[mobike008]

Wow! Really nice to see 2 brothers driving identical bikes. Iam not sure if you convinced him to buy the Bonnie or he was convinced on his own

Nevertheless, its quite unique to see such a thing happening and good luck in enjoying this fantastic piece of machinery

So what does your brother think of the Bonnie?

Pune and Bangalore are heavenly places for weekend getaways. During my college days, I used to ride my bike from Pune to all nearby places like Sinhagad fort, Mahabaleshwar, Nagar, Lonavla etc. And, then it was either a Shogun or an RX-100

[argchoff]

Originally Posted by mobike008

Iam not sure if you convinced him to buy the Bonnie or he was convinced on his own

So what does your brother think of the Bonnie?

I am afraid i was (or rather my Bonnie was) responsible for his decision to go for one. Although i did suggest him to test ride the 883 before deciding, he was already convinced. Although he had decided on the black Bonnie, he liked the old white over blue colour combo as well. Looks like this colour is most sought after at the moment and this is now officially discontinued.

[So what does your brother think of the Bonnie?] Awesome! is his response and now more than happy with his decision after hearing about my Moto Guzzi Test ride experience. Infact i was myself pleasantly shocked to see the Bonnie excelled over the Guzzi the way it picks up whereas the Guzzi was full of vibes and uninspiring for a 1200cc bike. I am sure you miss your arrowed Bonnie even now.

[mobike008]

Originally Posted by argchoff

I am sure you miss your arrowed Bonnie even now.

I miss my Bonnie very much indeed. But, not arrowed one necessarily. I think that was a mistake.

Bonnie in its stock form was the best

[argchoff]

After a 6 week tenure on the job, did a couple of lone yet exciting rides. The 1st one was a ride to Torna fort - Panshet - Pune a 118km mixed good road / broken trail stretch over the Pabe ghat section. Exciting scenery but very tricky winding roads with no embankments.

The next weekend yet another solo ride. This time a 330km ride to Shivneri fort - Malshej ghat - Karjat - Khopoli - Khandala - Pune with a meal break at the El Taj Restaurant at Khandala for some Fresh lime soda and chicken tikka. Apart from the bad stretch of road between Chakan and Narayangaon, the road from Narayangaon all the way back was super smooth with only some irritating speedbreakers between Karjat and Khopoli. There were a few nasty encounters with Morons driving taxis as is always the case, but i guess we have to be prepared for this kind of a thing in India.
The only thing i can say about the slightly rear mounted footpegs and gears on the Bonnie: While they are great to absorb shocks form potholes and save the lower back from some damage, after riding non stop for about 269km which i did before a break, the knees start aching wanting me to constantly straighten my legs very often. The heat and temperature that day did'nt help
still surprisingly the engine did not overheat at all.
While i still feel the Bonnie's brakes are awesome, i think having ABS would do the bike and the rider well.

[argchoff]

So, the bike is almost reaching the 10000 km mark. What was originally planned as a family outing in a car, ended up with the family in the car and me on the Bonneville - A trip to Amba ghat Jungle resort and Pawankhind.
Thankfully, that saturday morning it had rained overnight. So the entire 250 odd km stretch was under overcast skies, lovely cool breeze all the way. There is quite a lot of diversions at present between Pune and Satara, apart from that the roads were simply awesome (especially the 16km between Amba village and the bifurcation leading upto pawankhind is full of twisties and lush green forests, not to mention near perfect tarmac. It is the last 7km upto pawankhind that is simply OFF ROAD, no tarmac, potholes, stones, mud, sand and anything except for smooth surface. This last bit should be interesting for any Triumph Tiger owners out there. I did the good bit on the Bonnie then parked it in the resort. After afing an excellent mutton thali at the Digvijay restaurant We went upto Pawankhind in the car.....AND AM I GLAD i did not take the Bonnie?????
After finishing walking the Pawankhind and returning to the carpark, we found our car window smashed and some minor stuff stolen. Either the thieves were complete morons or did not have enough time, they managed to miss anything of value. Wonder what they would have done to the Bonneville had i brought it there.
The place itself was simply awesome, and would recommend it to bikers, just ensure a couple of guys stay back till others have finished visiting the gorge and take turns.
The road upto vishalgad however was disappointing and there is complete chaos in the fort parking. Do not even think of leaving your bikes there.
The following morning on the return journey the weather was scorching hot, however not once did the bike stall in the heat, performance as good as when i got the bike. The tyres do heat up a lot especially on the cement roads, and i did take a stop at Satara to cool off. After that stuck to 2 digit speeds to avoid any mishaps with the tyres.

[Odeen12]

Thats a beautiful story and lots of rides i see. Wonderful!!. Those roads are beautiful. I completely agree, that sometimes you should ride alone. It just throws all the junk out from your brain. Ride safe and have a lot of fun on that Bonnie!!

