Which Way?

If it was me i would go for the extra grunt of the Thunderbird and i would imagine it has a lot more engine braking than the Speedmaster but you should get a test ride of both bikes..also if you're going to be carrying a pillion the Thunderbird would be the better bet

 

ROCKET 3 all the way!!!!

 

Hi Louis
A couple of years ago I decided to give up the fast bike types
It was a toss up between cruisers and adventure bikes
A mate of mine had a cruiser and absolutely loved it so I started looking at triumph cruisers and had my heart set on a Thunderbird Storm
Booked a test ride with York Triumph and away I went for a good hour and a half .....very interesting and perhaps a little bit disappointing
I think looking back now I didn’t give the Storm the credit it deserves
I found the riding position very comfortable but strange at the same time
The engine braking that’s been mentioned was for me way to strong but I had rode down to York on my Fazer thou and the two bikes couldn’t be farther apart with regards to riding position and power delivery
So....what to do next?
Spotted a 09 EFI Speedmaster for sale at Carlisle Triumph and booked a test ride on it
Found it a lot easier to ride and and when you close the throttle it wasn’t like dropping an anchor like I found it was on the Storm so I traded the Fazer in and bought my BLACK Speedmaster
I have had to do bits and pieces to get it to run smoother and have had to change tyres to improve the handling
The latest change was rear shocks to improve comfort
Like I said....looking back now the Thunderbird was a great bike and I’m sure with a bit of fettling would be just as easy to ride as a Speedmaster
Bloody hell I don’t half prattle on sometimes
Would of been a lot easier/sensible to tell you to test ride both and see which suits you best

Oh yeah... I love my bike but still cast admiring glances at Thunderbirds/Rocket 3s and now the new Speedmaster when will it ever end

 

My experience is limited to the 865 which gains very appreciable mid range torque and tractability from the Twin Power tweaks with inlet and exhaust opened up. It is inexpensively achieved.

 

I have absolutely no experience with regards to either models, but what I would say is this. I moved away from Hypersports bikes (Hayabusas) to something more sensible ( licence & life saving) hated it. Torque, rideabi
It's & relative comfort is the key. I was always hunting for the grunt. You don't have to use the grunt. But its lawyers there, like a feel good factor & of course it needs to look good, if it doesn't look good, what's the point?

Just saying ​

 

I' out using it to plough the snow

 

If you are looking at a Street Triple 675 don’t go insuring a Speed Triple 1050!

 

Actually they think they are hairy panniers

 

You said Speed!

 

Hi and welcome. Good luck with your choice of bike....
Wessa

 

If you're considering the America I've got a beautiful blue and white 2010 version and I'm just up the road from you. If you like the test ride you can always pm me if you're interested.