[ankitwanchoo]

Originally Posted by hondadude

Congratulations Ankit on bike and excellent choice of mods so far.

My recommendation is to hold on the exhaust upgrade until you have done a mix of short and long rides. I have a SuperLow and I really wanted to get V&H the next day but thankfully I waited.

Originally Posted by Shubz

Sir I beg to differ on this slightly.The full systems of VnH are REAL loud! (without the baffles)

Originally Posted by mobike008

I agree with you on these thoughts. A friend who rides with us has an Harley Super Glide Custom with V&H installed. It's so loud its almost like an earthquake happening when he overtakes us

I enjoy that sound briefly when he overtakes but, that constant loud sound can really get in the way of enjoying a nice ride and like you said, I keep my distance or zoom past him to avoid being anywhere near that sound for constant periods

Thank you all for the suggestions; almost all of the 2k kms done so far have been either with friends on Bullets or short solo rides barring one or two short group rides with HOGs so have neither really heard either V&H or SE on the road. At the workshop, have heard both of them though.

Moreover, the exhaust upgrade was anyways something to be done after quite sometime. Wouldn't want to take any more chances with the wife, she still has not got over the shock of the money spent on the seat, forward controls and horn!

[dkaile]

Originally Posted by ankitwanchoo

Moreover, the exhaust upgrade was anyways something to be done after quite sometime.

Besides the financial matter, it is NEVER advisable to go in for exhaust upgrade straight out of the showroom. The engine needs to be properly broken-in before tinkling either with the exhausts or the air intakes to prevent any future damage. A post 2K kms figure mark sounds right to me.

[ebonho]

Gorgeous bike Ankit! Congratulations. And cute kiddos. Especially chotu. His thigh creases remind me of my own when they were small. Touch wood.

[hondadude]

Originally Posted by Shubz

As good as staying stock :-) May be get the baffles drilled

I know, some friends say that "screaming eagles don't scream" . I saw the before and after comparo from Dhiraj and there is difference albeit not as much as V&H but good enough. I am enjoying the rides so much without the exhaust upgrade that I may not do them at all. The only time I feel the need is when I start the bike and ride around town, it doesn't sound like a Harley but then I didn't buy the bike to ride around town or to even ride with HOGs. Almost all of my rides are with a small group of people.

Anikit, sorry for going a bit OT on your thread mate. We will stop now

[ankitwanchoo]

Originally Posted by ebonho

Gorgeous bike Ankit! Congratulations. And cute kiddos. Especially chotu. His thigh creases remind me of my own when they were small. Touch wood.

Thanks ebonho, have nicknamed him as 'Junior Sumo'! In fact both father and son have been on a diet

Originally Posted by hondadude

Anikit, sorry for going a bit OT on your thread mate. We will stop now

No worries on the OT discussion

[plimsollmark]

Wow,

Many many congratulations Ankit, I liked the way you arrived at this bike and am sure this is one decision you will live happily with forever . Happy and safe riding mate.

Cheers.

[ankitwanchoo]

Thanks plimsollmark, glad you liked reading about the thoughts behind picking up the beast!

I test rode a couple of Triumph's today and thought would pen down my initial experience about it. Bird Automotive is opening the showroom in Delhi at the Vasant Square Mall by the end of the month and at the moment, they have the Bonnie T100, Street Triple and the Thunderbird Storm as test ride bikes at their Beamer showroom at Gurgaon. I rode the Bonnie and Street for very short distances but toot the Thunderbird Storm out on the highway and I must admit, Triumphs are fantastic!

What I liked about the Thunderbird Storm in comparison to my Street Bob, although the ideal competitor to it is the FatBoy, both in terms of pricing and engine capacity:

• Absolutely no vibrations at all. The handle bars just did not vibrate and compare this to my Street Bob, you can feel each and every vibration while the bike is standing still and even while riding, I did not feel any vibrations through the foot pegs which I do on the Street Bob in speeds in excess of triple digits
• Super build quality. In this area, I guess both are equally matched
• Better sounding exhaust note on the stock setup
• The seating position was better, the way the right leg was perched on the brake pedal which was in the forward position was nice. I use a foot board on the StreetBob, which although is comfortable, I have to lift my foot to apply the break. I presume if I would have get the foot pegs instead of of the footboards when I went it for the forward mounting position on my bike, the stance would have been similar to the Storm's
• Massive 22ltr tank
• Braking with its twin front discs was excellent and confidence inspiring.

This is where Harley will always win over them!

