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

So I went to the Triumph showroom yet again yesterday with my wife to show and TD the bonnie with her on the backseat. Rebel has certainly changed their TD formalities as I had to fill two papers [the usual ones which you get at other showrooms], though they did not have this the last time [guess since they are fairly setup now, the TD formalities are rolling in]. Also this time they had a marshal on a pulsar 180 whom I had to follow during the ride.

Coming to the bonnie, it was the white and blue combo and boy oh boy did I love the way it looked in that color. My wife thoroughly enjoyed the bike and its looks, she felt it was apt for the city in terms of its size etc and felt the power surge when accelerating good.

I did TD the Thunderbird Storm and I just have one work for it 'HUGE'. I somehow preferred how the engine revved and felt on bonnie against Storm assuming this is due to the bike size and weight.

All in all I felt bonnie was much more apt for me and also does not strain my pockets and my wife seconds that opinion too. I am going to be booking the white and blue combo bonnie [need to pay the booking amount] but would take the delivery 1st week of April.

Few things on T100, while I did not really like the black+red and white + golden color combo, I wanted to know if anyone on the forum has a T100 or if any of you could point me to a good review comparing Bonnie vs T100. While I do know the visual and cosmetic differences, I could not TD T100 since the TD bike was under repair at the showroom.

BTW Avi, the fuel type used in Bonnie is the normal petrol which is available at all stations or does it requite anything special? Also any mileage numbers for the time being? Thanks.

Quote:

Originally Posted by r_nairtvm (Post 3386749)

You say the Brand is THH and so does the graphics on the helmet. But the soft cover says TIH (or am I reading it wrong). Likely a china production (know for such goof ups) than a Taiwan one, who pays more attention to details). Hope they have paid better attention to ensure quality and specs of the helmet.

The name of the company is "Tong I Hsing Light Industrial Co Ltd." hence the TIH on the soft cover. Their brand name is THH. They are located at Taiwan in Tainan City with offices in Shanghai (China), Vernon (USA), Willich (Germany). They have opened their own India Head office at Bhiwandi, Thane. They are genuine DOT certified. Their West India marketing executive is Ommair Ansari (ommairansari@gmail.com M:9321909061). I have no commercial interest in this but just found the helmet to be too good for the price.

Here's my Similar open face helmet that I bought from IBW, Goa directly from their company representative at 2.3K (The above Full face was also selling at same discounted rate there). I hope Avi does not mind my posting the helmet photos here. He may remove them if inappropriate -

My Triumph Bonneville. EDIT: Sold!-helmet-billie-g-skull-radium_1.jpg

My Triumph Bonneville. EDIT: Sold!-tss-helmet_1.jpg

My Triumph Bonneville. EDIT: Sold!-tss-helmet_2.jpg

Cheers...

Quote:

Originally Posted by docjoe (Post 3386850)

If the bike is on your wife's name, that is, if she is the registered owner, wouldn't she be held accountable for any insurance-related issues? Id honestly don't know about this; all of my vehicles are registered in my name.

Well, I dont mind sharing the details here as its no secret. I saved 5.5% tax and paid 9% instead of 14.5% if i had paid if registered under my name.

Besides that, dealership quoted me 21K for Insurance but, i got it done from a known source from outside for 13K. There you go, almost 40K savings by this simple trick

This method is not at all advisable if done outside family. As its in my wife name, i dont expect any problems to crop up related to insurance

Quote:

Originally Posted by sanketdesai82 (Post 3386880)

Coming to the bonnie, it was the white and blue combo and boy oh boy did I love the way it looked in that color. My wife thoroughly enjoyed the bike and its looks, she felt it was apt for the city in terms of its size etc and felt the power surge when accelerating good.

I did TD the Thunderbird Storm and I just have one work for it 'HUGE'. I somehow preferred how the engine revved and felt on bonnie against Storm assuming this is due to the bike size and weight

Congratulations, your second person today to tell me your buying the Bonnie, while the other one is a friend in army from Hyderabad who is buying a T100 next week. I had been recommending you the Bonnie right from begining and knew your would come back to it considering the parameters you had mentioned about your physique and your relative inexperience/gap in riding a bike

Blue and White is a lovely color combo, Amal Tewari ( Rebel Service Head),owns one !!

Quote:

Originally Posted by sanketdesai82 (Post 3386880)

Few things on T100, while I did not really like the black+red and white + golden color combo, I wanted to know if anyone on the forum has a T100 or if any of you could point me to a good review comparing Bonnie vs T100.

Seems like you missed reading post #5 of my ownership thread :-

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/superb...ml#post3375686

Please read it for this comparison

Quote:

Originally Posted by sanketdesai82 (Post 3386880)

BTW Avi, the fuel type used in Bonnie is the normal petrol which is available at all stations or does it requite anything special? Also any mileage numbers for the time being? Thanks.

Normal petrol from any decent bunk is just fine. Initially, i was getting 18.50kmpl but, yesterday's ride fetched me exactly 20kmpl

Last Saturday, rode with some of my friends to Bidar and visited the Gurudwara and then stopped for a hearty punjabi meal in a dhaba before heading back home.

