A tale of two Triumphs

Had a spin on a Triumph Scrambler this morning, and...

....hated it. Well, didn't hate it. It just left me completely cold.

The engine sounds and feels like a big Suzuki GSX twin or, closer yet, a
Yamaha Tedium. Or even a CX500. Same sort of off-beat burble, muffled to
oblivion, and no vibes to speak of. When accelerating, you felt and
heard nothing. Plenty of low and mid-range torque, but it just gathered
speed like an electric motor.

Handling: OK, but no more. Felt a bit awkward. Could have been the
tyres, riding position, wheel sizes, whatever. Went round bends OK, but
not... well, no feedback.

Heavy, bulky feel to it. The higher wider bars semed 'wrong' for me. Not
trail, not road, but somewhere in between.

OK, so I took it back and said to Carl Rosner: "Thanks, but no thanks.
It doesn't do anything for me at all." Slight poker face on Carl who
asked: "Oh well. Anything else you want to try?"

"Not really."

"How about the new 2009 Bonnie? Last one in the row outside...."

"Oh, yeah, all right." I had to get home, but thought it would be rude
not to.

And it was *totally* different. Snappier, handled better, felt smaller,
steered better, even felt different. Blimey. I like this. A lot.

Back to Mr Rosner, with a grin on my face. Turns out the Scrambler has
the 270 degree crank - I knew that - but the Bonnie has the 360 degree
crank. That and the extra horses make it a completely different bike.

And why does it feel smaller? Because the new Bonnie has 17" wheels
which allow it to use decent rubber. And it sits a bit lower as well.

It's slightly cheaper than the Scrambler, too. For my money, it's a
much, much better bike. The Scrambler is all about looks: as a riding
experience, it's utterly anonymous. It's not just me, either, because
Carl said: "I think they should have put the 360 engine in the
Scrambler." Apparently the 270 lump is fitted to the cruisers, maybe to
give that V-twin feel. I dunno.

So I've left Rosner's with some figures and it's make-up-mind time.
Bonnie or Tenere? I think it may well be the Bonnie. Slightly pricier
than the Ten, but not enough to make any real difference.

 

That one. YKIMS.

I must be getting old.

 

Nah. I've got a sporty twin anyway.

 

You've kept him well hidden. Gad, two TOGs as it were. The mind truely
boggles.

 

Is it just me or does the rear end, specifically the mudguard/fender,
just look wrong? The Thruxton looks worse, mind you.

 

Never really fancied one myself, although I've not tried one. They do
look much better without that funny kink in the exhaust that the
earlier ones had.

Oops, there I go again showing my shallow-ness, a bike has to look
right for me.