Triumphrat

50yrDream

Some of you guys have both Triumph & Harley-Davidson bikes---I've been wondering which is quickest say thru the gears like from a light? I'm too old to drag race anybody but just wonder what the capabilities of our Bonnevilles are? I don't mean this in any kind of (or Brand) of bike bashing.
An 883 Sportster and a T100 should be pretty evenly matched as far as cc's right? Opinions??

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MGDavis

My brother reports edging an 883R on his standard Bonnie. Guess the HD is a bit heavier.

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Binnsy

I have a buddy with a 2005 stock 1200 Sporty Custom and he gets a little annoyed that I can beat him at every opportunity. I take advantage of it as often as I can, just in good fun. He also owns a Trident which I haven't pushed! :-D

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Bummy

50yrDream

I'm not sure I can really answer your question, but I can share my experiences from a ride I took yesterday with a few other fellows. Two bikes were Harley's (not sure which kind, but they were over 1000 ccs), one was a Shadow 750, and then there was me on my fairly new 05 Bonnie.

First, let me say that I am a fairly new rider...I've only been at it about a month. I had a hard time keeping up with the other guys from stops. It seemed like I was already in 3rd gear before they were even half-way through second. However, once they got through with their screaming take offs, I had no problems catching them, but then again, we weren't racing or anything.

The Harley's have more low-end torque, but I felt very comfortable keeping up with the group for the most part, especially after I hit 3rd gear. I'll be anxious to see how this plays out again in the future once I have more riding experience and my skills improve.

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BIKERBERN

my money is on the Triumph,cause the harley driver is probably draggin his feet. :-D

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vol245

Since you are asking for opinions and not actual facts I would say the T100 would smoke an 883 Sportster. The 883 is too heavy.

While coming home yesterday a couple HD guys pulled up in the lane next to me. I don't know what models they were, but one had the HD Hard bags so it may have been a Road King. It was loud and pulled away from me when we left the light. I wasn't' exactly flogging my bike and really had no desire to get going 90 racing him. If I wanted a bike for that there were many other alternatives, my favorite of which is an early Kawasaki H1 with pipes. Nothing like a 500cc smoking a 1400cc bike.

Oh yeah, a bee landed on my right thigh and stung me as one of the Harleys was passing. Man that hurt. I still have a huge red welt on my leg.

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John

FattRat

Generally, from stop-light to stop-light, it's all about torque.
Then of course there is Power to Weight ratio.
And what about rider skill level......

Here's a couple Dyno print outs, one from my Sportster and one from my Bonnie. Though I think the Bonnie may weigh considerably less than the Sporty, the big V-twin motor may be putting out enough torque to more than make up of for it's weight. Granted it's not an 883 Sporty, but the 883 has more potential than a 1200 if it were built up.

The new Sportster 1200s are considerably heavier than the older models, and my factory Sporty came with dual plugs, high compression heads, and single fire ignition. I would LOVE to own a new 1200, but I have no idea how they run out.

Compare my two print-outs, and remember... TORQUE is where it's at!

2005 Bonneville "Black" w/mods (61hp & 49 torque):


2000 XL1200'S' w/mods (69 hp & 72 torque):

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ChuckofTahoe

I cannot imagine a Sportster 883 being able to keep up with a Bonneville T100. According to the factory specifications, the Triumph is virtually 100 pounds lighter and the torque numbers are virtually equal. Harley does not list horsepower in their specs.

A hundred pounds is a lot. Basically a 25% penalty. I think the little Harley gets it peak torque earlier which would be an advantage for the first thirty feet or so. But then the Bonnie would catch up fast and blow right by it.

I don't think it is fair to compare the 1200 Sportster to the 865 Triumph twin. That's basically a 50% displacement handicap. At that point you might as well put forward a Sprint ST that could smoke most anything coming out of the stock HD catalog.

Harley Davidson is not known for speed but for solid cruising bikes that can pull a load.

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vitabrew

Here is a review where they are compared head to head.

review

Basicly the Bonneville beats the 883 Sportster, the 1200 Sportster beats them all in the 1/4 mile, no surprise. All bikes were stock.

ChuckofTahoe

Keep in mind that review is for the 2001 models. So the Triumph was light by 75 cc vs the current 2005 T100.

I found some performance numbers in the table in the latest "Motorcyclist".

They have tests for the 2004 Sportster 1200 and the 2001 Bonneville. Again, the Bonneville is the 2001 which is only 790 or so CC. They list the following numbers:

2004 HD Sportster 1200 Roadster

HP: 64.4 @ 6,000
Tourque: 72.7 ft/lbs @ 3,750
Wet Weight: 584 lbs
Quarter Mile: 13.02 sec @ 100.03 mph

2001 Triumph Bonneville

HP: 56.8 @ 7,250
Torgque: 42.1 ft/lbs @ 7,000
Wet Weight: 499 lbs
Quarter Mile: 13.57 sec @ 96.4 mph

They don't test and 883 Sportster but according to Harley Davidson, it is almost as heavy as their 1200 for some reason. The Truimph twins, either the regular Bonnie or the T100, should be able to pull the small Harley quite handily. The current T100 would also close the gap a bit with the almost 50% bigger displacement 1,200 Sportster.

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