Bonneville - thoughts please

I've been procrastinating about whether to get a DL 650 for the last, erm,
*while*, then last week it occured to me that it's not all that uesr
friendly for a 157cm pillion, aka my loving wife.

Mostly, whatever we get will be tooling round the South Coast solo with
occasional solo & two up trips to a variety of places. I really don't want
a cruiser. Anything with a pillion seat that needs a step ladder & an
oxygen tank is right out, so that takes care of most sports bikes and big
trailies (although I'd *like* a Street Triple, but it's not exactly a
practical medium distance two up tourer, even occasionally).

Soooooo..... I thought I'd better look at a more traditional roadbike that
will do at least most of what a slightly modified GS1100G used to do - and
still does for its new owner from what I see & hear

Current thinking is leaning towards a Bonneville SE with a K&Q seat. All
feedback &/or alternatives welcome.

 

Love my Bonnie (2008).
Very tractable - easy to ride - low speed maneuverability excellent.
Starts reliably every time.
Plenty of oomph.
Box is sweet.
Brakes inspire confidence.

-but-

Could use a sixth gear.
Miss the tacho.
Seat not so comfy after about 200k - but that might be me.
Would rather have tubeless tyres (got spoked wheels), but that's not an
issue nowadays.

Can't compare with anything else - no, really, I can't - 'cause I haven't
owned any Jappers or Krauts for years.

Photo at http://www.mendosus.com/unaugural-7/726.jpg Cheeeeese!

HTH

 

Almost forgot - I am a very average 177cm, and can double-flatfoot the
Bonnie at the lights - easy.
Height to spare.

 

If you like the idea of a bit of light dirt road touring and that's what
attracted you to the DL650 have you considered the Triumph Scrambler?

It's basically a Bonneville that will handle made dirt roads a bit better...


G-S

 

No it's not.

It's a Bonnie made to LOOK like it'll handle dirt roads easier ('cos
it looks a bit like dirt bikes used to when the orginal bonnie was
released

JL

 

No looking about it...It'll handle dirt roads better than a Bonnie.
(tyres for a start).

And the Thruxton is no slouch in the dirt either....that's made more
for corners and sweepers than the Bonnie or Scrambler

Re; seat comfort, no issues with long trips astride a Thruxton saddle.
The Bonnie _should_ be more comfortable but everyone's butt is
different.

 

That bike wouldn't be any good for him, there would be no room for a pillion

 

So I think that leaves the Rocket 3 option. Low to the ground
(seatwise) and comfy king and queen seat combos available.

 

I'm guessing it's got high pipes, knobby tyres, and useless lights
then.

Theo

 

Let's get this straight. A Thruxton is a motorcycle made by the
Velocette company. Anything else with that name is just pretending.

Theo

 

I have a mate with one, I've ridden it on dirt roads... in fact I almost
bought one.

The only mods that his has over the stock one are some icon rear shocks,
an aftermarket stone guard and different fork oil.

And sure it's not a trail bike, but it'll go along any dirt road that
something like a DL1000 or 650 will.


G-S

 

And a bit more ground clearance


G-S

 

Actually one of a handful of cruisers that I do like. Unfortunately,
budget precludes even hopeful interest (and I'd probably also need to take
a cut lunch lunch everywhere in case I dropped it & needed sustenance
whilst awaiting rescue!)

 

BSA had Scrambler models from before I was born through until the last few
years of the company's existence. Here's an earlier one:
http://fat.ly/k8bow

 

Trying an SE Bonny next w/e & hopefully borrowing a Strom over the next
f/n, so we'll see, but even with the GS, there were *very* occasional
mount/dismount issues (combination of height, long body / short leg
proportions & a hip articulation problem). The std Bonneville seat is a
tad lower & narrower, so the K&Q probably ends up pretty similar to the
GS. She's actually said if I ended up with a single seater she'd be happy
for me but that she'd miss going on the back.... and no, she doesn't want
to ride - we tried that with a scooter quite a while ago. I'd miss having
a great pillion & travelling companion along too!

 

Pfft, so put the same tyres on a bonnie.

All of the bonnie variants should be just fine on dirt - I can't
imagine how the styling cues of the scrambler make the slightest
difference, it's only claim to dirt road (not off road) capabilities
is the set of dual purpose tyres it leaves the factory with. So fit a
set of dual purpose tyres to a stock bonnie and it's same same.

 

Pfft indeed.
My driveway has a bit of lip where the footpath meets the drive - which then
drops downhill for a bit.

If I approach it (on the Bonnie) at anything other than right-angles - in
just the right spot - it'll scrape. Lat time it broke the ($11) plastic
clip that holds the high current lead to the starter motor. ($11 for a
plastic clip! Did I mention that?)

In short - *ground clearance* !

 

I know... they were nice bikes back then too [1]


G-S

[1] The modern version is quite a bit bigger though...

 

The rear shocks/springs and front fork springs are different, that makes
a difference.

There is more ride height, that makes a difference also.

How you can say more ride height and more appropriate suspension makes
NO difference I honestly don't understand.


G-S

 

You're right.
Of course then "Classic" belongs to HD, "Sabre" is Honda, "Corsa" is
Ducati, "GT" is Suzuki and "Norge" is an old refrigerator!