[live&ride]

After a long time came back to follow your posts. Do post your experiences on the Striple S as well.

[wangdu]

Originally Posted by live&ride

After a long time came back to follow your posts. Do post your experiences on the Striple S as well.

Hey Buddy, How's it going?

I've shared some of my experiences on Striple's T-bhp launch thread. But I've mostly fallen far short to translate the sum total of emotions into words that this inline-3 machine growl generates when climbing to red line or when leaning at bucket list tick-able angles. But it's been a roller coaster fun; a year already and I still need to have all senses working while revving this bike and mentioning all the fun at those RPMs will earn me an infraction

How's the Africa twin treating you after Versys? Took it out of garage yet to share something here?

cheers!

[knrn]

I just happened to go through your thread today. Reflects my emotions exactly. I was a car dude for long, then I bought a bullet 4 years ago and yes, the Bullet bit me.
Nothing can describe the feeling of riding this bike, thumping over the road. But then it is a bike designed to be ridden slow. I never cross 80 on mine as the bike feels like loosing control. So yes even I wanted something on the lines of the quintessential soul of a bullet but with better bite. So yes, I do understand your feelings.
A few questions from my side.
What were your thoughts about the interceptor 650. How did you find it and secondly your thoughts and impressions on the triumph bonnevile bobber. Why didn't you try that out? And I would have gone for the t120.
I totally agree on the HD part. They sell loud motorcycles. In good paints. But it is cumbersome in the city.
Looking forward to your feedback.

[urban legend]

Hi. Even I am seriously considering upgrading from my RE classic 350 to a triumph t 100. Do the triumph dealers have certified pre owned bikes ? The MUMBAI dealer salesperson says yes but is not providing any details about the inventory.
Since my usage is limited to short rides within the city and occasional longer rides around MUMBAI I felt a pre owned option would be better for me.

[ranjitnair77]

Originally Posted by urban legend

Do the triumph dealers have certified pre owned bikes ? The MUMBAI dealer salesperson says yes but is not providing any details about the inventory.
Since my usage is limited to short rides within the city and occasional longer rides around MUMBAI I felt a pre owned option would be better for me.

It does make a lot of sense to buy one pre-owned. The bike is very reliable and there are no concerns on buying a pre-owned Bonnie as long as the service records are available. That's what I did two years ago.

The dealer will connect you to prospective owners who are looking to sell. As far as I know, there is no official certification process or anything. It's all pretty informal. It also helps to spread the word around in the local Triumph groups and you should get some good options.

[wangdu]

Originally Posted by knrn

..A few questions from my side.
What were your thoughts about the interceptor 650. How did you find it and secondly your thoughts and impressions on the triumph bonnevile bobber. Why didn't you try that out? And I would have gone for the t120.
I totally agree on the HD part. They sell loud motorcycles. In good paints. But it is cumbersome in the city.
Looking forward to your feedback.

I have only test ride experience of the twins but extrapolating that I would say they are built to budget machines which are good for Indian conditions. I didn't get a "wow" feel that Bonnies got of me in short test rides. Also, the aesthetics are out of place in twins IMO; like those exhausts are just not in proportion with the bike's body.

In the price range the twins are, I would say they are VFM but these need test of time before we can comment on reliability - something which is inherent in Bonnies. The maintenance costs too should be considered in decision making; for example Bonnie's service, although annual, costs ~8-10k, 3rd annual service will cost more and then all parts are darn expensive.

I agree on the T-120 preference but that time the color options on t120 weren't great, was ~1.5 L more expensive and I was overwhelmed by the 80NM of t100. Retrospecting, I might ignore the color, would arrange the price diff somehow and go for T120.

Originally Posted by urban legend

Hi. Even I am seriously considering upgrading from my RE classic 350 to a triumph t 100. Do the triumph dealers have certified pre owned bikes ? The MUMBAI dealer salesperson says yes but is not providing any details about the inventory.
Since my usage is limited to short rides within the city and occasional longer rides around MUMBAI I felt a pre owned option would be better for me.

