On the ride home from Daytona after bike week I switched bikes with my friend Gene and rode his Triumph Bonneville for about 100 miles. I don't know what year his bike is but it is one of the recent modern replicas that Triumph sells. The bike is small in stature, not sure of the weight, and the motor is less than 800 cc, not sure of exact displacement. I rode under varying conditions suchas in town, small highway with some curves, interstate on / off ramps (heh), cruising on the interstate at moderate and high speeds, and cutting through traffic on the interstate. Even though I have always liked the look of his bike, I did not expect it to do well. I really wrang this bike out for all it had, and was pleasantly suprised.
I thought the bike would not handle well, but it did. Steering response was good at all speeds, the bike went where you pointed it and smoothly stayed on that line. Even at top speed, throttle pinned slipping between rolling road blocks on the interstate. Even turning hard to the left up an interstate on ramp hard on the throttle, scraping something (oops), it was sure and smooth.As with most bikes it did not like to turn if I was off throttle or braking, but give it some throttle and it turned very smoothly, even loaded down with me and a trulyimpressive amount of luggage. Braking was quite good, but not fantastic.
I was a little suprised by the engine, not as much as the handling, but a little suprised. The engine was sort of weak at moderate throttle, but if you turned the throttle to the stop it had decent acceleration. If you are used to riding more powerful bikes, and have learned more precise throttle control, just unlearn all that and you will have a blast riding this bike. When you start off from a stop, just roll the throttle to the stop and keep it there, no finesse required. If you want to go dodging through the traffic on the interstate, however, you need a little MORE finesse than you would on a more powerful bike. You have to build up a head of steam and maintain it. If you are forced to slow down you will have to wait until you can find enough room to build up speed again. This bike does not have the power to react quickly to a small opening when you are already at 80 mph. Keep in mind that I am talking about agressively slicing through traffic at high speeds, not normal highway riding, the bike has plenty of power for that.
At one pointI just hunkered down, pinned the throttle, and held it for as long as I could before coming up on traffic. The bike got to 100 mph without difficulty, 105 was more difficult, and beyond that the speedo crept up to an indicated 115 mph very slowly. At that point I had to back off due to traffic. The needle was still creeping up with glacial slowness so I think it had a bit more in it.
The Bonneville was pretty comfortable at speeds up to maybe 70 mph, more comfortable than any of my bikes. There was a sharp change, however, once you hit speeds around 80 to 90 mph. At those speeds it was at least as uncomfortable as my Warrior due to the lack of protection from the airstream, and it became really difficult to keep from pulling on the bars for any length of time.
I've always loved the old school look of this bike and, after riding it for a good bit, have to say that it is also a real blast to ride. At times I had a Warrior and an R1 struggling to catch back up to me, but not for very long of course. Thanks Gene!
I thought the bike would not handle well, but it did. Steering response was good at all speeds, the bike went where you pointed it and smoothly stayed on that line. Even at top speed, throttle pinned slipping between rolling road blocks on the interstate. Even turning hard to the left up an interstate on ramp hard on the throttle, scraping something (oops), it was sure and smooth.As with most bikes it did not like to turn if I was off throttle or braking, but give it some throttle and it turned very smoothly, even loaded down with me and a trulyimpressive amount of luggage. Braking was quite good, but not fantastic.
I was a little suprised by the engine, not as much as the handling, but a little suprised. The engine was sort of weak at moderate throttle, but if you turned the throttle to the stop it had decent acceleration. If you are used to riding more powerful bikes, and have learned more precise throttle control, just unlearn all that and you will have a blast riding this bike. When you start off from a stop, just roll the throttle to the stop and keep it there, no finesse required. If you want to go dodging through the traffic on the interstate, however, you need a little MORE finesse than you would on a more powerful bike. You have to build up a head of steam and maintain it. If you are forced to slow down you will have to wait until you can find enough room to build up speed again. This bike does not have the power to react quickly to a small opening when you are already at 80 mph. Keep in mind that I am talking about agressively slicing through traffic at high speeds, not normal highway riding, the bike has plenty of power for that.
At one pointI just hunkered down, pinned the throttle, and held it for as long as I could before coming up on traffic. The bike got to 100 mph without difficulty, 105 was more difficult, and beyond that the speedo crept up to an indicated 115 mph very slowly. At that point I had to back off due to traffic. The needle was still creeping up with glacial slowness so I think it had a bit more in it.
The Bonneville was pretty comfortable at speeds up to maybe 70 mph, more comfortable than any of my bikes. There was a sharp change, however, once you hit speeds around 80 to 90 mph. At those speeds it was at least as uncomfortable as my Warrior due to the lack of protection from the airstream, and it became really difficult to keep from pulling on the bars for any length of time.
I've always loved the old school look of this bike and, after riding it for a good bit, have to say that it is also a real blast to ride. At times I had a Warrior and an R1 struggling to catch back up to me, but not for very long of course. Thanks Gene!
