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Two big negatives for me.
1. It does indeed look like every metric cruiser ever built, and not even one of the prettier ones. Cruisers in general are not my thing. It's the 2008 folks, not 1968. You are 40 years late for that fashion trend. You can get a comfortable riding position on a touring or adventure bike and much more practicality, so I don't believe that anyone buys these things for anything other than looks. That said, I fully respect anyone's right to dress up like a gay pirate and ride around on something like that looks like a mobile jukebox. In return you can respect my right to point and laugh at your monumental lack of taste.
1a. As a guy who wouldn't buy a Speedmaster or America, the new T-Bird is even less attractive to me.
1b. While I find the idea of a 'Speed Twin' hooligan version mildly interesting, a new bike would have to do something no existing product in the line-up does. A Speed Twin based on this motor would have less torque and hp than the Triple, and weigh more. Even a little Monster would kick it's ass. That motor is going to have some enormous hidden reserve of character to make up for that.
2. A 1600cc parallel twin is not good engineering. Hell, a 1600cc twin of any configuration is not really good engineering, but at least a v-twin would have primary balance that didn't need two massive balance shafts to tame. Balance shafts are inefficient mmkay, and the bigger they are the more power they waste. Yes, obviously Triumph will never build a v-twin. So, they should not try to compete with superior technology in that market.
2a. Whatever torque this new motor makes and whatever the torque curve looks like, I bet that a triple with less capacity could equal or better it. At the same time it would be more compact and possibly more fuel efficient.
This new thing isn't going to do any of the things I want in a motorcycle. Sad to say that neither would a 1600cc Bonnie. What I would have been interested would have been something with the weight and agility of my old Meriden twin, with about 900cc, dohc, quality and reliability. I didn't buy a new Bonnie because it's bigger, heavier and slower than my old 750. Too bad Triumph seems to be moving further away from that ideal instead of closer. I do hope they sell a million of them to fund the development of the 675 and a new liter-class triple with power closer to the 200hp mark, but I won't be one of those buying one.
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My other ride is 28m2 of nylon
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