BMW's and Triumphs

Frulk_imp

Road warrior
Thread starter
Was down south in Salt Lake City today. After my scheduled appointment I had plans to head to the new Duluth Trading Store. Between it and my appointment location was the Multi Brans dealer that carries Ducati/BMW/Triumph and at one time Moto Guzzi.

Had the rest of the late morning and afternoon to burn if I needed to and headed on over to the dealership. The place was chock full on the Ducati showroom floor and in fact there were so many scramblers they flowed over into an adjoining room that was full from wall to wall with used bikes and what looked to be about 6 different versions of the Scrambler.

It looks like comfort was the primary concern of this Scramblers previous owner.

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I liked this version because the color reminds me of my XR1200

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I spent a considerable amount of time looking hard at this Griso

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Not shown but right behind this Griso was a 25th Anniversary Interceptor that was very clean. I thought about approaching the salesman and telling him I was interested in a 'two-fer' for the Griso and VFR. I was thinking if he could approach $11,500 or thereabouts I might bite. I thought better of it and moved on.

The VFR is at this link :

https://classifieds.ksl.com/listing/57236992

This used electric piqued my interest for how light and exceptionally narrow it was.

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I moved on to the Triumph showroom. Again, the sheer volume of inventory was almost as impressive as the attractiveness of their models.

The Speedmaster is a bike I have a definite weakness for. The leather saddle bags had me drooling, as much from their classic look as they're exceptionally high quality construction.

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My desire for a new model Thruxton seems to have waned. While I like it, it no longer has that particular power over me that it had when it first came out.

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This T-120 Ace Café Edition pushes a lot of buttons. In British Racing green it might be too much to walk away from. As it is, looking at this bike I can't wait for the flat/matte paint craze to run its course so we can get back to how paint should look on this style of bike.

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The 1200cc Speed Twin looks the business in the flesh. Tight/all business/huge round headlight/dual exhaust/twin rotor front brakes. The stylist that pushed this model through should get a Christmas bonus.

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As I meandered my way through the static rolling stock and came across this. First thing I thought was "GOOD LORD, can Triumph do no
wrong?"

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Again, only the paint put me off. Had this been gloss I may actually have started talking to the salesman, if I could fine one. I didn't see any the entire time I was on the showroom floor. I'm going to have to think about this one as I'm still looking for an adventure bike (and have been for a long time) to fill that last spot in my garage.

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Two different versions of the 1200cc Scrambler sitting outside. The white one is a looker.

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And then on to the BMW side of the House.

I like the R9T and I could live with any of these color schemes.

Probably my favorite:

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It was a good tire kicking outing. I really like the Griso but have the CB and XR right in that size motor and while the riding/feedback is different it's not enough to make me seriously consider it at this point.

However, that 1200cc Scrambler is giving me some research to do over the next couple of months.
 
Frulk:

So many bikes; so many Scramblers. End-of-season inventory "blow-out"? A set-up for Black Friday? Or a depressed motorcycle market?

The Griso will haunt in one's sleep.
 
That was time well spent! "Like a kid in a candy shop," as they say. I too have lost a bit of my infatuation for the Thruxton (I nearly sold my DLX for one when they first arrived). Aside from the Thrux and the Speedmaster, I'm as dismayed by all the black rims as you are by all the matte paint. Yuck.
 
Thank you for sharing the tyre kicking, Frulk. I could live with the matte finish on the green Scrambler, I think.
 
Great post, I enjoyed reading it :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
I too am no fan of the matt paint and blacked out engines.
I like chrome, glitz and shiny paint on my motorcycles.
 
Like Cormanus I could probably live with the paint on the Triumph Scrambler but they would have to take off the saddlebag. The luggage rack would suffice for me.

I love the looks of the Griso, but then again I've ridden one which ruined it for me.

As far as Beemers I liked the old R1200R before they made it into a sport bike

2012 BMW R 1200 R Classic
 
A friend of mine just bought a used Tiger. He had caught the adventure bike bug and was looking at beemers but the cost put him off. I do like those scramblers and may go that route some day.
 
