Triumphrat

Jamo

I always thought the America was a really good cruiser. So light and practical, and comfortble. And so purely Triumph.

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dazco

Not gonna argue with you on that. I will say tho i feel the Tbird is worth the extra $ and a superior bike in most every way. I think i speak from a pretty good place being i have put 25000 miles on each. The 865 cruisers are great bikes. I love them to death. But my Tbird....well, you'd have to ride one thats been tweaked like mine to really fully understand. I had mi 865 tweaked even more and it went quite well. But handling and power, theres just no comparison. The only thing my 865 did almost as well is the high speed cruise stability. they both feel like they're on rails.

If you don't spend any time to speak of on the highway at high speeds or want to push very hard in the twisties and power isn't important to you, the 865 is all you need. But the list of why i find the Tbird far superior is long and goes way past just power and handling.

I only mention all this because i know what your point is otherwise you'd not have posted it in the Tbird forum.

Haggis

What? People stir on the forum

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dazco

Naa....you're imagining things. I was just exaggerating for fun.

BigGuy82

Performance wise, the America is not for me, but I sure do like the way it looks.

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"My Triumph is living ... everything else is just boring ..." - BigGuy82

Jamo

Stir? Not I. THe thought just flowed naturally upon reading the moderator's last post in one of the closed threads, to the effect of his not having mentioned the America as one of Triumph's fine cruisers.

So then, What (if I may continue to use the T-Bird section) prevents Triumph from putting a triple in the America, or a bigger twin. Can't the 865 be punched out any more?

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dazco

Well, for the same reason a diavel isn't a cruiser. Well, one of the reasons. Cruisers are not just considered such because they sit low and have forward pegs and all that. It's also the engine. Thy are usually twins, and they are tuned very differently than the triumph triple engines with a lover CR/shorter stroke and are designed to produce a ton of torque very low in the RPM range while sacrificing HP to get there. The feel is about as different as a tractor compared to a Porsche. Putting a triple in a america would be like putting a V12 jag engine in a work van. It;'s just something no one does because it's a odd combination that doesn't fit any category. A cruiser is also heavier than a typical sport bike for example and a high revving engine like that wouldn't pull a heavy bike well with the torque up high in the RPM range and lower torque to boot. For example, the diavel has lower torque that peaks at a much higher RPM than a Tbird even tho it's a much faster bike.

Speaking of which, i have no doubt the diavel is a blast and i know it's deadly quick, but if thats what i wanted i wouldn't have bought a Tbird and might have bought a Vmax, Vrod or speed triple or such. They're all much quicker and i could have had the ST for much less. But none of them including the diavel have any resemblance to a cruiser. And as far as looks.....a soft shell crab could tell you the diavel isn't a cruiser !

And sure the america can be made stronger. But so can the Tbird so it's all relative. After the minor changes i made which have mine surprisingly stronger than stock, you'd be hard pressed to bring an america to that point w/o serious modification and reliability issues. The point is get the one you want, but if you want the big power it's better to buy displacement because you can stay street legal and have as much or more as the smaller bike w/o mods, or you can mod and stay equally ahead of the smaller bike when both are modded.

Jamo

Well, that's odd. Triumph managed to get a triple into the RIII and no one denies it's a cruiser.

By the way, I know the feel of a cruiser and how they're tuned. What does that have to do with it?

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dazco

I thought you were talking about the triple as in the ST or 675, and THATS what that has to do with it. Others have suggested that so i figured you did to. But putting a triple in the 865 would mean a less cruiser like engine if for no other reason than many tiny pistons as opposed to fewer large ones generally ain't gonna be cruiser like. I just don't think they would have a very cruiser like engine making a triple that small, and apparently neither does any manufacturer.

Deefer1700

I think there should be a law that no cruisers are made with an engine size less than 1500cc personaly .

I'm certainly am not saying a 900cc cruiser is a pointless underpowered waste of time . I even enjoyed my 125 when I was a kid but if your going to ride a cruiser get a mans bike not one from Toys R Us unless you are under 5' 1" and come in under 5 stone in weight.

Out of the 900cc kiddies bikes though Im sure the America is one of the best Im sure it can even go 60mph at times and make a small man look good from a distance.

English humour can sometimes be mistaken for serious prose please dont take this post and anything other than a bit of English humour ok.