Triumph Bonneville?

[cbm]

Kawi made a Bonnie look-alike in the early 2000's (the W650) that would make me happy too...I wonder what its seat height is?

A quick bit of Googling reveals the W650 seat height is 31.5 inches. There's a 2000 W650 for sale on the TMW classifieds, you know: viewtopic.php?t=8758 I don't know the fellow selling it, and he's probably a bit far away from you anyway.....

Yes, a bit of a hike. I saw that ad a while back. W650's seem to be few and far between.

[jackM50black]

The Bonny sounds good, but have you considered a Thruxton 900 ? it would be a unique alternative into the retro cafe-racer style. I test rode it... its cool.

[cbm]

The Bonny sounds good, but have you considered a Thruxton 900 ? it would be a unique alternative into the retro cafe-racer style. I test rode it... its cool.

I've looked at the Thruxton...it's a great-looking bike! But the Bonnie has my heart, I think. Of course, if a Thruxton came available and was a great deal, I wouldn't turn it down! Pretty sure I'd be the only girl on the block on one!

I'm eternally hopeful that someday there will be a Triumph demo day here so I can get out and ride these bikes. I am thinking I'm in for quite a wait!

Thanks for the suggestion of the Thruxton.

[jstark47]

CBM,

Although mechanically it's almost the same bike, the Thrux feels a lot different from the Bonnie. Shorter wheelbase, less rake and trail, rearset pegs, flat clip-on bars, a little taller seat. Sit on both, there's a real difference.

When I started riding, sitting on the Thrux felt radical. Later on sitting on one felt much better, I had to get some experience before I understood why that riding position makes sense. (Of course, now the Speed Triple at the dealership is starting to feel seductively good....... a bike I have absolutely no, none, nada business riding )

I've heard a lot of Thrux riders complain about aching wrists after long rides.

Check your closest Triumph dealer about demo days. I looked on Triumph's website and didn't see any in Canada for 2006, maybe I wasn't looking in the right place.

[cbm]

CBM,

Although mechanically it's almost the same bike, the Thrux feels a lot different from the Bonnie. Shorter wheelbase, less rake and trail, rearset pegs, flat clip-on bars, a little taller seat. Sit on both, there's a real difference.

When I started riding, sitting on the Thrux felt radical. Later on sitting on one felt much better, I had to get some experience before I understood why that riding position makes sense. (Of course, now the Speed Triple at the dealership is starting to feel seductively good....... a bike I have absolutely no, none, nada business riding )

I've heard a lot of Thrux riders complain about aching wrists after long rides.

Check your closest Triumph dealer about demo days. I looked on Triumph's website and didn't see any in Canada for 2006, maybe I wasn't looking in the right place.

Well, interesting developments here...I put a bug in my dealer's ear that I was looking for a Bonnie so that he could let me know if one came in on trade, and he was back to me the same day because an '04 T100 had just come in from a guy trading up to a Thruxton!! 860km on the clock, saddlebags and a few extra chrome pieces...the bike is mint except for some blueing where the exhaust pipes exit the engine. Anyway, I am currently negotiating to see whether I can afford to give this bike a new home. They are asking $8800 Cdn for it.

Two questions (probably mostly for you, jstark!!):

1. How does this price seem?
2. Is that blueing anything to worry about?

I really want to make a deal on this!

[jstark47]

Well, interesting developments here...I put a bug in my dealer's ear that I was looking for a Bonnie so that he could let me know if one came in on trade, and he was back to me the same day because an '04 T100 had just come in from a guy trading up to a Thruxton!! 860km on the clock, saddlebags and a few extra chrome pieces...the bike is mint except for some blueing where the exhaust pipes exit the engine. Anyway, I am currently negotiating to see whether I can afford to give this bike a new home. They are asking $8800 Cdn for it.

Two questions (probably mostly for you, jstark!!):

1. How does this price seem?
2. Is that blueing anything to worry about?

I really want to make a deal on this!

Easy question first:
2. Blueing: normal. Triumph uses single-wall pipes, they will all blue unless the Air Injection system is removed before the bike is ever run. The AI is part of the emissions control, Triumph puts it on in order to meet emissions standards. I don't know how the "emissions police" are in Canada, but in the USA the bike becomes "technically" illegal when you take that off. (Doesn't stop 50% of Bonneville owners from doing it, though.) My Bonnie's pipes are now blued down to the second bend. A lot of riders consider it part of "the look", it just goes with the territory.

