starvingstudent

If you're thinking of trading up from the Twinstar, I couldn't recommend the W650 enough. My first bike was the Rebel 250 (twinstar engine), and my father currently owns a W. It's got a nice comfortable seating position (sit up and beg), and if you're coming from a Twinstar, that thing will go like a rocketship, yet still be tractable and torquey. 50hp doesn't sound like much in the era of R1s and Hayabusas, but compared to a Twinstar or a Shadow 600, the W really is a blast. And unlike an R1 or Hayabusa, it can be a blast at 30mph as well as 65. If you're a parallel-twin type of guy (like my dad, who has always owned either singles or parallel twins), the W650 is hard to beat.



Anyway, sales have been down since the introduction of the Bonnie 800, so you should be able to get a leftover 2000 (blue and silver) or 2001 (green and cream) for less than MSRP.

killbot1968

My first post here, but I've been a rider for ten years, mostly on a ratty BSA.

When I first saw the Motorcyclist article and photos, I was appalled, but upon consideration, it's got some potential. It's too Harley-ish for a Triumph cruiser, but some simple mods could fix that.

1: Kill the dashboard and give it a tach.

2: Fork gaiters and give the headlight the classic "ears" mounts.

3: Trim down the passenger pad or go with a Cobra solo seat.

4: Trim the fender vallence (sp?) and internally brace the rear fender to get rid of the Harley-esque polished braces.

5: Swap out the toolbox-styled passenger peg mounts with simple tubular steel.



In other words, make it look like a Triumph! Harleys are decent enough machines, but a Triumph needs to be a Triumph, not a Harley-wannabe.

And the name, Bonneville America? Why not just make it the new Thunderbird, or a Thunderbird Classic?



At least they've fixed some of the problems on the regular Bonnie for 2002. It's got a tach and looks a little more like a real Triumph.

MG57

Almost any bike will go "faster than a Big Twin", if by "Big Twin" you mean the 88 ci Harleys. And they're almost all cheaper, too. I guess that makes most bikes "Chick" bikes!

Randy_P_Moran

I was going to say exactly the same thing. Except the part about it being new and different. It just looks like a Honda Rebel. Who needs it? Who wants it?

udroma

I'm begining to think triumph is insane. The America looks too much like a Harley and is under powered. Now I hear about a 2200cc cruiser, talk about extremes. I also hear that they are dropping the Legend for '02.



Am I the only one who wants a Legend set up like the fantastic Thunderbird sport that they dropped for the Bonnie? That would be a bike that would sell and be unique and the Harley boys would wave to ya.



Until Triumph builds that I guess I will just start to sink money into my '82 Honda CB900c. Shaft drive, triple disks, lots o' power and I can get hard bags so I can set it up in tourer mode or cafe mode if I want. I guess I just want Triumph to build a new CB900c but, I think a lot of people would want that as well.



Maybe I'm insane!

starvingstudent

Yeah, I kind of see that too. But is that a bad thing? I mean, I used to own a Rebel, and my complaints were that it was too small physically and amazingly underpowered (it was a 250). I never thought it was ugly, and I got a lot of compliments from all sorts of people. Parallel twin cruisers can look really nice if done correctly (like a Rebel, not like a Vulcan 500 IMHO), and this one hits the nail on the head.

nustar1

I don't care who builds it. I think that this is one part of the field that HON-KAW-UKI Has forgot. The UJM that has the accessories to actually do anything.



Shaft, or belt drive, hard bags, easily removeable fairing/body pannels. Comfy seat for 2 up riding, decent power,low price.



Make a bike that has multiple personality disorder and send it to me for treatment.

Gabe

If Alan Cathcart is the Rolling Stones of BS motorcycle industry rumors, then Motorrad is Elvis, The Beatles and The Bee-Gees combined! If such a bike appears next year, I will deep-fry my gloves and eat them with a tasty dipping sauce. (I like ranch dressing)

__________________
Gabe Ets-Hokin

Just a guy in the ether...

NickdaBrick

Go to: www.motorcyclenews.com.



Apparently, it's true; the bike will be a 2200 c.c. longitudinal inline triple.



Now that's more like it!

Dryfly

I have a hog and a T-Bird....The T-Bird is much more fun to ride though! The relationship between the Hog boys and Triumph owners is interesting. I have a lot more Harley owners that will talk to me when I'm on my Triumph as opposed to one of my other bikes. I guess it must be because most of the harley guys (excluding the gang members) started out riding a Norton, BSA, Triumph, etc. You are right about Harley though, even as an owner, I have a hard time justifying the outrageous pricing.