Matte green...have liked that since I first saw that on a Triumph Scrambler from '09 or thereabouts...black rims--so easy to not keep them clean if that makes sense...the combo of both, works for me.

Fine group of motorcycles! Thanks for posting the photos.
 
(+1) on the matte green. Not too picky on colour except maybe gloss black. I'd take matte black over gloss black if black was the only choice.
 
Man, my dream dealership. I've had an interest in all of those bikes, and have owned or have been tempted on the rest. Love the VFR, but the maintenance on a V4 and riding position has always kept me from pulling the trigger. The Griso? I see one every time I visit my closest Triumph dealer, and every time, they catch me drooling on it and tell me how great a deal they can make... I have a coworker who dropped her Duc Scrambler at a stop with 145 miles on it. Didn't damage the bike, but she broke her collar bone. The bike just sat after that, and I kept offering to help her sell it, or at least see what she'd want for it. As far as I know, it's still collecting dust in her garage.

Bonnevilles and Scramblers, had or have 'em. Not a fan of matte paint either. Once it's scuffed or scratched, you have to live with it. I don't like not being able to polish out scuffs.
 
Great post! A candystore indeed! Thanks for tempting us...:D

My other bike is a Griso, and (although this is sacrilege on this forum) is probably still my favorite bike.

I really like the Triumph Speed Twin, and may go for one of them in a couple of years when they enter the second-hand market.

The Triumph Scrambler is nice but the giant exhaust puts me off (says the man who has a Griso...).

The R9T is beautiful! (except for the ugly dents they have on the front-side of their tank to accommodate the fork)
 
bioman_imp said:
Great post! A candystore indeed! Thanks for tempting us...:D

My other bike is a Griso, and (although this is sacrilege on this forum) is probably still my favorite bike.

I really like the Triumph Speed Twin, and may go for one of them in a couple of years when they enter the second-hand market.

The Triumph Scrambler is nice but the giant exhaust puts me off (says the man who has a Griso...).

The R9T is beautiful! (except for the ugly dents they have on the front-side of their tank to accommodate the fork)
Griso not sacrilege here at the Forum. Many CB members either had or still have them. We enjoy (or not) reading stories about all kinds of models, including the Great Griso.
 
Thread starter
Had I not had a falling out with the Moto Guzzi dealership I bought a V7 from for sure I would have bought a Griso from them. It was shortly after the falling out I ended up in the Honda dealership and bought the CB. No regrets. The CB is a GREAT bike but offers a totally different riding experience than the Griso. I’d still like to have one. My main issue is maint support as the dealer network is the Guzzi brands Achilles heal.
 
Piaggio's dealer network is really terrible. Within the last 4 years I have seen my 3 nearest dealerships (Kelowna, Spokane, Chilliwack) all close or stop selling Guzzi. For spare parts I now deal mainly with Corsa Meccanica in Toronto (by mail obviously). How Piaggio is expecting to sell more bikes in Canada is beyond me. Or perhaps they don't really care? Such a shame because Moto Guzzis are truly unique and great motorbikes!!
 
bioman_imp said:
Piaggio's dealer network is really terrible. Within the last 4 years I have seen my 3 nearest dealerships (Kelowna, Spokane, Chilliwack) all close or stop selling Guzzi. For spare parts I now deal mainly with Corsa Meccanica in Toronto (by mail obviously). How Piaggio is expecting to sell more bikes in Canada is beyond me. Or perhaps they don't really care? Such a shame because Moto Guzzis are truly unique and great motorbikes!!
Yeah, insane.

George of Corsa Meccanica really hung in there and is absolutely committed to Piaggio and all of its subsidiaries. His Guzzi inventory is usually spectacular. The Moto Guzzi, Aprilia, Vespa, etc. (Piaggio) Canadian supply chain dried up back in 2011, partly due to some sort of corruption and mismanagement. So Canada depended on the Piaggio U.S. to supply parts. It hurts to hear that Piaggio U.S. is inconsistent. Piaggio Italy is really messing up their U.S. market.

Two Wheel Motorsport of Guelph, Ontario is the other "major" source of Guzzi nearby that I am aware about.
 
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