Triumphrat

rocket1964

I went to the dealers today in Edinburgh, I had already seen the Green and Gold Thruxton on a previous visit but it had sold. This time I went to look at the Black and Grey T100 and the White and Red T100. Both very nice but the White and Red was stunning.

However I had a constant niggle in my mind, when the Thruxton first came out i thought it was just a beautiful bike but I went down various paths but always with a Café Racer in the back off my mind. I knew I would choose something one day down that route as I aged.

Last Year on the Triumph open day I tried a SE, I was smitten by the looks of all these bikes but I just found the SE to be a bit bland. No insult to any SE owners, I Really loved the look of it but it was a disappointment. I then did the Thruxton next and really was expecting to feel the same but it was just so much better and I could not stop smiling. I don't know why but whether that extra few HP and uprated front end was making a difference, it just felt perfect.

During the test ride someone wanted to to try it so i swapped with them for the scrambler, whilst I have to admit the Scrambler is not my thing I just wanted back on the Thruxton. If I could have got back out I would have and done the whole route on it.

And so back to today, I looked at the White and Red T100, it was really exceptionally lovely, but the ride of the Thruxton last year and the fact that I saw the Green and Gold one a few months back and really thought, thats how I would want it done. I decided to go with my instinct that what i wanted out the crate was really a Thruxton.

I know that I could have made the T100 into a very good Café Racer and believe me it was very tempting as it looked lovely and I love those Pea shooter Exhausts. But I was worried that it was going to feel like the SE. Although I realise that time could make it more interesting, I knew that the Thruxton felt just right and what I would want.

In the end I ordered the Thruxton in the Green and Gold and it should arrive at the dealers by the end of September.

So there we have it, I am a Triumph man again and something I wanted to buy for sometime but somehow kept deviating from has now finally happened.

Cardiffian

Congrats mate and hope you and the bike cover many miles in the years to come

Raynewb

Good choice I love my Thruxton now you need the extra bits. Arrow cans open it up very nicely I use mine every day for work and for fun.

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Cerberith

Congrats, I also was not as impressed by the SE as I expected to be. I quite liked the scrambler but test rode a low mileage T100 they had in stock and fell in love with it so bought that.

pete7

Great to see another convert.

I had a '66 Bonneville in 1968 and returned to the fold a few weeks ago when I bought this



I waited a long time to get an ultra-low mileage (312miles in 4 years) in silver-grey (possibility to recreate the 1961 colours at a later date) with standard bar conversion and 'performance' Triumph silencers.

I still have my TDM (my 4th) but its hardly used since the Thruxton appeared.

Best of luck.

Pete

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rocket1964

I have to say I loved the look of the T100 and I was so tempted to buy one and change it to suit but the Thruxton is the one I really always wanted and so stuck with my instinct.

rocket1964

Hi Pete,

So after all those years and you being an original Triumph owner, how does it compare.

I am so glad that Triumph brought these style of bikes back but i am curious what Meriden owners think off the Hinkley machines.

pete7

Crikey

Where do I start?

I viewed the world through different eyes when I was 19 I guess, but I cannot forget that despite being all of 18 months old, on my 66 Bonneville things could go wrong at any time on a ride.
(pic is p/shop mockup of mine)



I was not an especially adventurous rider but from memory, things like knackered zener diode, blown fuse, broken bracketry, exiting exhaust stubs could dilute the pleasure of a ride-out. However the power (47bhp claimed and 385 lbs weight) was still better than anything else on the road and I loved it - at the time.

In contrast, the Hinckley Thruxton is on a different planet and even with 100,000 miles on my Yamaha TDMs to compare it to, I still love this one now.

It is fractionallly heavier than the Meriden bike I guess, but otherwise it is faster, smoother, more beautiful, handles better and, crucially, it is reliable and it STOPS when you want it to.



In the 60's we accepted, for a while, the limitations of the Meriden output but the world had moved on and the old set-up did not even try to keep up.

Thanks to the Bloor-Hinckley revival, we now have the best of both worlds and some of us are extremely thankful for this.

Pete

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rocket1964

That a fantastic reply without the rose tinted glasses, i love all the old british bikes, my brother had a Vincent Black shadow in the 60's and sold it to a chap in Ireland for £40.

I love motorcycles period, when i saw the Thruxton in the Bike magazine around 2004 i think. I could not believe it. But somehow i have avoided it until now. Test drove one last year and fell head over heels for it. Just over a year later and hopefully by the end of the month I will be breaking it in.

rocket1964

Still waiting for the new arrival, still not at the dealers yet but if all goes well i will hopefully have it for the beginning of October. Just enough time to run it in before the Scottish winter weather starts.
Although recent years they have been dryer than the summers

I will post you some nice highland photos from one of my most loved routes.

3 weeks ago it seemed like a dream, its now beginning to sink in that its not far away. I have ordered my first mod, fork gators


Take care all, ride safe.