1st ever Triumph

Hi, I ordered a T120 a few weeks ago but unfortunately I don't get it until August. Don't have an exact date, all they could say was August. I had a fairly decent test ride and liked the bike a lot, so much so traded in my 2012 Fireblade the same day. I know, one extreme to another but I got bored with the Fireblade (if Fireblade and bored in the same sentence makes any kind of sense). Having been riding for close to 40 years I just couldn't find a use on the road for all the performance that the Honda so easily offers. I've also got an FJR1300 Yamaha which I've had since 2011 that I never tire of riding. It's taken me and the wife all over Europe many times and is by far the best all round bike I've ever owned.

So why buy a T120 Bonneville?
Loads of reasons, many of which don't really make much sense to me but there's also a few that do. In the seventies where I cut my biking teeth there were still a good few British bikes around and the T120 was one of my favourites. I was never brave enough to put up with the unreliability that plagued them so never owned one but I rode them a few times and did many miles as pillion and loved them. I remember a mates 650 Bonnie idling on the side stand and loved how the whole bike seemed to be alive with the vibrations.
Another reason is that the Fireblade had to go and after a lot of looking I couldn't find anything that I really wanted to have. Swapping the Blade for another balls out sportsbike was pointless and the big, fast tourer bit was more than covered with the Yamaha. I looked at some of the Japanese naked offerings and while I'm sure they're great bikes the Transformer type looks do nothing for me (must be getting old). I could have just sold it and put the money in the bank but it would have got spent on something sensible like new windows for the house.
I looked at the t100's last year but there just wasn't enough oomph for me and some of the details just seemed cheap and nasty - ignition switch in a stupid place, non locking fuel cap etc.. The new one seems to tick all the boxes though I would much rather it had tubeless rims. This is the only slight misgiving I have and am very much looking forward to riding a completely different animal. The wife is even softening to the idea of a retro bike. Need to go and find some flared jeans and a seventies jacket

I do all my own maintenance and from the look of things it looks all very straight forward. Does anyone know how the valve clearance is adjusted - screw adjusters or shims?

PS.. Up in Aberdeenshire so very easy access to superb roads and crap weather!

 

Thanks for all the welcomes, they are very much appreciated and also thanks Crispey regarding valve clearance question. I didn't do tank tops in the seventies and if I did it now it would take embarrassing my kids to a whole new level .

I've asked myself if I'm trying to turn the clock back and maybe there is an element of it but to be honest I'm just looking for something different. Apart from a couple of single cylinder enduro bikes all my road bikes since I graduated from smokers in the seventies have been in line Japanese 4's.
As I said previously my FJR is the best bike, by a large margin that I've ever owned so I'm far from bored with all IL4's. The T120, while being retro in concept has more tech' than any other bike I've ever had. Even my FJR doesn't have traction control or different rider modes. I don't remember ever crashing as a result of not having TC so this aspect was just a by the way thing and made no difference to my decision. I liked the thumpy torque of the new bike and the lack of vibration was a revelation.

Big power has always been my 1st priority when buying bikes but maybe after all this time I'm growing up, though I very much doubt that. Time will tell whether I'll like the bike over the long term but I can't wait to get started.

The bike I've ordered is the Red and Silver variant. I will post photos when I get it but can't guarantee that I'll be wearing flares in the photo .