[AWD]

Nice set of pictures there. Would be nice if you could point out the negatives in the Bonnie. Heard one needs to lubricate the chain every 500kms, how are the service costs, spares availability & any other niggles in the bike ?

[argchoff]

Hi. The chain needs regular lubricating, but so do all bikes with chain drive. I lubricate the chain after every long ride i.e. 200km plus.
Spares and service are a little bit cheaper than Harley but a typical service costs about 6000rs every 10k km or 12 months. 1st service is after 800km or 30 days whichever is earlier.
Negative points about the Bonnie:
1. Horn - completely useless
2. With stock exhausts - sounds like a super refined auto rickshaw ( high flow silencers solve that problem)
3. Plastic front fender and side covers ....i hate plastics on a classic bike. (Good quality though)
4. Brakes although grippy and strong need abs as the bike can do some crazy speeds.
5. Lastly not a negative point of the bike itself but about triumph as a company....they are selling underpowered detuned versions in india and for first 10 months since their launch in india they lied about bhp and torque figures. They are also giving free new exhausts to bonnie owners asking them to return the original ones citing emission norms reasons......12 months after selling an rto passed bike!!!! All such moves are made through dealers and triumph india do not reply or solve problems themselves. Make Complaints to triumph helpline.....and get a surprise call from the dealership and NOT triumph with an answer.

[AWD]

Originally Posted by argchoff

I lubricate the chain after every long ride i.e. 200km plus.
Spares and service are a little bit cheaper than Harley but a typical service costs about 6000rs
With stock exhausts - sounds like a super refined auto rickshaw
need abs as the bike can do some crazy speeds.
lied about bhp and torque figures. They are also giving free new exhausts to bonnie owners Make Complaints to triumph helpline.....and get a surprise call from the dealership and NOT triumph with an answer.

Ok, Im sort of in the market & looking for a fill it forget it type of a bike, thought Bonnie T100 could fulfil the duty.

6k/10k.kms is ok. How much do the high flow exhausts cost ? Are these the Arrow ones ?

Oops ABS is a must for high powered bikes

This is actually bad dealing by Triumph. While I don't mind a bit of detuning, maybe they did it for FE purposes but shouldn't have been lying about it.

The new exhausts they are changing to, do they sound good or one still has to change ?

Triumph has origins in which Country ? When I make a complaint, I expect the Company to get back to the customer with a solution.


So I tried Bonnie T100 but the real surprise package for me turned out to be the Thunderbird Storm. I was completely floored by the experience. Its a heavy bike but nimble to handle & gives an awesome feel to the rider. So but I don't know which one would be better a Harley Fatboy/Fatbob or Thunderbird. After the TDs I had of both the brands, I was able to make out, Triumphs were better to drive around. Haven't come across a comparo or a ownership experience of the Storm here I guess.

T100 felt more like a RD350, the later can be exploited to full potential but sadly T100's potential will mostly remain un-utilised on Indian roads.

[udainxs]

Originally Posted by AWD

Ok, Im sort of in the market & looking for a fill it forget it type of a bike, thought Bonnie T100 could fulfil the duty.

6k/10k.kms is ok. How much do the high flow exhausts cost ? Are these the Arrow ones ?

Triumph has origins in which Country ?

So I tried Bonnie T100 but the real surprise package for me turned out to be the Thunderbird Storm. I was completely floored by the experience. Its a heavy bike but nimble to handle & gives an awesome feel to the rider. So but I don't know which one would be better a Harley Fatboy/Fatbob or Thunderbird.

Alternate services may cost more for triumph. The 20000km service for Hifisharu's street triple cost 20k. This may be similar, if not the same since they did a lot more than an oil change

Triumph is a British brand

As for better, it is definitely a personal choice. If you like the ride of the triumphs more, seems they would be a better buy. Better in such cases is a very subjective discussion

[djpeesh]

Originally Posted by argchoff

Hi. The chain needs regular lubricating, but so do all bikes with chain drive. I lubricate the chain after every long ride i.e. 200km plus.
Spares and service are a little bit cheaper than Harley but a typical service costs about 6000rs every 10k km or 12 months. 1st service is after 800km or 30 days whichever is earlier.
Negative points about the Bonnie:
1. Horn - completely useless
2. With stock exhausts - sounds like a super refined auto rickshaw ( high flow silencers solve that problem)
3. Plastic front fender and side covers ....i hate plastics on a classic bike. (Good quality though)
4. Brakes although grippy and strong need abs as the bike can do some crazy speeds.
5. Lastly not a negative point of the bike itself but about triumph as a company....they are selling underpowered detuned versions in india and for first 10 months since their launch in india they lied about bhp and torque figures. They are also giving free new exhausts to bonnie owners asking them to return the original ones citing emission norms reasons......12 months after selling an rto passed bike!!!! All such moves are made through dealers and triumph india do not reply or solve problems themselves. Make Complaints to triumph helpline.....and get a surprise call from the dealership and NOT triumph with an answer.

