Triumph Rat Motorcycle Forums banner

Bonnie with Thrux Seat and matching Cowl

3K views 16 replies 10 participants last post by  dchernikoff 
#1 · (Edited)
I think the mods to my Bonnie are done for a while. I finally got my seat cowl painted and put on the bike.

When my wife announced a year ago that riding pillion on the Bonnie was too uncomfortable, I embarked on a mission to turn it into a single-seater. Took off the tall Sissy Bar and replaced it with a black Tek rear rack, and started looking for a seat to replace the comfy K&Q seat. I really liked the look of the Thruxton seat with cowl. Bought a thrux seat with cowl but it was amazingly uncomfortable, so I found a used Solo Seat With Rack and tried that. Comfy, but the cowl mounted with a big gap which really bugged me. So after more research I ended up sending the Thrux seat off to GreatDayToRide to have it restuffed, and now it's comfortable enough for day-long rides. So the search was on for someone to paint the cowl Goodwood Green to match the bike. Mission accomplished thanks to the local autobody shop, Silicon Valley Tow and Bodyshop, and with the addition of the British Custom seat cowl screws I'm very happy with the results!

Although now that I look at how the stock turn signals look, maybe I'm not done after all...

-Dan







 

Attachments

See less See more
9
  • Like
Reactions: bscott2231
#9 · (Edited)
What he said^.
You have bag brackets on there, yet use a top box? Either A, remove the brackets and drive that horrible looking nonsense top box mess around and risk the immediate horrible nausea of the poor folks that are forced to see it, or B, remove the top box and add panniers of your choosing, and be confident that you have a lovely bike with tasteful baggage.
If you had a Jaguar XKE and put a roof rack on it, we would be having the same discussion.
I'm confused. It's not a top box, it's a roll bag. What do you mean by "Bag brackets" -- is that what you call the rear rack that I have on there?

I confess I was a bit uncertain about using a roll bag versus some other type of rear bag. I thought the curved shape of the roll bag kept physically away from the cowl enough that the look worked. Apparently I was wrong! I do have a set of leather pannier bags, but prefer the look and utility of a tail bag for just riding around town.

Is it really that bad looking? :frown2: Perhaps I should consider getting smaller pannier bags instead. The bags I have are big leather ones from Stockton Leather...

-Dan

EDITED: Okay, I get it now. By "bag brackets" you mean the pannier rails. I've had them on so long that I don't really see them anymore. I throw on pannier bags occasionally when I need to carry stuff, but generally just leave them off.
 
#5 ·
What he said^.
You have bag brackets on there, yet use a top box? Either A, remove the brackets and drive that horrible looking nonsense top box mess around and risk the immediate horrible nausea of the poor folks that are forced to see it, or B, remove the top box and add panniers of your choosing, and be confident that you have a lovely bike with tasteful baggage.
If you had a Jaguar XKE and put a roof rack on it, we would be having the same discussion.
 
#12 ·
The pannier rails and rack definitely make the bike look purpose built and not fit into one category. It's personal and that's rad to me.

I struggled with the idea of a seat with cowl vs. having some form of storage on the bike. I still plan on getting a seat and cowl, I simply love the look, but honestly I'd prefer not to try to carry certain things in a jacket or backpack so I broke down and ordered a ammo can and rack, despite the looks. I may end up seeing if I can fab up something like a number plate to cover the rack when I don't have the can on to get that cafe look back
 
#13 ·
I pulled my very functional luggage rack and bags off to go with the "cafe" look I am doing this year. It is a personal choice and I will add a tank bag for around town errand running.

P.S. - I keep everything so that if I nee function over form again it is easily converted back.
 
#14 · (Edited)
Aesthetically I was hoping the "tall" bag in the back would balance the taller handlebars in the front. And i never cared for how pannier bags look -- "makes my (bike's) ass look fat", lol.

And functionally -- I don't see how people ride a bike without some sort of storage. I keep a warm vest in there for when I ride up in the hills (always 5-10 degrees cooler than than the valley, around here), seat cover to ward off the evening dew, a few essential tools, tire pressure gauge, rok-straps to carry the occasional 6-pack home, mini jump-start cables, and power cable for my phone which I use as a GPS. Aren't you people actually riding your bikes? How do you get along without that stuff??? (This is my daily commuter vehicle as well as my weekend fun ride).

In any case, thanks for the feedback! I may revisit the pannier bag options.

-Dan
 
#16 ·
Don't mean to be down on you or your bike I just don't think the bag at the back works with the look (it looks similar to a box to me).
Just a personal thing that I just don't like the look of something hanging behind bikes like this. I used to have a bike with luggage at the back & to be honest I miss the convenience of it but I couldn't add something like that to my scrambler.
I've got strong views on the right, harmonious look for things like this. Just my view though in the end.
 
#17 ·
No offense taken -- I appreciate the feedback. I asked for it! :grin2: I'm a bit on the fence about it myself now that I see it...

-Dan
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top