Team-BHP - My Triumph Bonneville. EDIT: Sold!

Congrats Avi for the wonderful bike and this superb review! Somehow I missed reading it till now. This apart, I am not a bike guy, though I was in my college days. But your ownership thread is re-kindling that passion!

i am amazed by the statistics you've posted about the Bonney. The top speed beats most sedans under 15 lakhs! And the torque it makes seems to be enormous for a bike.

I have a suggestion for you on the saree guard: instead of dumping it in the lake, why don't you sell it to another customer? And as spares cost a bomb, you should get enough dough to host a party! What say you?:D

Absolutely brilliant review there bro and congratulations on the "Bruiser" (only Suhaas could have come up with a name like that :D ) .
I have been looking at a lot of these while on my travel to London these days and it makes my head turn everytime i come across one.
Harleys do too with the awesome sound they produce though ;)

I always thought the Bonnie had a 1 down 4 up pattern, but you seem to have mentioned the one in the Enfields, is that it or the love triangle has you all confused ... hee hee

All the very best and keep updating your thread regularly, was eagerly waiting for this review and it was just what i expected.

Ride Safe bro.

Cheers !

Quote:

Originally Posted by mobike008 (Post 3375623)

It has a 5-speed synchromesh gear shifts with a universal 1-UP, 4 down gear shift pattern.

ps. There is an appeal around the 2 silencers and the way they are placed which I just cant get enough of, probably the hangover from the RD days but i LOVE two pipes on the Bonnie.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sivasankar (Post 3378932)

@mobike008, you have said the bike's 'dimensions are small'. Just wanted to understand by how much. I'm 6' and weigh 115 kgs. Hw does a person of my frame fit on the bonnie's dimensions?

Well, you seem to be around my size. Iam 6ft 1in tall and weigh about a ton. As you can see, Bonnie looks little small for my personality but, I have reaized one thing and also i beileve a lovely sentence posted by

Ebono (I think) that you should not be worried how you look on it but, should be more worried about how you feel on it AND how it rides?

All my friends after looking at my pictures on a Harley Davidson 883 told me that it suits me to a T and I look great on it etc. etc. But, I was more happy on a saddle of a Bonnie. Hence, my decision to buy one

Quote:

Originally Posted by vnabhi (Post 3378959)

The top speed beats most sedans under 15 lakhs! And the torque it makes seems to be enormous for a bike.

Thanks Venu. Yeah, I never thought in those lines. Now come to think of it. Yup, it does seem like that

Quote:

Originally Posted by vnabhi (Post 3378959)

I have a suggestion for you on the saree guard: instead of dumping it in the lake, why don't you sell it to another customer? And as spares cost a bomb, you should get enough dough to host a party! What say you?

LOL, your a riot. We live for the next party. Dont we???

Quote:

Originally Posted by sammyboy (Post 3379245)

I always thought the Bonnie had a 1 down 4 up pattern, but you seem to have mentioned the one in the Enfields, is that it or the love triangle has you all confused ... hee hee

Thanks for pointing it. I corrected in the original post. In all my excitement, I seem to have reversed it. Besides, I wrote the thread in a couple of hours and did proof reading once.

Life is too hectic at work. Hope to squeeze out quality riding time

Quote:

Originally Posted by sammyboy (Post 3379245)

ps. There is an appeal around the 2 silencers and the way they are placed which I just cant get enough of, probably the hangover from the RD days but i LOVE two pipes on the Bonnie.

Nice to know you love it too. Infact, I was thinking am i the only one who loves those 2 pipes. From the back, it looks delicous and iam already getting too many questions on the road about the bike.

Quote:

Originally Posted by r_nairtvm (Post 3379266)

Hence, I didn't have the heart to point it out, though I noticed it)

Appreciate that Ram :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rajesh Rawal (Post 3379362)

I have a better idea ,lets use it for our future bbq parties.We can place the meat on top of it and grill

Thanks RR. Well, Absynthguzzler will have to sell his expensive BBQ equipment and make do with both our saree gaurd next time we have a party at his bunglow:D

Quote:

Originally Posted by mobike008 (Post 3378897)

Goodluck on your Bonnie. Did they give you a tentative delivery date?

The T100 you see in pictures on this thread was booked by this young guy and paid for full in cash in November:eek: and is the first Triumph delivered in Hyderabad. Yours could be a similar case in Mumbai

White? Did you mean Silver? Only 3 colors in SE. Black, Silver and White/Blue combination

With regards to Arrow, I will purchase that only if i like the sound of the pipes. Tentative cost is INR 28,000

I have booked it, but not in any hurry to take it, so told them i would inform them. I still have to wait for my other girl to arrive and flirt with.:)

If i do pay in full i would be in the first bikes to be delivered list, but as of now i have just paid the booking amount. There were some delays with Kawasaki and now i don't want both bikes to land up at the same time as i won't be able to do justice to them.