Total distance covered was 280kms and had to drop my Bonnie for service on way back as I had crossed the 800kms mark (actually, completed 907kms)

Most part of the roads were bad but, some sections were truly marvellous that made us forget the bad roads. Besides that some 30kms we rode in drizzling rain and since I wear spectacles it was not too comfortable for me but, thankfully it stopped and sun came up and stayed through the day

Highlight of this ride was my friend Shyamal's Harley Davidson Superglide Custom. Only scarlet in India and CBU model. He bought this bike just a day before the ride and it was the cynosure of everyone on road. When it was passing us, it sounded like a earthquake and first time literally scared me out of my wits and thereafter it was fun to see him pass. I used to overtake him and slow down and wait for him to pass me.

When we stopped at the dhaba for lunch Susan2004 bullet got punctured and after he finished making the puncture, even he requested for a ride on the Harley which Shyamal promptly obliged and took the puncture wala for a nice spin on his Harley:D

Gurudwara visit was taken care by the locals thanks to Shyamal who arranged for some locals to take care of us and show us around and also keep an eye on the bikes.

Following folks were part of this ride :-

1. Mobike008 (Triumph Bonneville)
2. Abysnthguzzler (Triumph Bonneville)
3. Mani (Triumph Bonnevile)
4. AshishYadav (Classic 500-Desert Storm)
5. Insearch (RE TB 500)
6. Susan2004 (LB Maschimo 500)
7. Shyamal (Harley Davidson Super Glide)
8. Naveen k.k + Ecosportrules (Safety and video taking unit-Ford Ecosport)

Time for some pictures. The ones that arent good quality were taken from mobile, rest are from my camera

Quote:

Originally Posted by ebonho (Post 3387330)

Your friend on the Harley does not look very big. And this is one of the BIG Harleys. In the 11th side on photo look at the angle of the pipes and where they are pointing.This is a small guy riding solo on a big Harley.Also notice he has the right hand on the tank - i.e. he is not gunning and the rear end is not squatting as a result.

Yeah. He is a small built guy. In the group pic, he is second from left in white tee with yellow scarf.

But, I couldnt understand what you were trying to point out about size of rider and pipes? Can you rephrase again please?

Quote:

Originally Posted by mobike008 (Post 3387321)

Most part of the roads were bad but, some sections were truly marvellous that made us forget the bad roads. Besides that some 30kms we rode in drizzling rain and since I wear spectacles it was not too comfortable for me but, thankfully it stopped and sun came up and stayed through the day..

How was the Bonnie on bad roads? Was it composed/plush or was it taking a toll on your back? If you could elaborate a bit, it will bring out the bad road handling behavior of the Bonneville.

Quote:

Originally Posted by abhinav.s (Post 3387766)

How was the Bonnie on bad roads? Was it composed/plush or was it taking a toll on your back? If you could elaborate a bit, it will bring out the bad road handling behavior of the Bonneville.

Riding the Bonneville through the bad patches (they were really bad patches with tar completely torn out with bottom surface visible) was not really a pleasurable activity as I could feel each and every bump and i didnt quite like that feeling. But, compared to the HD, it was much better

I rode the Harley Davidson Glide Custom for 4-5kms and most of it was on bad patched section.

Here is my short take on it :-

Seating is extremely comfortable, feels like a sofa
Riding Position makes you feel like a superhero. Awesome posture
Clutch was smooth and brakes were confidence inspiring
When I twisted the throttle, I was expecting massive and earth shattering power as it was double the cc of Bonnie but, was slightly disappointed to find feeling of power output was little higher than Bonneville but, nothing that made me wide-eyed. Due to its massive torque, it does pull like a freight train
It had custom Vince & Hines Exhaust and made such a rumble probably which could be heard 1km away. Thats the best part I liked about the Harley, Bliss !!
Hated the suspension. If Bonnieville was bad on rough patches, this is plain suicide on bad patches. It was almost like iron rods being pushed into the back. Nope, these bikes ain't meant for bad roads at all
Most of the ride, it was not able to keep up with the Bonnie and was trailing behind as soon as a turn comes up.

Having said above, If i want to buy a Harley ever, it would be this or the Fatboy as these are the real Harley that anyone aspiring to own should be buying.

Iam sure this bike would be super fun to ride on smooth 4-lane broad highways and can be cynosure of everyone's eyes.

However, It has also made me appreciate the Bonnie even more as it dawned on me that HD is such a massive bike and simply unpracticle to be used on 90% of our roads. It's meant for american roads and feel out of place on our roads

Quote:

Originally Posted by mobike008 (Post 3387794)

However, It has also made me appreciate the Bonnie even more as it dawned on me that HD is such a massive bike and simply unpracticle to be used on 90% of our roads. It's meant for american roads and feel out of place on our roads

A quick noobish question. Does Bonny have this one-touch hazard - lights button too ? ( all the indicators start blinking continuosly) not sure what its technically called though? Are all superbikes automatically installed with this mechanism right out of factory or else? I have seen almost all the HDs with this . AFAIK this is to indicate that this is a high speed vehicle ?