• HOG community
• Not sure if these are as customisable as the Harleys

IMHO, the Triumph's are better machines in terms of handing, suspension, braking, absence of vibrations but I guess the biggest disadvantage about them is that they are 'Triumph's'

In fact someone I know, just cancelled his Street 750 booking today and is now going ahead with a Bonnie. Had the showroom been open two months back while I was buying my bike, would have I bought the Thunderbird? A big big NO.

[mobike008]

Originally Posted by ankitwanchoo

they have the Bonnie T100, Street Triple and the Thunderbird Storm as test ride bikes at their Beamer showroom at Gurgaon. I rode the Bonnie and Street for very short distances but toot the Thunderbird Storm out on the highway and I must admit, Triumphs are fantastic!

Nice to know you got an opportunity to experience the Triumph's. Triumph is a late entrant into our country but,in just 3 months have shaken up the premier motorcycle segment.

Triumph opened just 2 showrooms ( Bangalore and Hyderabad) but, is planning to open 10-12 showrooms concurrently by end of this month in places like Delhi, Chandigarh, Pune, Mumbai, Kochi, Chennai etc....We should see things heating up as more and more people start experiencing Triumph bikes and as a customer we all will benefit as we now have a choice and also can hope for competetive pricing

Originally Posted by ankitwanchoo

What I liked about the Thunderbird Storm in comparison to my Street Bob, although the ideal competitor to it is the FatBoy, both in terms of pricing and engine capacity

• Absolutely no vibrations at all. The handle bars just did not vibrate and compare this to my Street Bob, you can feel each and
  
  every vibration while the bike is standing still and even while riding, I did not feel any vibrations through the foot pegs which I do on the Street Bob in speeds in
  
  excess of triple digits
• Super build quality. In this area, I guess both are equally matched
• Better sounding exhaust note on the stock setup
• The seating position
  
  was better, the way the right leg was perched on the brake pedal which was in the forward position was nice. I use a foot board on the StreetBob, which although is
  
  comfortable, I have to lift my foot to apply the break. I presume if I would have get the foot pegs instead of of the footboards when I went it for the forward
  
  mounting position on my bike, the stance would have been similar to the Storm's
• Massive 22ltr tank
• Braking with its twin front discs was excellent and confidenceinspiring.

I rode almost all models of Triumph except the Storm and agree with your observations that they are absolutely smooth and vibration free . I heard a comment from an elderly gentleman in Hyderabad who owns a storm that it feels like a luxury car like Merc/Audi in ride quality ( Btw, he owns an Iron 883 as well)

Originally Posted by ankitwanchoo

This is where Harley will always win over them!

• HOG community
• Not sure if these are as customisable as the Harleys

IMHO, the Triumph's are better machines in terms of handing, suspension, braking, absence of vibrations but I guess the biggest disadvantage about them is that they are 'Triumph's'

Triumph doesnt have the massive clan feeling like HOG for sure and surely is a disadvantage/downside for Triumph and may not entice folks who look for this as primary aspect in selecting a motorcycle.

Globally as well Triumph owners have never paid much importance to this clan feeling but, they are equally customizable as Harley except that since its initial days for Triumph in India, so I reckon it'll take a while for customization scene/accessories to settle down. Maybe in another year from now we can look at some great options from T for all its models

You have highlighted that Triumph's are better in terms of handling, suspension,braking, absence of vibration but, its disadvantage is being a Triumph. When a motorcycle is superior in all technical departments as per your own observations but, is not worth buying just because its a different brand? Or is it because Triumph's are unknown brand in India?

Would be interesting to know your thought process?

Originally Posted by ankitwanchoo

In fact someone I know, just cancelled his Street 750 booking today and is now going ahead with a Bonnie

Hmmm..Not surprising. Triumph have set a target of sales for Bonnie which comprises of 60%-70% of their entire model range. Hyderabad dealership has exceeded their overall sales expectation by more than 200% and they alone have sold 70 units (all models included) in 3 months

Originally Posted by ankitwanchoo

Had the showroom been open two months back while I was buying my bike, would have I bought the Thunderbird? A big big NO.

Isn't this contradictory to your Test Ride experience?

So your saying if Thunderbird Storm was available when you were making a choice of buying the Street Bob, you would have still bought the Street Bob as it's a Harley or is it some other reason?

[ankitwanchoo]

Originally Posted by mobike008

You have highlighted that Triumph's are better in terms of handling, suspension,braking, absence of vibration but, its disadvantage is being a Triumph. When a motorcycle is superior in all technical departments as per your own observations but, is not worth buying just because its a different brand? Or is it because Triumph's are unknown brand in India?

Would be interesting to know your thought process?

Isn't this contradictory to your Test Ride experience?

So your saying if Thunderbird Storm was available when you were making a choice of buying the Street Bob, you would have still bought the Street Bob as it's a Harley or is it some other reason?