The pre-owned route is individual's preference and if you can link up to any of their sales team they can keep you posted as most owners advertise a sale on local RAT group. Now, looking at your usage I would say t-100 would be an overkill; that's because you might find it difficult to maneuver in city due to longish wheelbase, weight, higher CC heat in city traffic (Nothing beats my RE or Duke for whatever city has to offer - so like me you should keep both, if I may suggest). The T100 would be sheer pleasure on open roads though- sublime, refined, galloping machine. Again, keep T120 also as an option due to more performance & the 6th gear that's so useful on highways.

[rednikhil]

Originally Posted by wangdu

Hi there,

So the Bonnie got some muscular accessories in the form of radiator & sump guard. Ordered from Evotech the purchase was not without some unwanted drama.

On their website I ordered these 2 items for 2017 model T100 but what I got was perhaps of some older generation/year. When I sent the pics of the motorcycle, they then shipped the T120 parts (for 10 GBP only and asked me to not send back the parts I already had) which eventually were the right fit. They have since updated their website with correct part for T-100.

Hello Nipun!

Did you face any issues with the customs/ import duty payment, while delivery from Evotech?

I hope you are doing great with your bike!
Cheers

[wangdu]

Originally Posted by rednikhil

Hello Nipun!

Did you face any issues with the customs/ import duty payment, while delivery from Evotech?

I hope you are doing great with your bike!
Cheers

None.

I recall there was a certain minor amount (seems the delivery company took care of it at customs) which I paid at home to delivery guy.

Yes, 3 years now and good times roll on with Bonnie.

cheers !.

[wangdu]

Alas! out of the clutches of procrastination I write about my dear Bonnie.

Feelings of helplessness, sadness seeing her stationary during lockdown, avoiding servicing with thoughts of passing it to next suitable owner, coming close to selling it twice, then feeling relieved of still seeing her in garage the next day and finally realizing that I’ll be (gladly) unable to part ways with the machine, the sparks needed to fly again. And for that the machine needed investment, lots of $$. It’d been an emotional roller coaster with Bonnie over past 9 months culminating with raided pocket in times of stress but lots of smiles nonetheless. (Note to self: heart over head you biker )

Major updates done on Bonnie after ~4years, chain & sprockets change, K&N filter, tyres change & outex treatment.

The tires were 4 yrs old from manufacturing date and the hard compounded stock Pirelli phantom had started developing cracks on side wall & around treads. So that was a thing to be taken care of soon. And with perpetual worry of puncture anywhere, the outex treatment couldn’t be further ignored, so it was time to get tires changed along with outex done as well. I couldn’t stretch my luck any further.

While all this was being planned, on one of the rides something felt extremely wrong with Bonnie; that calm and peace I experience riding Bonnie was being disturbed by this annoying grinding sound. First, I thought it might be of the chain rubbing against the chain cover but that wasn’t the case. With all these issues, servicing to be done and longing for the rejuvenated relation with the machine, I took the bike to Path Pavers, a SBK service setup in Delhi.

After checking the chain and sprockets it was clear that front sprocket had more bad teeth than rear and the chain was more elastic at certain links. For all of 15k kms I’d been using chain cleaners/lube like motuls, kerosene, engine oil and that wasn’t a great idea as per the mechanic. I’ve now started using putoline drytec (costs similar to motul) and the chain isn’t sticky or such.

Also, having noted the recommendation of chain manufacturer I now have some liters of kerosene to be used for removing grease on utensils


The tyre story – Due to lockdown and certain import restrictions, procuring Metz tourance or Scorpion tires of same size and recent manufacturing was becoming tedious. Since the bike was already at the workshop I had to arrange the tires soon. My search lead me to the brand I knew but never read about in detail -Timsun. The workshop had a pair of Timsun 697 but the front was 110 instead of stock 100, the rear was 150. The pair was coming around 13k and with no luck finding other brand I went ahead with Timsun thinking if there’s any major complaint after few months, loss of 13k won’t drown me in sorrow.


