Featured Belated Test Rides

Guys.

When I joined I promised an update of my test rides on May10th but was unable to make the appointment due to a complication with a crash helmet so this was cancelled. Long story short I bought a lid and rebooked the test rides for today, the photos below are of course the bikes I test rode.

So to start with the Bonneville T100. Hard to say but I find it hard to justify Triumphs price tag for this machine. I wanted a two tone paint job so at £8900.00 its quite a price for a bike that will need its suspension sorting at additional cost from new. Other than that, what a lovely bike, at 54 I'm done with the wizzing around, knee down screaming around bends and the T100 is very much the opposite, for a leisurely commute and weekend outing it has to be a very good choice once all of its small issues are sorted,

OMG, the Thruxton 1200R, all the bells and whistles, Ohlin's goodies shining in gold everywhere, but £12000.00 come on, is it really worth it? Its quite the looker but I cannot for the life of me see where it fits in the biking world. I guess if you have a large wage packet and would like an ornament for a sunny day then this is the bike... As for the ride, it pops along very well, responsive when in sport mode and handled very well, turned a few heads on my test ride which I guess is a very good thing but I had that with my GSXR1000?.

Oh boy the Street Triple 675RS... Geez, what a fun little bike, well not so little really, that 675 could keep up with the big boys all day. I had an amazing time on this machine, nippy in the corners and very quick out. As much as I tried, I could not fault it.. I didn't want to take this bike back to the dealer, it was that good!!!

The Tiger, I wanted to test ride the XRx but they gave me the top of the range XCa, again lots of buttons that did wonderful things but I was too frightened to touch anything other that the indicators lol. I have an sofa that I sit and watch my films on, well this Tiger was like riding my sofa, it was so so comfortable, tipped into the corners so well, and glided on effortlessly no matter what roads whether smooth or bumpy and responded well to all that the roads and traffic could throw at it. Very nice machine.

Before I went, the order of the bikes would have been Tiger, Thruxton, Bonneville and Street Triple... After the test rides, Street Triple, Tiger, Bonneville, Thruxton....

Thank heaven for test rides.... Now time to think this through and figure out whether to buy new or a very clean low mileage machine....

Give me a few weeks and I will of course put up my new (to me) Stallion lol.

Best Wishes
Andy

 

Guys thanks for the input above, I will try to reply to all of the above I guess in order of above.

Triumph, looking at their bikes have an extensive range, a fair few variations of the Bonneville engine in different styles of frames etc, of course I would not get to try them all although the Street Cup caught my eye as I walked out of the dealers. The Speed Triple, again no I have not but god did I love that Street Triple. I was amazed at that 675 engine and how she handled so her big sister has to be a huge contender and by the looks of it I must return to the dealer to at least try the Speed Triple.

The test ride for the Tiger was on the XC, the model that was given to me to ride had the heated seats etc so Im guessing the top of the range for that version although I did request to test ride the XRx as that was the bike I was interested in buying, but I guess the dealer will give you the top of the range to ride as Im sure the top end bike will ride very differently to the base model so I will ensure I try the XR before buying but thanks for the reminder Littleade.

The helmet issue was a personal one so forgive me for not sharing it although I did buy myself a new Shoei so I could get around to the dealer for the morning of fun. https://www.jsaccessories.co.uk/buy/shoei-xr1000-helmet/5413.htm,

I hope I didn't or don't offend any of the owners of the above bikes, more particular the Thruxton and the Bonneville owners, it really was not my intention to pick holes in them, it was purely my thoughts on the bikes I rode and of course it was not really meant to be a "Top Gear" rundown of the tested machines, to be fair I wish I could write a in depth review, but there are better men than me with better keyboard skills and the time to write them.

The more I think of it the more I would most likely turn to a Bonneville, the reason is even at 54 (in two weeks) I cannot resist the twist of the wrist and to wind up any bike willing to play. Who wouldn't. I am looking at many bikes but keep coming back to the Bonneville, its a bike that you don't want to thrash, a low mileage nearly new say 2014 onward, I would look to upgrade the suspension and sort out some of the other know issues i:e slow throttle control etc. Anyway, tea time lads. Ride safe.

Best wishes
Andy

 

I love a good forum, plenty of ideas from like minded guys with the same interests in mind. Plenty to think about and looks like more test riding to come.

 

Good god, I will be checking that as soon as I get home, thank you Steve.

 

Lol, with all those test rides I won't need to buy a bike this year lol

 

Yep you were right Steve. 070722 or 22/07/07. Gave them a call and they said that the shell do not start to deteriorate until it is out in the air and sunlight so as it was in the shop etc the shell will be fine lol. I told them I will be returning it on Saturday and will be wanting a refund. Apparently the don't do refunds as a company, I guess we will see. lol.
Thanks for the heads up Steve, its good to share information. why don't we have a thumbs up picture?

 

Well I'm sat in the car as the wife is in the pet shop, must be 100 degrees out as it's blooming hot. We have just returned from J&S and he strongly held on to it was safe to sell even though Shoei's own website says they will warranty their lids up to 7years after the production date so this was three years over that, anyway came away with a Shoei GT Air in short a very nice lid but £130 more than I wanted to spend.

 

Wise words kind sir. Have to admit it's a nice lid.

 

I did, my post on FB, Google Reviews etc also If you notice I put "and was pointed to the production date buy a friend" we are all friends here right Steve?

Bought a new Shoei helmet from the Bristol branch, took it home and was pointed to the production date buy a friend, remember I bought a new helmet, production date was 22/07/07 todays date 25/4/17 so that makes it 10 years old. Was told by the shop that this was acceptable and within the limits of Shoei helmets. I checked Shoei's website and their warranty covers 5 years from date of sale or 7 years from production date which ever was the soonest, the guy at J&S shook his head and said I was wrong, they do NOT offer a refund although they changed the helmet for a newer model, my purchase limit was £300.00 for a helmet, in the end I had to spend £420.00, they discounted £20.00 so £400 was spent, still £100.00 over my personal spending limit .... So PLEASE CHECK PRODUCTION DATE WHEN BUYING A HELMET

 

A big up to Steve for pointing it out to me. I emailed Shoei to ask why dealers would be selling their kit so old and thus causing bad feed back for their gear, not had a reply but if I do I wil post it. Guess I have ended up with a much better helmet but at £400 was an expensive purchase still a lesson for all to check the manufacturing date was worth the hassle lol