The reason why Triumph would have not been my pick had they been here in Delhi sooner was purely that it doesn't tick an item on my bucket list which the Harley does.

Maybe it's just a cult thing, the same reason why people buy Bullets, even though there are far better products in similar price range. And for someone like me who sold the Enfield Thunderbird 350 to take the Cast Iron Standard Bullet which was sold to take the LB500 but finally I sold that too and went back to the Cast Iron Standard 350. Difficult to explain, but the heart wants what the hear wants!

While buying the Harley, my criteria was never to get into the HG community or ride regularly with them. Right from my bullet days, I was never a fan of large group riding and hence had not bothered to get into Royal Beasts/ other riding groups. Whatever riding I used to do on my Bullet was with a few close group of friends. Although since I've picked up the Harley, I've been lusting to ride as often as I can but my friend's aren't excited as I am these days. No wonder I've been prodding them to change their bikes and now I'm sure some of them would seriously consider Triumph's. Given their lack of interest in matching my enthusiasm of riding, I've been on a few HOG sunday breakfast rides.

Incidentally, the ODO clocked 3000kms today in a span of less than two months!

Although since an item on the bucket list is checked, who knows maybe in a few years, I could be riding the Rocket III.

[basuroy]

Originally Posted by ankitwanchoo

Maybe it's just a cult thing, the same reason why people buy Bullets, even though there are far better products in similar price range. And for someone like me who sold the Enfield Thunderbird 350 to take the Cast Iron Standard Bullet which was sold to take the LB500 but finally I sold that too and went back to the Cast Iron Standard 350. Difficult to explain, but the heart wants what the hear wants!

I know that feeling , 10 months back I myself picked up a '87 cast iron model even though I could easily afford anything below 2 lakhs . Bike is more of a leisure ride vehicle to me and the idea of riding something older than me stuck in my head

[ankitwanchoo]

@basuroy: I'm sure you enjoy riding the standard. In my in mind, any enfield without a neutral finder is just a Royal Enfield and not a Bullet!!

I might have to end up selling my standard 350 now although just don't want to.



Sent from my iPhone using Team-BHP

[dkaile]

@ankit - About your observation about the vibrations from the mini apes, I had a discussion with few Bob owners and they say as this category of bike is a Bobber these vibrations are normal. Even in the Fat Bob I could see the front wheel vibrating even at idle whereas there is no such experience with the Sportsters. These vibrations are a little amplified with the mini apes.

[ankitwanchoo]

One of my fears came true today!

While deciding on the Street Bob I was always scared that a puncture wold certainly screw a long ride and leave you stranded in the middle of nowhere.

Here I am, although not in the middle of nowhere, actually I'm the basement of my office writing this as I see the bike being put on the tow vehicle at 10 o'clock in the night.




There should be some other solution to having a puncture fixed on spoked wheeled Harley's, if not, then they should all come with alloys, period!

Makes me wonder would have been better off with an Iron 883 or should have I had robbed my bank further and gone with a FatBob.

Honestly it's quite frustrating to undergo so much of a hassle just for a bloody puncture. I don't want to spend another 80k just to convert to alloys



Sent from my iPhone using Team-BHP

[plimsollmark]

Originally Posted by ankitwanchoo

One of my fears came true today!

There should be some other solution to having a puncture fixed on spoked wheeled Harley's, if not, then they should all come with alloys, period!

Honestly it's quite frustrating to undergo so much of a hassle just for a bloody puncture. I don't want to spend another 80k just to convert to alloys

Sent from my iPhone using Team-BHP

Ankit, you should carry a puncture repair kit as a minimum where you can plug the tyre. Get the vulcanizing type. For slightly longer rides a battery operated pump is also highly recommended to avoid unpleasant situations like this.

Cheers.

[dustom_99]

A puncher should not spoil your trip plan ,Alloys Puncher too. I once had to ride 6km on a completely drained rear tyre. Got caught in middle of nowhere with no mobile network. I kept taking breaks after every 700mtrs to 1km to keep the punchered tyre cool , as it gets very hot riding in flat condition , Hot enough to melt and seperate from its side walls.
at the puncher shop it took just 5 mins and 100bucks.
SInce then I Carry small 6inch Adjustable spanner along with regular Harley tool kit,
to open up the rear axle and get the tyre removed completely in case of puncher etc. or you can have a 34socket (Sportster axle, may be different for your ride)and handle , which gets too big to carry all the time.
Rear tyre removal takes only opening one Axle bolt , but practice it at home a couple of times so that you dont need a faltbed truck for a puncher.

You will need a Jack aswell, which you can borrow from passing cars etc.

Not Just Harley , Puncher is a pain in the side for all bikes