Thruxton Go For A New Thruxton Fe Or Get A 2nd Hand Thruxton R Or Rs?

Hiya

I have the R and love it. I find that a lot of feathering the clutch is required around slow turns and tight roundabouts. Rumour has it de cat fixes this. I also read somewhere that the RS is slightly smoother in this regard although I can only speak for the R.

main differences

Powder coated casings
on RS
Alloy casings on R (great to refurb if scratched but not so good in naff weather as more prone to corrosion)

RS Slightly more powerful than the
R

Painted rims on RS Alloy rims on R.
I prefer the chrome alloy rims personal choice.

Ohlins rear spring colours Yellow on R
Black on RS

Yolke on RS is not polished. Yolke on R is polished chrome.

Things to look out for on R
Check the gear linkage especially where the ball joint meets gear lever, mine came loose and broke off.
Ive now applied nail varnish to various bolts and nuts so i can see if any have moved. Gear linkage approx £60

Closely examine the barrel fins for any signs of coolant due to a porosity issue, u will need a torch in darker conditions ideally. Approx £2800 to replace. Whilst not mega common mine had this issue.

I’d just make sure u buy from a dealer which ever way u go.
I will have a think of other things tomorrow

 

@Martylaa
Sorry only you can decide in the end. And I am sure somewhere in your mind you have an answer. You just want the members to persuade you. Joe

 

I never asked are you looking for faired or un-faired?
By default Faired has lower clip ons than un-faired in case a faired version catches your eye. Mine is un-faired and after 1.5 hrs u can feel it on the old wrists so faired will be even more harsh. I’m early 40’s in case it helps to gauge, but its nowt compared to a Ducati Panigale V2. The V2 would be in the premier league of pain and mine division 1. Anyway as I don’t know what ir current bike is this statement might not be relevant

if the yellow ohlins springs are not to your liking I had mine changed to uprated springs which only come in black anyway. They do not cost a lot of money.

The R is not tubeless guessing the rs/fe are the same. Mine is being converted to tubeless as we speak.

In terms of genuine optional extras to look out for. Vance and Hines are prob the most common slip ons and appear more difficult to get hold of in brushed stainless steel now. I have the ones without baffles and they pop and pop and pop just lovely v standard. Tail tidy is great, indicators look way nicer in LED with silver surround than the standard orange ones. There were 2 sizes of LEDs i went for large as I want to be seen although some bikes u see for sale will have the smaller LED’s so worth keeping an eye out for. There is a screen although it seems to cause my head to get battered I plan on removing it this season to see if the air moves towards my body.

Out of curiosity what is your other bike as I never talked about comfort or asked how far u plan to go on a single outing?

I have a white coloured Thruxton R. I loved the looks of the FE based upon images only. I saw one in the flesh purely from a cosmetic perspective I prefer my bike.

Heres another option you could buy the R and ask tts performance near Triumph Hinkley to put a supercharger on it and still have change in your pocket v the fe.

 

Looking at the photos I would go for the R at eight grand.

Looking at new machines I cannot see £900 between the RS and the FE. It’s all about exclusivity and bragging rights.

 

I tend to limit my rides to country roads and total journey around 3 hours anything more is painful anything up to an hour is fine.
One thing it does do is turn heads everywhere I go. For some reason people like to take photographs of it when I park it up some assume it is old with my personalised plate on it Funny really

Fuel wise forgot to mention that when the uk screwed around with E5 v E10 my bike began to choke on anything that isn’t high octane although manufacturers documentation suggests otherwise. Worth checking how the RS or FE fair.
I get approx 150 miles out of £18 give or take which is fab.

 

If u plan on putting the bike in an oxygen filled bubble to stare at and not ride the fe is a good shout, otherwise get an r or rs. I too like the green and silver RS alternatively the ton up edition is nice or should i say marmite.

 

Nice colour scheme. Other than colour and not knowing how much smoother the rs is compared to the R I’d argue that there isn’t a whole lot of difference between the two. Looks wise its down to colour scheme the R has aged very well. Not sure if u clocked my additional comment re difference between faired and un-faired and clip on height the difference is significant.

 

Hello,
I have exactly the same R as the photo shows: Silver Ice colour.
Pricewise I would go for the R. There are only differences in colours (rims, springs, casings..) It is the same bike but with a few less hp but still plenty to get speeding tickets! No less fun on the R than on RS or FE. But in the end, it is all about personal taste and budget . Have fun and ride safe!!

 

Power stats difference between R and RS is only 7 bhp which I defy anyone to be able notice. Torque is the same for both machines at 111 Nm which is pretty good in my book but the bhp at 96 and 103 respectively for a 1200 machine looks to be deliberately subdued.

 

I think you've answered your own question in the first sentence,"I'm seriously looking at the new FE", the rest is just excuses not to buy one. If you couldn't afford it you wouldn't be considering it so I'd say get the one you really want. Just my 2p worth.

 

Hi timboo, just curious about what you meant when you said "Closely examine the barrel fins for any signs of coolant" ?

Do you mean signs of corrosion from coolant leakage ?

 

Hello,
as someone mentioned, the only one with the final answer is you.
One could say that a newer version is more smooth to ride, and has a few hp more.
I would say you don't feel a couple of hp more that much, and a less smoother ride is a bit more characterfull, any opinion is as good as another.
I am 66 and my Thruxton R (2016) has 44.000 km on it, I ride it from here to France once a year for a motorcycle holiday and have several times spent 17 hours on it (over 900 km from the south of France over small roads in one long run).
So I find it comfortable enough for me. The differences (clutch, hp, torque, feeling) will be marginal and hard to tell between earlier and later versions so it all comes down to personal preference and budget.
Anyway, If I were you and it would be only for a couple of thousand km per year, I would choose the cheapest option. Yoy can always do a British Racing Green paintjob on an 'older' white or silver on, that would cost you a whole lot less... Good luck!

 

Yeah, a porosity issue can occur and is more common than u think. Mine occurred deep in one of the fins. A very small amount of coolant would appear after a long ride.

 

Thanks for that. I've just bought a 2018 Thruxton R and noticed that it had some black paint missing from the edges of a few fins on the left side.

I was in the same boat re new bike or a cheaper, older version too. I was lucky to find one with 2,000 miles on it but it had lived outside under a tarp. Nothing a bit of elbow grease won't fix.

If nothing else, I'm glad I bought the cheaper one so that I didn't feel as guilty when I bought the radiator guard, fender eliminator etc

 

THIS… I have been debating the same thing and after a discussion with my wife this evening, I came to that conclusion… if I couldnt afford the FE I wouldn’t be considering it. I can afford it and it’s what I want. I’m only sad that the one I’m looking at doens’t have the fairing and the dealer says they are impossible to get now.
I’m going to talk it out on tuesday, get all the paperwork done so I can walk in and drive away after the final dealing is done the week after Halloween.
I’ll post if I buy.