RE: Triumph Bonnevilles? Show 'em off!

[Guth_imp]

For me, the photo of Capos 1970 T120 illustrates why I think Honda was wise not to try to recreate any one specific design from the past. The look of the current Bonneville pales in comparison to the originals. The proportions just aren't right. The beautiful lines of that 1970 bike are lost in the new bikes with their bulbous tanks, oddly angled pipes and larger engines. The models sporting 17" wheels look worse to my eye than the T100s. Not because of the spokes, but because the size of the wheel/tire just throws the balance off that much more. Keep in mind that I consider the Triumphs of the late 60s to be some of the most beautiful bikes ever built. Simply awesome looking machines. So Triumph set their own design bar really high. I also happen to be pretty particular about stuff like this.

Those of you who have been around this forum for a while are familiar with the fact that I'm not too crazy about the look of the larger tank on the CB1100 deluxe. Same deal - the lines of the tank pass muster in some photos, but in others the curves just look bloated. I would be hard pressed to find a photo of that 1970 T120 that didn't look darn near perfect to me from almost any angle. Stunning machine.
Before I come across as being too hard on today's retro standards, I would add that I still find these designs more attractive than the alternatives. The Bonneville of today is still a more attractive bike to me than say the Daytona 675. Things just start to fall apart for me a bit when the comparison to the looks of the old bikes comes into play.

Gentlemen,

This post from our Forum's Il Duce is spot on in my opinion. I had a Lucifer Orange modern Bonneville and that double kink in the exhaust pipes drove me crazy because it shouldn't be that way. I can't warm up to the Dlx tank either and would have swapped it out for the standard tank if I bought one. Putting 17" wheels on a Bonneville is like putting 50 series tires on a 1969 Mustang, it just looks wrong. On my '13 CB1100 I would change a few things. It needs the 6 speed transmission and the bare aluminum engine and wheels of the '14 Dlx, and the black tank of the '14 std. I am not a fan of blacked out bikes or cars because so much visual detail is lost. The big air cooled mill in the CB11 shows itself off best in bare aluminum and it's the best styling feature on this bike. It puts the "motor" back in motorcycle. The exhaust system on the '13 CB is ugly with the sloppy welds feeding into the round converter that funnels awkwardly into the silencer. The taillight and turn signals on the '13 bike are WAY to big too but that has been fixed on my bike.

Still, especially as my '13 is modded today, I think it is far more beautiful than the original CB750. IMO, only the CB400 is as pretty.

As for the respectful posting of opinions, both positive and negative, they should all be welcome here. Personal attacks or flaming have no place here, but when I put up threads on Chip Beck Spec mods, I get a lot of members who post that they don't like what I have done as it's not right for them or their tastes while others really liked what I did. I posted up to subject my work to respectful peer review with all comments, positive or negative, welcome. That's my take on that.

All the best.

Chip

Thanks for that Chip.

It's certainly unrealistic to expect everyone on this forum to agree on everything. While I didn't attack or flame any individual, upon retrospect I could understand where my critical comments might be out of place in a thread started with the intent to praise the modern Bonneville. Which of course is why I pulled some of that content to use in starting this thread. Respectful criticism has its place. I've read plenty of less-than-respectful criticism of the CB1100 elsewhere on the web and it hasn't swayed my opinion of the bike. I would hope that modern Bonneville owners feel the same way about their rides regardless of my comments.

One thing I would say about the many of bikes from the 60's, and earlier is that they strike me as being much more organic in nature. In other words to me it appears that designers back then had a bit more leverage in calling for how a bike would look along with the individual systems and components and then figure out how to make it all work. Function following form to a degree. (Aside from the retro standards as a group, most of todays bikes strike me as pretty much the opposite.) Obviously todays bikes have made incredible strides in terms of performance gains. For me, they've just taken a few steps backwards in the looks department.

What would I change about todays retro standards? More color choices. Standard fenders that are long enough to catch rain and mud off the front tire. Factory luggage options. Quick release fairing. Order from the factory option exactly like I want it.

Good one — I think that might apply to almost all motorcycles available today.