You forgot to mention the left footpeg breaking and in my case, the low fuel indicator going kaput twice (hasn't been in stock for 3 months now), resulting in my having to push the bike every couple of months. This Sunday, it was a 4 km push in full gear, followed by begging with a petrol pump attendant to fuel her up before the official opening time of the pump.

Otherwise, my love affair continues. She's super stable in the rain, rode a constant 80 in the rain with the Metzlers offering awesome traction now that they are broken in at 9,000 km.

Sorry for hijacking your thread Argchoff

[argchoff]

The Bonnie has now gone past the 11000km mark. We did a straight 601km ride in 15hrs (1 hour in pune traffic jam in the evening). Started at 0600hrs sharp from baner road and headed for the Bangalore highway. The route was Pune-Amba-Vishalgad-Amba ghat-Devrukh-Chiplun-NH66-Mahad-Bhor ghat-Bangalore highway-Pune. The 245km stretch upto Amba was covered in 4 hours. Took the twisties leading upto Vishalgad fort, took some photos and headed back to Amba for lunch. Rest of the ride was in rainy weather and Amba ghat was just awesome. Though the scenery of bhor ghat is stunning i would never do it again on a bike OR car for that matter for the simple reason that the road is full of potholes, single car can pass at one time and steep drop either side. Not to mention that morons in Jeeps and scorpios go racing on this road. One such incident of a Trax coming at full speed forced me to leave the tarmac (whatever was there) and landed in a ditch of soft mud. Lost balance as the bike came to a stop and the bike fell over to the left trapping my left leg underneath. My brother had to help me lift the bike to clear my leg. I was really upset thinking that the bike was scratched and damaged due to the fall. It was impossible to make out any damage at that time due to all that mud everywhere on the bike. A couple of days later i washed the bike and to my pleasant surprise.....NOT A SCRATCH. I think the saddle bags must have taken the contact with the mud thus saving the rest of the bike. The rest of the ride was in dark and by the time we reached Pune it was close to 8pm.
Even after riding the bike for such a long distance there was no hiccups anywhere in that 865cc engine, proving yet again the reliability of the bike. I would not dream of doing this long a ride on any royal enfield without carrying a spare set of everything!!!
Once again the horn failed me...as soon as it starts raining the horn stops working.

[Haroon]

Beautiful ride pics Argchoff. Thanks for sharing.

Its unfortunate about your fall, but glad both man & machine came out unscathed. As for horns, if your bike is going to see highway duty, Indian highways being a game of survival-of-the-fittest, upgrading to a good Indian horn is a necessity (probably a life saver for some of those crazy situations!). Esp trucks, jeeps and many car drivers sadly are more attentive to hearing a loud horn than their vision. And just for the records foreign horns are made to last for about 50,000 cycles, whereas desi horns are made to last for about 3,00,000 cycles

Ride safe

[argchoff]

Back on the road again after a long break in riding partly due to non availability of tyres. Due to ridiculous pricing of the m2 and m4 stock metzelers 13.7k rear and 8k front with equally ridiculous fitting charges of 1.8k per tyre by triumph and on suggestions and reading posts by other bonnie owners on tbhp i decided on changing to michelins pilot street. I Was tempted to go for a 150/60 R17 rear but played it safe as regards to ground clearance and went for a 140/70 R17 rear keeping the front same specs of 110/70 R17 as stock.

Got a good deal on amazon, the pair for rs.9240 including delivery charges. Got them fitted at the balewadi biking superstore for 600 per tyre and they did a really nice job. By the way a slightly different spec sportec metzelers 110/70 R17 and 150/60 R17 are also available on amazon for 4.5k and 5.5k on amazon.

More about the ride......rode to Amby valley from pune a day after the rains so got a mixed ride of dry, wet and gravel (near bua misal shack behind farihas) road conditions to test although more of dry conditions. Also got a chance to lean the bike on the twisties in Amby valley ghat. My impression so far......it feels much more planted especially while leaning and also felt less lateral movement on gravel. In fact i enjoyed throwing it in corners more than when i had stock tyres on. There is absolutely no stiffness in handling after fitting a rear wider tyre.

One thing i did notice that going over speed breakers or potholes is a more gentle experience with less jarring although the bike seems to bounce a bit. Also got to test the braking thanks to the evergreen presence of wannabe 6 seater morons on the lonavala stretch and i was pleased that the bike is still stopping as expected. Let us see how long these tyres last. A customary breakfast of misal pav at bua chi misal shack at khandala completed the ride.

[pedrolourenco]

Nice to see 2 brothers on identical bikes. You should buy one for your wife too along with an upgrade to the Vega helmet.

Originally Posted by mobike008

When I was taking delivery of my Bonneville in Hyderabad in Feb-2014, there were 3 elderly gentlemen from Goa who came all the way to Hyderabad and picked up 3 Triumph Bonnevilles T100 and rode back to Goa

If I'm not mistaken one of them is BHPian "Ketla"