Triumphrat

SMcD

I think when you market a niche bike, you look at the motorcycling public as a whole, not at a niche within Triumph riders specifically. Triumph has 1.64% of the US market. 20% of that ain't nuthin, particularly considering you won't get 20% of Triumph customers to buy it.

The Bonneville, as a retro/classic, is a niche bike. Yet it likely enjoys over 90% approval from the Triumph buying public. If this new thing can't get a decent response with extremely partisan Triumph fans, it bodes ill for sales.

slowgator

Still, it will sell like a mofo...

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propforward

Did the questions get changed mid way or something? When I looked at them I swore there was nothing but "I want a cruiser to some degree" options. Maybe I just hadn't had enough coffee.

Anyway, I want the 1600 twin engine in a Bonnie arrangement.

If I have to, I'll order an engine and do it myself.

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SMcD

It's me that's confused. I voted "no interest" on the bottom choice, not realizing that there were 2 choices - one real and one hypothetical. Given the opportunity, I'd have voted no interest on the cruiser.

I hate this cruiser with a passion, not just because it's boring and utterly unoriginal, but because it's a major disappointment. Overall I love Triumph's line of bikes. The Bonneville and all it's variants are fantastic. The Speed Triple is awesome, and though I don't favor sportbikes as a rule, I love to see the Daytona 675 give the Asians a run for their money.

I own 2 Meriden Triumphs, a '79 T140 Special and a '70 Bonneville. Although I don't own a Hinkley bike, I'm looking to buy a Rocket 3 right now. I'm actually the target audience for this new bike. If this bike was nice, I'd hold off on the Rocket 3 and wait until next year. But based on this abomination, that is out of the question.

SMcD

There you go! If I had the ability, I'd do that too.



Triumph should solicit styling advice from the independent fabricators in Japan. The things they create are amazing!

propforward

I am totally serious - I figure buy an older bonnie with as many miles on as possible for the rolling chassis, and fit the engine into that.

Tricky bit will be fuelling it - it will be EFI, but I bet a good set of carbs will feed it just fine.

I'm going to speak to the dealer when I next go down there, financial plans are being set in motion.

I want that 1600 twin in a Bonnie chassis.

Looks like they're using the current Bonnie chassis for this new cruiser POS yes?

By the way - I reckon they'll sell a lot of these new T-Birds. Wish they'd used a different name though.

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CommandoRdster

Sorry Jamo,not picking on you,but your comments really caught my eye. First off,it looks exactly like a metric cruzer from the 80's,most notably a Kawasaki Eliminator.You can be excused for not realizing this if you're under 40.

Secondly,you're right,it doesn't look much like a Harley,and that's going to be it's Achilles heel.The Jap cruzers didn't really start to dominate the big-bike market until they began to clone H-D. The Rocket 3 is moderately successful because it's so different.This thing looks just like tons of other forgettable 80's bikes.

Third,"It looks all Triumph, good or bad." Well it does look a little like an America,or Speedmaster,etc.But,nothing in Triumphs heritage,or current line much resembles any of these cruzers.

That whole 80's jap cruzer clone styling is ok,as long as you're paying $8000.00 or whatever an America is,but at the 14 to 16k that they're probably going to ask for this beast,only Triumph die-hards are going to bite.They aren't going to lure anybody away from the Big 4,or H-D.

Now if they built a bike like that photoshopped one,or even took a different tack,say towards the Yamaha MT-01,or the V-Rod,they just might have a winner,because I'll bet that engine is awesome.
But styled the way it is,it's got "Flop" written all over it.

Cheers!
Bruce

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idahotb

The real one is uglier than any of the Photoshop jobs. It is absolutely depressing. I hope that Mr. Bloor enjoys his dotage! I just can't wait to see the picture in TriuMPH.

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CommandoRdster

By the way,those of you bemoaning the fact that this Twin is named after your beloved Triples,remember that the original Thunderbird was a Twin:



Indeed,it was these bikes that were mis-named:



And should have been called Tridents,after these bikes:




And,these bikes should have been called,well,something else completely:




Cheers!
Bruce

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Tbirdnz

You got it in one Bruce, if they hadn't raced the Thunderbird at the Flats today's Bonneville would still be called the Thunderbird !

Although I'm a bit peeved about the name, owning a TB, I think that's one thing they've got right on that bike. It'll go well in the American market with that name, it's suits a big cruiser.


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Ride on !