Kawasaki Concours Forum
Riding => It's not a Concours - other Bikes => Topic started by: Awaz on September 26, 2011, 02:37:33 PM
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What is your opinion on triumph cruisers such as america, speedmaster, thunderbird, etc?
Buddy is looking for a good cruiser. He is not a speed or performance fanatic and do not want to consider HD just yet.
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I've had two Triumph Americas, an '07 and an '08. I went with the America as I wanted the comfort of the wide handlebars over the drag type of the Speedmaster. The only mechanical modification I made to them was to replace the stock exhaust with the Triumph short slash-cut exhaust and plugged the air injection. They were extremely comfortable and had more than enough power for me whether I was one or two up. The 865CC parallel twin is bullet proof.
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My buddy had an America, nice bike, he loved it, he wrecked it and bought another America. It sounded very much like my Bonneville, so thats real good in my book. He is smaller than me, not sure if I could ride all day on that bike, but it fit him perfect. He put gas and oil in it and just rode it, still has it as far as I know.
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I rode the Thunderbird for a short demo at Daytona ,and I
have to say it's the best cruiser I have ridden .
Great engine ,relatively smooth ,handles nice ,and you can even lean it over a little without dragging parts !
Very comfortable too ,although YRMV ,Fits me ,anyway . I understand Triumph dealers will arrange demo rides -you really should try one.
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I tested the Tbird at a Triumph demo day. It's a nice bike but I was happy to hop on my Vulcan 1600 afterwards!
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I have some desires for a Triumph. Mostly there tiger and sprint lines but a cruiser could be possible. The first problem is that of dealers. There are not many of them, and my nearest is at least 30-40 miles away. There bikes are of a design that I think are what I want. They are British built and historically that has not garnered a good reputation for quality, parts availability, reliability or ease of maintenance. I have heard some stories along those lines with the new Triumphs but they are supposed to be much better now.
There are not many of them around but if I found one at a good price, when I was looking for a bike, I might go for it. I would want to talk to some local mechanics first though, to see how they felt about servicing triumphs. Right now if I were looking for a bike it would be from a Japaneese manufacturer. I buy used so finding a deal on something I would feel good about riding is the first priority. The c10 is an awesum motorcycle, and it does not cost much.
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I have some desires for a Triumph. Mostly there tiger and sprint lines but a cruiser could be possible. The first problem is that of dealers. There are not many of them, and my nearest is at least 30-40 miles away. There bikes are of a design that I think are what I want. They are British built and historically that has not garnered a good reputation for quality, parts availability, reliability or ease of maintenance. I have heard some stories along those lines with the new Triumphs but they are supposed to be much better now.
There are not many of them around but if I found one at a good price, when I was looking for a bike, I might go for it. I would want to talk to some local mechanics first though, to see how they felt about servicing triumphs. Right now if I were looking for a bike it would be from a Japaneese manufacturer. I buy used so finding a deal on something I would feel good about riding is the first priority. The c10 is an awesum motorcycle, and it does not cost much.
The Triumphs are built like Asian bikes. No less reliable, IMHO. The dealer situation could be bad, but if a mechanic can turn a wrench on a C-14, they can turn a wrench on a Triumph.