike. There are a zillion of them so you'll get a good one for sure.
So get a Jap bike. I've had a few, they're great.

But don't expect strangers to regale you with stories of "Back in the 60's I had a Honda just like that"... and just this past weekend, true story, after riding 3500 miles, and taking a lunch break at a rest stop near Philly, a French (I think French) tourist chick walked past my buddy's Connie and asked if she could take a picture of my grubby, dirty, loaded Triumph. That's worth something. Well, I think so anyway.

it seems to me that the people that make negative remarks about this bike are either fishing or dont have one. it seems to me that the people that own this bike never really complain about this bike. it seems to me that anybody that has sold this bike always cant believe they are doing what they have to do, not that they want to sell the bike but that finacial, or family obligations get in the way. and when someone poses this kind of question it always seems that they never give any insite as to where they are, who they are, and if they own this bike or not, and i usually assume that they dont and that they tend to want to see what the reaction is gonna be. so to you sir i will guess your fishing before you buy. i dont have a problem with that. because if you seriusly look at things around here you will see that this bike in its original state is probably one of the most trouble free bikes on the mkt. today. thats not to say that they are all perfect after all they are just human beings that are putting them together and just like anything that is man made can have faults. i have several friends that have had way more trouble with their brand new h.d.s than anybody i know that owns any Triumph!!! i have friends that have yamahonzukis that some are trouble free and some are not (not as bad as h.d. but not ALL trouble free) so to answer your question....i dont think you have to much to worry about if you actually go out and buy a Triumph. no more than any other and less than some. people tend to talk bad about the old bikes (all) and you often hear about the lucas electrics, and the dripping of oil, and the lack of dependibility of the old Triumph's but i have one that has 112000mi on it and i have never had any complaints about her. some guys just cant leave well enough alone, that old bike is almost as stock as the day i bought her and she has NEVER failed me!!!! so i think i will leave this one alone also and see what happens. i have an 02 with 20,000mi and no problems yet. so you think about what you want and if you are looking for a bike to tinker with all the time, this may not be the bike for you??? but if you want a bike that handles like a bike should, and an engine that seems to be pretty much bulletproof (unless you fool with it) and is relitivly easy to work on when OR if the time ever comes that there is a need, a bike that didnt come from the asian world, and a bike that has a history of being a world class marque. then i think the answer is simple. a machine is a machine....some last a lifetime and some dont, i believe its the luck of the draw or the way you hold your face, i've never been sure hahahahahahaha

3 years, scheduled service, a few modifications, that's it. Take a look at the service manual, these bikes are built like a tank. The dingus on the tank could as well have been made of stamped steel or cast zinc, but they woud have cost a lot more and wouldn't last much better.

As far as reliability... close to 100K miles between the
'96 and ' 03 and no problems outside of normal service..i.e. chains, sprockets, tires. Of all the marque's I have owned and ridden, the closest to that kind of reliability were my Honda's... one of which I still own.
The Triumphs have been superior. at least that has been my experience.

Thank you all...I just flipped out for a moment. Now that I have a bike that will keep up with my husband's Valkyrie, he says he thinks we should SLOW down so we(????--him!) will get better gas mileage! Ha! It is a great bike and she won 1st place in a bike show over the weekend at at rally. There were only 2 in her class; she beat out a Moto Guzzi. Hey, it's a start.

Congrats on the trophy. Post a pic of the bike and the trophy if you can.

Like others have said, problems come up on message boards because that's what they're here for. If you don't have problems with your bike, you aren't likely to throw up a post that says "I did 800 miles this month and the bike didn't break".

Personally, I've only had one problem that cost me some money. The igniter box went out, and it was $550 for a new one. Hopefully Brent is going to get an aftermarket replacement sometime soon though like the one for the regular Bonneville.

I'v never been in any bike dealership that didn't have bikes in the shop with problems. Yes even bmw's. I recently had a friend that bought a new harley sportster that made it excatly 20 miles from the dealer. The engine dropped a valve and locked up. Needless to say he was not a happy camper. The dealer promised to have him riding in a couple of weeks. All machines break.

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BMW K1200 tourer. He said they've had to replace his (bikes) rear-end drive three times

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Bill,
I talked to a long distance rider on a Suzuki V-strom 1000. He told me he rode BMWs for 17 years. Then he realized how much time he was spending in hotel rooms awaiting parts. He decided on the Skuzki and glad he did. He didn't want a chain drive, but the Vstrom hasn't missed a beat. I sat on one - it's as tall as a Tiger and rather top heavy.

I am not saying Triumph is infallible, just that they have a track record as good as any other manufacturer. My brother has a newer Yamaha and a good buddy has a newer Honda, both of them have had their bikes in for repair a couple of times. I have several friends that ride Harley's and their bikes have had even more and/or bigger problems. I have had both the America and Speedmaster respectivley and had no problems with either model other than going in for regular maintaneance or to fix something I screwed up all on my own. To be quite honest it pi55e5 my buddies off.

I have one Harley (complete with metal dash) experience. Left for a ride to Alabama last Fall with a Road King. That bike cost about 17k and had another 8k in it. My little TBA cost about 8k and is still under 11k after numerous tinkers, adds, subtracts, etc. Anyway, the Harley broke down 45 miles into the trip. On the way back, it lost 2nd gear. Somewhere in the very slight curves of Western Fla/Ga, Harley rider told me to ride ahead as his bike was shaking in the turns, because he was riding two-up. I am not talking twisties here folks.

I am pretty happy with my little plastic dash.

Ryan

Over 2 years and still running strong.....Angelis

the plastic is cheap... but it's light, too.

i beat the hell out of my speedy and have had no problems in 18,000 miles. love it...

cat