Is the white/blue that i was talking off, since the blue is minimal on the bike i call it the white..stupid:

I did have the good fortune of hearing a Bonnie with Arrow 2x2 exhaust in London and it sounded fantastic. I have told the dealership i want the arrow exhaust from delivery (whenever that is). I think its worth spending the extra money to accessorise the vehicle from the dealership as it saves a lot of warranty headaches later on.

Quote:

Originally Posted by 53BHP (Post 3379536)

Congrats Avi. This is a dream come true for you. For us in Mumbai and elsewhere (apart from HYD and BLR) we are sitting around wondering when the dealerships are going to open. No sign of dealership, no idea of dates when booking will open

Why you wondering, On the launch thread itself its mentioned. The Shaman Mercedes dealers have the Triumph dealership as well. The showroom opens in March (as per what i have been told) at Andheri East. The booking has been open from January for the bikes..the booking amount for most vehicles is Rs 1 lakh. If you need the Triumph dealership heads number, let me know, i shall PM it to you.

Quote:

Originally Posted by 53BHP (Post 3379536)

As Speedy mentioned, Booking has opened for Pune and Mumbai in last month itself and booking amount is INR 50,000

Looks like your decided to buy the Bonnie? Is that right?

Quote:

Originally Posted by speedy (Post 3379582)

I did have the good fortune of hearing a Bonnie with Arrow 2x2 exhaust in London and it sounded fantastic. I have told the dealership i want the arrow exhaust from delivery (whenever that is). I think its worth spending the extra money to accessorise the vehicle from the dealership as it saves a lot of warranty headaches later on.

Wow. This is what I was waiting to hear. So you liked the sound of the Arrows 2X2? Can you describe the sound a bit more as you heard it in person?

Somehow i dont really trust the sound emanating from videos as they dont project the true sound

Even I dont plan to install anything that puts the warranty at risk. It will be Arrows 2X2 ( If I like it) or will continue to enjoy the stock pipes which isnt too bad (except for being too subtle)

For the after market exhaust on the Bonnie, I had been looking at various forums and a lot of riders like the Dominator, Predator and TOR. The bike I test rode in NZ had a Predator and it sounded fantastic esp when I went under a bridge the sound bouncing off the sidewalls was bliss. Here below is a video of the same bike I rode, where you can get a glimpse of the sound.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skJa_...re=c4-overview

Ofcourse, exhaust sound is very subjective so it all depends on individual choice. The million dollar question- Will a non Arrow brand exhaust void warranty?

Quote:

Originally Posted by mobike008 (Post 3379595)

As Speedy mentioned, Booking has opened for Pune and Mumbai in last month itself and booking amount is INR 50,000

Wow. This is what I was waiting to hear. So you liked the sound of the Arrows 2X2? Can you describe the sound a bit more as you heard it in person?

Somehow i dont really trust the sound emanating from videos as they dont project the true sound

Even I dont plan to install anything that puts the warranty at risk. It will be Arrows 2X2 ( If I like it) or will continue to enjoy the stock pipes which isnt too bad (except for being too subtle)

Bombay dealer has taken Rs.1 lakh as booking amount from me and hence i mentioned it.

The exhaust has a bassy feel to it and is louder than the stocks at high speed (i made the person do a fly by to hear it clearly…:uncontrol

The videos do baffle the sound a bit and can't be counted as 100% accurate to what anything sounds in actual. In the videos i had seen the 2x2 arrows were a bit shrill and in actual they are meaty. I am a big fan of the 2x2 exhaust look and feel it makes the bike look complete.

Its safer and better to stick with warranty, especially with expensive machines. The stock pipes i believe are silent at low rpms and only come to life at the other end of the rpm meter?. I was also planning to add a rpm meter to the bike, but am not sure how a dealer would be able to handle fitting it as the company would.

Hi mobike008,

Congratulations on your new bike. Let me be honest, i was in the look of a decent bike. So had shortlisted HD 750 & Iron 883. But after reading your initial test drive experience and going thru the bike specs, i guess, i have fallen in love with this bike.

Wanted to check with you, on your thoughts:

1. How is triumph compared to HD 750?

2. I am almost 6 ft and more than 100 kilos of weight. Given this can i take around the corners on this bike comfortably?

3. I also want to take along my wife as well, along with me on cruiser rides to places near by? Can both(rider and pillion) be seated comfortably for long rides say, 150 to 200 kms at a stretch?

4. Is there any road side assistance provided by the dealers, if yes what are the conditions?

5. Average maintenance cost per service?

6. Are the metzylers tubeless tyres??

7. Does the engine gets overheated , like that of TB, CBR, Duke 390 in bumper to bumper traffic, which are normal in bangalore?

8. From an accessory perspective, i was thinking of windshield and back rest? How much did they quote, when you enquired?

Apologies for so many questions, but your honest replies helps me in deciding whether to opt or not?

Happy mile munching and eagerly awaiting your long term ownership report of owning your BB..

Cheers

R. Umesh