Triumph Bonneville

[gsisk_imp]

[url=http://smg.photobucket.com/user/theferret111/media/016_zpsb4471463.jpg.html]

The Bonneville above being ridden by my younger brother used to be mine. I sold it to him. I bought it new in 03 and except for a broken spoke put 20,000 trouble free miles on it. He has since put another 10,000 trouble free miles on it. At last check a valve has never even gone out of spec. My wife and I toured all the national Parks in Utah and Az on it. I thought it was a really nice bike, looked good, sounded decent (although not great) with the TOR (Triumph off road) pipes, very smooth motor. It was a little underpowered, and braking power was weak as well...but it was a very fun bike to ride. I enjoyed it alot as has my brother.

Before buying the Bonnie I test rode a Moto Guzzi Breva 750. Owners seem to like them a lot, but I found it terribly under powered..way more so than the Bonnie, and that sideways twist that Guzzis do drove me crazy. Brakes were weak on it as well, and the bike was physically tiny.

I rented a BMW R1200R for 9 days in Europe and found it a very satisfactory bike, plenty of power, awesome brakes, geared way to high and no way to change it, and thought about getting one when I got back to the states but they wanted $16 grand for one and I wasn't going to pay that. I bought a left over ST 1300 for $10K and it's been a great bike. I've put 36,000 miles on it I think.

I bought a used 750 Nighthawk, and 1 new and 1 used Yamaha FZ-1 between the Bonnie and the CB 1100. Sold the new FZ-1 to my son, sold the Nighthawk and the used FZ to buy the CB.

Awesome comparison picture. I have the same rear bag on mine! I was originally looking at the Bonneville and chose the CB1100 instead. The CB just felt perfect when I sat on it at dealer and a short test ride confirmed my decision. It is bigger and heavier but once it's moving, it's pretty nimble. I am a sucker for the classic style so both bikes were high on my list.

My first bike was an early 80s Yamaha Maxim 650 which is quite similar to the CB100 in terms of performance. The CB doesn't have a "tingle" at 65mph, thought (Yeah!)

I recently rented a FJR1300 in Las Vegas and rode that around the desert. Great way to see the area and totally worth the rental dollars. If I could afford two bikes, that bigger Yamaha might be the 2nd.