Since buying my Bonneville I've barely even looked at my V8 Jag so I'm selling it and getting a Thruxton 1200 to have along with the little 865 Bonneville. At my budget the choice is between a standard or R model, the RS is a bit much. Are the differences just the suspension and braking parts? Does the standard bike have any advantages over the R? Is there anything to look out for when buying a 1200 Thruxton?
I ruled out the standard Thruxton when I was looking fairly quickly. The R is fairly close price wise second hand to the standard Thruxton if you shop around. The R has Ohlins rear suspension, Brembo brakes, Showa front forks. There will probably be a load more differences but these are the obvious ones. Also there are a lot of second hand R’s in the UK at main dealers that you can pickup with genuine upgrades such as tail tidy, indicators, Vance and hines cans, front screen, paddock bobbins to name a few. The most important thing outside of spec is to ride the R as it isn’t the most comfortable of bikes on your wrists, Not sure if the same applies to the standard thruxton. If you are considering the faired version the handle bars are several inches lower again than the unfaired R which really does stretch you out. I own the R and love it I just limit the distance I ride in one go. There are some owners on here that have increased the height of the handlebars or replaced them altogether in order to make them more comfortable, as they just love the bike.
Thanks for that @timboo I would go for an unfaired bike so hopefully the bars won't be too low. Is the seat comfortable? I struggle the the plank on my Bonneville, 150 miles is about my limit, maybe just about 200 if I wear padded cycling shorts. Back in my youth, I used to be able to do 300 miles on my little ZXR400 quite comfortably but now I'm old, everything aches. Are there any reliability issues or common failures to look out for?
I have the R and absolutely love it. The couple of years I coped really well with clip ons. However at the beginning of this year I ordered a flat bar conversation from ABM as I was finding the riding position really tough on my body. The bars have transformed the bike, with a now really comfortable riding position. Today I did a 200 mile trip into Wales with no issues. So in answer to question I would say buy the R it is a much better machine.
Thanks for that @Wessa Sounds like it could be perfect for me. Now before I can buy it I just need to sell a 5 litre car while petrol is £2 a litre.
The standard seat is ok i wouldnt say mega comfortable, you can by a genuine comfort seat if need be. Reliability wise I have not had a single issue. There have been some recalls some of which are very important such as stalls. All main dealers will sort those though anyway prior to selling.
I just looked that up. It it indeed very nice. I also really like silver and I never like silver bikes.
There's a white Thruxton R just up the road from me. It's kept outside in all weather and always looks a bit sad. I thought it would look good cleaned and polished. I'm not sure white is the colour for me though.
Fair play, I thought similar of red. Agree green or silver are cool. I went with white for extra visibility and to go with my diamond white helmet. Also as soon as I saw the bike in the showroom fell in love. Paid a deposit. I didnt plan on purchasing a bike that day. Never had that feeling for a bike before. Highly recommend u view a few u will soon realise which floats your boat. Careful not to do so prior to selling your car as could be dangerous for the wallet
If you think you are fast enough on the road go for the R, the extra cost isn't as much as the showa forks, ohlin shocks, and brembo brakes cost separately. Other than that there's very little difference, different controls and you get the tank strap. The engine is identical. I chose a non R because I like tinkering and spent some money making it unique for me. I rode both the R and the non R and I couldn't go any quicker on the R, the only real difference I felt was the brakes are not a 2 finger touch on the non R, you have to give them a proper squeeze. Plus I just don't like the gold forks and yellow springs of the R on this style of bike. Either are a good buy.
I don't ride fast but I can still appreciate decent suspension. One change I would make to the R model is some black or chrome coils on the rear shocks. I do like to have 1 or 2 finger braking.
I can appreciate decent suspension too, it's one of the things I've uprated as I like tinkering, but very little difference on the road between the 2 when I rode them. The brakes though were considerably better on the R.
I've not actually ridden a Thruxton yet, I'd assumed the stock shocks would be similar to the over sprung under damped rubbish on my Bonneville. Those are really harsh and nd don't move unless you hit a really big bump which just causes them to bottom. I replaced mine with some Hagon 2810 shocks which are still crude but an enormous improvement over stock.
The standard suspension actually felt more comfortable to me than the R, but then you can adjust the R suspension. I'm only about 11 stone so most suspension is ok for me. I have an 865 and also have Hagons, the rear shocks on my 865 were much worse than the ones on the Thruxton. On my previous Ducati I used to try changing the settings on the Ohlins and always ended up putting it back to standard. You won't go wrong with an R which I feel is the one you really want.
Be careful if you're comparing the suspension on the standard and R - the R ships with the rear shocks set to an incredibly hard position. I've had to dial my compression and rebound damping down to close to the minimum to deal with real roads. I'm sure the standard settings are great on a race track but too hard on real roads.
There also companies out there that will dial in the suspension specifically to your riding style weight and other requirements.