Impressions: The stock Pirelli phantom are horrible. if I were allowed using expletives here I would. Why in the world would Triumph use such tires is beyond my understanding. People who use scorpion trail or metz have similar opinion for phantoms. The Timsuns feel way better in my ~800km ride so far. Few notable awesome differences over stock phantom: The U turns have become a breeze despite the longish wheelbase, the road noise has reduced significantly, the dreaded handle buzz/vibrations have disappeared at high speed and the maneuverability in traffic is easier. Overall, very pleased.

And lastly the air filter. The condition of OE air paper filter after 6-9 months would always be horrible, and I would end up cleaning it and fitting it back halfheartedly. But this time I purchased & installed K&N (and worry only after a lot of miles) and flattered Bonnie a bit more

Escapades with Bonnie will be fun again this winter.
Cheers.

Pictures:
Clean & Lube




Air Filter: The dirty OE paper filter


K&N The installation wasn't tedious, just need to be careful with those tiny screws.




Front Tyre of 110 vs stock 100:


Rear stance now looks muscular and purposeful for some rough roads

[Nilesh5417]

A friend has ridden 6k kms on his Versys on Timsums and he swears by how good they are. Yours is the 2nd installation that I know of so looks like these are real VFM replacements.

[rednikhil]

Originally Posted by wangdu

The tyre story – Due to lockdown and certain import restrictions, procuring Metz tourance or Scorpion tires of same size and recent manufacturing was becoming tedious. Since the bike was already at the workshop I had to arrange the tires soon. My search lead me to the brand I knew but never read about in detail -Timsun. The workshop had a pair of Timsun 697 but the front was 110 instead of stock 100, the rear was 150. The pair was coming around 13k and with no luck finding other brand I went ahead with Timsun thinking if there’s any major complaint after few months, loss of 13k won’t drown me in sorrow.


Impressions: The stock Pirelli phantom are horrible. if I were allowed using expletives here I would. Why in the world would Triumph use such tires is beyond my understanding. People who use scorpion trail or metz have similar opinion for phantoms. The Timsuns feel way better in my ~800km ride so far. Few notable awesome differences over stock phantom: The U turns have become a breeze despite the longish wheelbase, the road noise has reduced significantly, the dreaded handle buzz/vibrations have disappeared at high speed and the maneuverability in traffic is easier. Overall, very pleased.

Hi Nipun,
Great to hear from you after so long!

Could you elaborate some more on the Timsons please.
Grip levels compared to the stock tyres?
Weight of handlebars while slow speed maneuvers?
Overall performance improvement over the stock tyres?

Thanks

[wangdu]

Originally Posted by rednikhil

Hi Nipun,
Great to hear from you after so long!

Could you elaborate some more on the Timsons please.
Grip levels compared to the stock tyres?
Weight of handlebars while slow speed maneuvers?
Overall performance improvement over the stock tyres?

Thanks

Sorry for the delay in replying.

Well, 1500 kms since the change I'm very satisfied with Timsun. Specifically to your points, timsun (this rubber 697 model) far exceeds the phantoms in all departments. These just feel better, way better.
1. Tires grip on wet and dry surface is far better. Even cornering is lot more confidence inspiring. Since these are bit off road focused also, i have no issue wandering onto 'kuccha' roads where the ride now is pliant and comfortable over stones, pot holes etc.
2. Weight of the handle bar feels significantly less. The bike is more maneuverable, for example the U turns even tighter ones are easy to do now, shorter turning curve and filtering traffic is easier.
3. The dreaded handle bar shaking is gone, handle bar buzz is significantly reduced

Overall, this 697 model which is both on & some pff road oriented suits my need for our roads where there's mix of good & bad in every trip.

Timsun was an nervous accidental purchase as that time there were no Metzelers and Pirelli Scorpions at shops due to import restrictions but I'm very satisfied now with its performance (at the almost half the price point of Metz/Pirelli). I wouldn't know if Metz tourance/Scorpion trail are better over timsuns but for likes of Bonnie any of these are way better than phantoms. I would even say this to folks with new Bonnies to just let go of stock phantoms but then how would we appreciate better rubber without experiencing phantoms

Hope this helps.