Triumphrat

SomethingClever

Not much point to this report, I suppose, but I just passed 4k miles on my 08 Bonnie Black today at lunch and felt like posting about it.

Got the bike "used" -- 25 miles on the clock -- this June. Did something like ~750 break-in miles, then took her to Cascade Moto Classics for the first service, AI removal, new NH toga pipes and a rejet/dyno.

The bike is my primary means of transportation, and while I like going on longer rides, I haven't done more than 90 miles in a day yet. Once the weather turns here in Portland I plan on smashing that record repeatedly.

Mods: I've added the Renntec rack which took forever to arrive but was well worth the wait. The aforementioned NH pipes are lovely. I also had the dealer service the leaking cam covers under warranty and they haven't leaked since. I recently performed my first oil change and it went smoothly once I finally was able to yank the filter off. Oh yeah, the most important mod yet: I yanked the plastic badges and replaced 'em with classic garden gates.

Planned mods: I didn't think I'd care much about modding my Triumph... but of course, that was before I owned one. Sometime this spring or summer I'm going to tackle the airbox removal. I got a nice set of metric sockets and a torque wrench at the ready, and I'd like to pick up a jack. Do I need a jack for the ARK project?

I'd like to replace the rear shocks... love the look of piggyback Ohlins but I'll probably stay budget and go with some black coil Ikons. I don't plan on upgrading the front suspension because the prospect of removing the fork or portions of the fork is just too daunting, and I expect it will be $$$$ to have the dealer do it for me. If I were going to do the front, I'd probably go with these intiminator things everyone always goes on about.

Finally, at some point I will have the tank painted. I originally wanted a silver bonnie, but now I'm thinking I will go with a red Thruxton-like tank with some kind of white stripes. Maybe one fat stripe and two pinstripes along it... I'm not 100% sure yet. Hints of Ducati, I know... early 2000s Monsters were my first motorcycle love. Can't wait to see the red & white tank along a blacked out engine... hoping it doesn't look too much like Eddie Van Halen's guitar. I'll also add the black knee pads at that point. Oh, and if money were no object, I'd get the factory tach kit as well.

Other notes: A lot of people have mentioned on here that the bikes continue to "loosen up" and gain power/performance through the first several thousand miles. I hadn't noticed much of that, to be honest, but over the last few hundred miles I think I may have noticed a touch of extra pep. It could just be that the roads have actually been dry for a few days in a row, so I haven't had to handle the throttle quite so gingerly, but who knows.

The only disappointment I've had with this bike has been the gas mileage. I expected upper 30s or low 40s for city driving and would have been happy with that. I do get 45+ on the highway, but I basically never ride on the highway... and the 1 to 5 mile short trips I take around town leave me with 33mpg in the summer and like 27-28mpg in the winter! : Before you ask, I'm pretty sure my bike is tuned right... the guys at Cascade had it on a dyno when they rejetted, and it makes good power. But, it's cold and I'm always firing the bike up for all kinds of short, mileage-killing trips through traffic. So it goes.

Finally, a picture for those who made it this far. The bike, pictured with my lunch:

plodalong

Yes you will never get good fuel economy on those short trips.
But you could allways add a little scooter to your stable and get 100 mpg+ and save wear and tear on the bonny

perfectbonnie

Hey Something - nice writeup! I am just over 1k on my 2008 Bonnie Black that I picked up this New Year's eve. Stock for now, but planning some mods. What should I budget for AI removal and re-jet/dyno? (I can do the pipes myself)

SomethingClever

AI removal isn't much... in fact, I think they threw in the labor on that for free because the needles for my rejet were late.

Unfortunately I don't remember how much the rejet/dyno ran me.

J.Keane

Many years ago I owned a Honda 350 (wonderful little machine) My daily commute was 3.5 mi. each way, half highway, half city streets. In the first 2 months that I owned it, I had to switch to reserve 3 times within 100 yds. of leaving work. The first time it happened I thought "wow I must have just rolled in on fumes this morning!" By the third time, I doubted that much coincidence. I formulated a hypothesis & tested it. With a full tank, I arrived at work, (a med.school surgical lab) and measured gasoline temp. in the tank with a calibrated thermometer. It was only 1° F. above ambient. 20 min. later, I repeated the measurement. It was 20° above ambient . 20 min. later it was 33° above ambient and the vent was whistling. The gas in the nearly full tank was 113° F. ! Back in those days, I had Boyle's Law of gasses & Avogadro's number in the front of my brain & worked out the pressures & gas losses, given a 1/8 inch gas vent in the cap. I calculated that every time I parked the bike, especially in summer, the heat rising from the engine as it cools down, slowly warms the gas in the tank right above it. Probably more, if you use the center stand, a little less on a side stand. The fuel vaporizes in direct proportion to temp & pressurizes the empty space in the tank, which causes those vapor molecules to fly out the tank vent (hence the hiss we sometimes hear on shut down, on a hot day) There is even more vaporization when the tank is half full, exposing a greater air/fuel area to gas off. For my little Honda, I was losing about a third of a cup of gasoline every time I let the bike cool down from normal op. temp. I notice that the guys with the new BMW 800s are getting extraordinary milages, (70+ MPG) My guess is that their underseat tanks are not in the direct heat rising off the engine, unlike our conventional bikes, where the tank is right above the heat source.

doublecafe

SomethingClever,

I enjoyed reading your 4k Report.
When I first got my 06 Thruxton I thought it was the perfect bike for me and I would never really need any mods...now I keep a list a mile long of future mods and am constantly squirrelling away money in order to check the next one off the list. I Can't Stop!!

BTW, one of the best investments I've made for my garage was the Sears Craftsman Motorcycle Jack.

me1.0

That is the very definition of dropping some science on a mofo. I mean this in the most sincere form of flattery.

__________________
'09 Speedy-19t front sprocket, BC Bomber Pipes,
Progressive Front Springs, Centerstand, 2" risers.
Pending-418HD Progressive rear shocks, ARK.

SomethingClever

J. Keane: Interesting. But I've been getting the same bad mileage in the winter, when it's low 40s out. Surely the engine can't be heating my gas to the point of evaporation at these temps? My mileage is even worse now than it was in the summer.

I ride about the same distance... 3.5 to 4 mile trips very frequently.

Zandor

SomethingClever -

Congrats on being a Triumph owner; upgrades are part of the fun.

For the airbox removal, a jack is not absolutely necessary, but it makes the job easier, depending on your point of view. Without it, you'll need to remove the rear wheel, which can be challenging the first time, especially its replacement. Or, you jack the bike way up to gain adequate clearance between the fender and wheel.

Do not fear the front end upgrade; you can do it. I've had both intiminators/emulators and progressive-rate springs and prefer the former using straight-rate springs (I used the stock ones).

Your MPG should improve with time and upgrades. My Bonnie was still "loosening up" at 15K miles, and, as documented by many here, fuel mileage improves with airbox removal and other performance-enhancing mods.

It's hard not to enjoy owning this great bike, stock or otherwise. Sometimes after a full day of riding you're ready to get off, but next morning you're just as eager to hit it again. My longest one-day ride was about 800 miles, and I wish I could do it again tomorrow. Just wait 'til Spring!

Zan

widowman

It sounds as if you are just enchanted by this beautiful twin as I was when I laid eyes upon my '06 Scrambler. I am almost 56 years old now, and this Triumph stirs my blood just as my first bike did some 41 years ago. I will never complain about the bugs in my teeth, because its my smile that allows them access.