Harder question:
1. Price. That's really a new bike, not even broken in yet. (Yes, 860 km may be the "technical" break-in interval, but these Triumph vertical twins don't really bed in until 3,500-5,000 km.) They're asking $7750 US. (Sorry, gotta figure this in US dollars or I'll go nuts making the conversions!) A 2006 T100 with Triumph bags would list roughly $8,400-8,600 US. So, they're cutting about 10% off the price for it being a two year old, very slightly used bike.

Personally, unless I was in love with the bike, I'd want to see it come down a little more. Or, maybe they can give something up on dealer prep, or throw in some accessories? It kinda depends how much you want it. Are you prepared to walk away if you push them and they hold firm? Or, do you really, really, really want it, and will beat yourself up with undying regrets if you don't get it? It's not a bad price, nor is it an outstanding bargain price.

Time of year figures in. I own a regular Bonnie because all the T100's were sold by the time I bought last July. If the T100 supply this year was like last year, waiting longer will do you no good.....

Hope this helps. Good luck! Keep us posted.

Jonathan

[cbm]

Well, interesting developments here...I put a bug in my dealer's ear that I was looking for a Bonnie so that he could let me know if one came in on trade, and he was back to me the same day because an '04 T100 had just come in from a guy trading up to a Thruxton!! 860km on the clock, saddlebags and a few extra chrome pieces...the bike is mint except for some blueing where the exhaust pipes exit the engine. Anyway, I am currently negotiating to see whether I can afford to give this bike a new home. They are asking $8800 Cdn for it.

Two questions (probably mostly for you, jstark!!):

1. How does this price seem?
2. Is that blueing anything to worry about?

I really want to make a deal on this!

Easy question first:
2. Blueing: normal. Triumph uses single-wall pipes, they will all blue unless the Air Injection system is removed before the bike is ever run. The AI is part of the emissions control, Triumph puts it on in order to meet emissions standards. I don't know how the "emissions police" are in Canada, but in the USA the bike becomes "technically" illegal when you take that off. (Doesn't stop 50% of Bonneville owners from doing it, though.) My Bonnie's pipes are now blued down to the second bend. A lot of riders consider it part of "the look", it just goes with the territory.

Harder question:
1. Price. That's really a new bike, not even broken in yet. (Yes, 860 km may be the "technical" break-in interval, but these Triumph vertical twins don't really bed in until 3,500-5,000 km.) They're asking $7750 US. (Sorry, gotta figure this in US dollars or I'll go nuts making the conversions!) A 2006 T100 with Triumph bags would list roughly $8,400-8,600 US. So, they're cutting about 10% off the price for it being a two year old, very slightly used bike.

Personally, unless I was in love with the bike, I'd want to see it come down a little more. Or, maybe they can give something up on dealer prep, or throw in some accessories? It kinda depends how much you want it. Are you prepared to walk away if you push them and they hold firm? Or, do you really, really, really want it, and will beat yourself up with undying regrets if you don't get it? It's not a bad price, nor is it an outstanding bargain price.

Time of year figures in. I own a regular Bonnie because all the T100's were sold by the time I bought last July. If the T100 supply this year was like last year, waiting longer will do you no good.....

Hope this helps. Good luck! Keep us posted.

Jonathan

Thanks...it does help. I have been negotiating with the dealer for the last couple of days and have gotten a better deal on the trade for my bike, which effectively knocked the price down another $500 or so. Anyway, I am going to pull the trigger on it. From cruising around on e-bay and auto-trader, and some of the more local classifieds, it seems that Bonnies come up rather infrequently. The new T100 on the dealer's floor has an $11,300 price tag on it...way out of my range...ever!

I will post photos as soon as everything is finalized!

Thanks for your input, as always!

Catherine

[loonymoon]

My mum had a Triumph Bonnie for a while. It was GORGEOUS. She had the chromey bits and the knee-pads and the non-standard pea-shooter exhausts which sounded GREAT. I was jealous.

She said it was lovely to ride and had lots of torque and because it's 800cc but looks a heck of a lot smaller she could really take car drivers by surprise by overtaking in a flash...
In fact it was so compact that it made my 350cc four cylinder look like a much bigger bike!!

She used to get old guys with tears in their eyes coming up to her and saying how they used to ride a bike like that back in the 60's and...blah blah. I used to get annoyed because my 1973 "real" classic bike didn't get a look in as every onlooker thought that her 2003 "pseudo" classic was a nice old bike!!

She did love that bike but in the end sold it because the chrome required a A LOT of cleaning and in the UK there's just too much rain... !! Shame - I would have loved it....

[jstark47]

She did love that bike but in the end sold it because the chrome required a A LOT of cleaning and in the UK there's just too much rain... !!

Don't even get me started on cleaning the wheels and spokes on that bike!!!! Good thing it's fun to ride, else it woulda been long gone. I will never buy another bike with laced wheels....