| Triumph Bonneville - A dream come true
Since the time I was 20 yrs I have always craved for a bike which was much powerful than the existing bikes in the indian market made by indian companies for the general public [talking about the general 100cc - 250cc] bikes. During my 20ies I owned a kinetic honda then a RX-100, then the first generation CBZ which helped me get through my teenage years.
Post this when I was 25 yrs, I moved to 4 wheelers while sacrificing my 2 wheeler passion for the greater cause of my safety while riding a bike, pollution and various other reasons which normal parents think. I have been using my dad’s Activa for any weekend work in general but apart from that I was totally away from 2 wheelers.
I am currently 32 yrs and there hasn’t been a time in my life where I have told myself and to my family when I see a sports bike, tourer bike or a crusier ‘I wish I had a bike in my life’. From last October, I have been actively looking for a bike for myself.
First came Duke 200 - Thought it looked awesome with amazing specs at a throwaway price but then I wanted a bike much bigger in CC so dropped this from my list.
Ninja 650 - When it got launched, I loved the bike and read great reviews about it though it never had the sports look and was more a tourer. However when a close friend of mine bought this and I saw the bike in flesh, I really did not like the empty space between the front fairing and felt it looked like a Fazer when seated on it.
Then came Duke 390 during Sep - Oct last year - Much better version of Duke 200 with more power and some calling it ‘psycho’ in terms of it pickup and engine power. A thought crossed my mind to take up this bike as a daily commute one and then get a bigger weekend getaway bike but then I was shown the reality by my wife that riding 60 kms to and fro on a bike to is a big NO NO due to safety, chaotic and crazy Hyderabad traffic.
Oct last year I finally decided to check out HD though I always felt I was never a person for cruisers and HD kind of bikes and I even have a cousin of mine who is completely into HD and its brotherhood. I went to the HD showroom and checked out Superlow - Liked its looked and chrome but GC was a major issue and as I checked out other models I realised GC is an issue in their entire stable of HD in general. I decided to test drive Iron 883 which my cousin already owns.
Iron 883 - Test drive was a complete circle of KBR park and the bike was loaded with screaming eagles and other accessories. The bike felt good to ride with the good riding posture and torque but the number of vibrations on the bike just turned me off.
48 - Though I did not test drive this bike, I loved its muscular looks and fat tires of Michelin but coming back to practicality where a 7.5 ltr tank capacity was just not good [peanut tank].
Street Bob - Loved this bike, the engine and its looks and was offered a 2012 Dec bike which was practically new for a 1lac cheaper which I was tempted to jump on. But somehow I held back and decided to have a look at Triumph when it launches during the year.
Triumph - Decemeber came and during this time period I had done some internet search and forum reading on Triumph Street and Speed triple. I felt and mentally made my mind up that I would pick either of these depending on the price it gets launched. D-day and Triumph announced its price and I made my mind up to pick Street triple and was ready to book it even without doing a test drive. Somehow sanity prevailed and I decided to wait for test drive and then book for the same. During Jan 2014, 2nd week I got a call from Triumph showroom that Street triple along with Bonneville is available for test drive. That saturday I immediately rushed to the showroom and took a test drive of Street while I saw mobike008 there for a test drive of Bonneville. I never considered Bonneville as its looks reminded me of Bullet.
Street Triple - Amazing street bike with its aggressive looks had me fallen in love with it. I even decided I would take the white color as the green reminded me of Ninja and Black of a Fazer. I faced multiple initial kick off problems with me unable to take the bike off in first gear. After some extra acceleration I managed to get it moving and boy o boy what power. It literally pulled me back multiple times when I accelerated and found the bike to be very powerful but I had tough time taking a u-turn and towards the end of the test drive I found my palms sore and paining [in matter of 5-10 mins]. I kept saying to myself that this is cause of the huge gap I have had in riding a bike and went away. Couple of weeks later I again take a test drive of the bike and this time wearing riding gear including gloves to see if this solved my problem. Unfortunately post this I still had my palms sore and at multiple instances of the test drive I felt I just want to end this ride and reach the showroom. Post this it was pretty clear that the bike had very aggressive stance which was not at all comfortable for me and thus I made my mind to part ways with this beauty.
Bonneville - During my second test drive of Street triple, I managed to take a test drive of Bonneville too. Found the bike to be extremely comfortable and agile with plenty of power at the twist of your palm. While initially I did not like how it resembled a bullet I still wanted to give it a second test drive but this time I got my wife along to have it with me so that I could get her opinion on it too. The second time the test drive bike was a white and blue combination Bonneville which I instantly feel in love. The color combination somehow made the bike look beautiful and very elegant and my wife too instantly concurred with my opinion and gave me her go ahead. The next few days I paid the booking amount of 50k for a blue and white color Bonneville and the showroom just had one piece left. What was left to do now was to wait till April first week [new financial year] and then approach Central Bank of India for taking loan and doing all the paper work.
I have been reading Mobike008 two threads on Bonneville vs Iron 883 and his ownership thread regularly and based on that I took the bike on my wife name which helped me save around 31k while I decided to take the bike insurance from the showroom itself. During March last week I was informed by the showroom that there might be a hike in bike price and it would be beneficial for me to pick the bike ASAP. This false information got me to take the bike before April itself as I am yet to see any price hike information.
D-day - 2nd April 2014: I picked the bike with my son wife and mom as planned as my son has been one of the persons who has been most excited. All formalities were finished and I was given the bike with T\C and would receive T\R on 7th April. During the delivery, I happened to see the test drive Bonneville with arrow exhausts + its mufflers removed [think this is what you call it]. The exhaust sounded loud for sure but it was in cellar so would need to check it once on the road. Coming back to my bike, I picked a helmet for myself from there since I did not have one and had my kid sit on the back while holding me with the promise of going to a helmet shop right now and buying him one too.
I have managed to take the bike to my office in Hi-tec city on Friday which is 60kms to and fro, the engine does get hot in the insane stop and go traffic of ours and while it is still manageable I believe I would truly enjoy this bike on open roads.
Positives of this bike:
- Simple yet elegant looks especially in white and blue color combination.
- Not to heavy on my pocket.
- Amazing stability and very easy to control.
- Agile and has good power whenever you need it.
- Decent GC which takes the bike over most of city speed breakers.
- Suspension is comfortable to go over bumps to a certain extend.
- Adjustable clutch and front brake.
- Retro looks.
Negatives:
- I stay army cantonment area and to reach my home I have 10-12 speed breaking in a spam of 2 kms. Though the bike goes over most of them but there are couple of nasty ones for which I just have to literally stop on it.
- Exhaust is quite muted. Wish it had a little bit more sound but I am sure there are tweaks and workaround which would help out.
- No tachometer on the bike and no fuel gauge (plan to get a tachometer on my
I have completed close to 100kms till now and have been riding the bike between 60-70 km speed till now while I am definitely tempted to speed it up but haven’t really got that chance yet. Maybe once I tag up with other Triumph owners for a weekend ride.
Few pics which I clicked of my bike: | 
7th April 2014, 12:14
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