Bonniville T120 V Bonniville America V Thunderbird

Hi
I've been reading reviews on the bikes above, but would love to hear hands on experience and which bike is best and why or why they're as good as each other, or is each bike designed for a different section of bikers? Please don't hold back on your opinions I'm not a snowflake or bruise easily I just want some honesty, cheers
Antony

 

He @Antony Lensh and welcome... having read the reviews I would suggest you go and test ride the bikes. And whilst the members will have a view, your view is the one that matters

 

Antony Lensh
I think Wessa has just answered your question. Go test and test again see what rocks your boat as we all differ.
Joe.

 

Welcome to the forum Antony, T120 would be my choice but only because its the most classic and the least cruiser. But as the others have said, it's what floats your boat that matters. Your the one riding it so you shouldn't choose based on others opinions

 

Hello and welcome.
It depends what you want from your bike. Do you lean towards a cruiser style bike or not? Will you be mostly riding locally or longer distances? Solo or two up?
Did you mean the 900 thunderbird or the 1600/1700?
Al

 

Hi
I had the 1600 TBird and really enjoyed it until I injured my back and found the feet forward position uncomfortable. The previous pieces of advice are very relevant, decide which style you prefer, what it is to be used for and riding the actual bikes is essential

 

I still run a 1600 Thunderbird. My wife won't let me sell it as she's comfortable touring pillion on it. I actually find the riding position more comfortable than that that of my Tiger which has needed a lot of comfort mods to make it long distance fit. This latter bike used to be a lot more comfortable as standard until I got older!

 

Hi Antony and welcome to the forum Love TBirds and they are great touring machines. Got a Bonneville for the lighter weight on old injuries and fell in love after a test ride. Best wishes finding your ride

 

Hi
Test riding before you by is a given, I was after info about each model do they suffer certain problems etc, thanks for your reply

 

Thanks for your reply

 

Hi thanks for the reply and the info that's the sort I'm after

 

Hi thanks for the reply and the info that's the sort I'm after

Hi thanks for your reply, ride before you buy is a given, I was after stuff like comfort over long distance as you can't test ride for that

 

Hi thanks for your reply comfort over long distances is something you can't check on a test ride, thanks for the info

 

I ment to say getting info on comfort over long distances is just what I'm after

 

Hi I ment the 1600/1700, it's info like comfort on long distance which you can't check on a test ride

 

Hi thanks for your reply, what you've said is taken for granted, I was after stuff like do they suffer from certain problems and comfort over long distances which you can't do on a test ride, maybe I should have worded my post differently.

 

Hi Joe thanks for your reply, test before you buy is a given I was after stuff like comfort over long distances and do any of them suffer particular problems

 

Hi
I would like to say thanks for all your replys, some of which were a given test before you buy, what ever floats your boat, what do you want to use the bike for, I should have worded my post differently, thanks to those who said about comfort, I was also after info about reliability and do any suffer from particular problems.
Cheers all

 

I have 2018 Bonneville Speedmaster with 27k and no issues except I updated suspension as I’m 110kg and ride hard.
Riding partner had 2006 Thunderbird Storm 1700 just gone 20k miles, all good. He has added bar extensions to raise the height for comfort and king queen seat

 

Comfort over long distances:
We've toured extensively on my tbird1600.... Throughout Northern Europe and long runs to the South of France. Fitted with the factory windscreen plus the long haul seat and some panniers it's a brilliant bike for this sort of stuff. Reliability on mine has been excellent though you need to choose carefully. A proportion the 1700s have a hell of a rattle on acceleration under load....it doesn't affect reliability and there's many theories as to cause. I hated it on my 1700 Lt and changed to the 1600 version which doesn't seem to be affected by the rattle. I've now done 20000 miles on it and am happy with the bike...other than the soddin belt which is tricky to adjust and squeaks if it's out of true.
Most of my solo travelling is done on a Tiger 955i ...done over 50000 miles on the two I've owned to date. Performance is good but you need to be tall to manoeuvre the bike at low speeds. My Beloved hates it as she's petite and has trouble climbing on and off it. Once aboard it's comfortable for her. I needed to move the bars up and back to be comfortable and invested in a horribly expensive Seat Concepts front seat cover to be all day comfortable
Hope that helps.
Btw I'm 6'3" tall.
Al