Triumphrat

citationxpilot

Im sure this has been covered before, but I cant find a thread on it. I recently purchased a new street triple and I love it. Now I want a second bike to tour on. I have seen a few pics of bonnies with side bags etc. Does this bike make a good touring bike? I was looking at the st as well, but my performance itch is being scratched by the street triple, and I love the classic look of the bonnie. How reliable has your'e bonnies engine been? What kind of gas mileage are you seeing on the open road. Thanks.

decobike

You'll get a lot of differing opinions. I only have a T100. I've toured regionally on it but I haven't tried to take it cross country. I don't think I would hesitate to do so but I also would want to have the time to go on as many secondary roads, vs interstate, and possible. I did a 550 mile day on one trip last summer, the temp was perfect and other than a short (but nasty) rain squall I had a great day and the distance was no problem. I do have the king/queen seat. That helps a lot. I also use the roadster screen. Otherwise its mostly stock.

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modre

define touring.

if you want to get on the quest highway and make 2-up distance miles amongst the truckers, no...you want a full faired bike for that.

if you want to meander thru the adventure country side and stop at springs, archeology sites, and ice cream shops, yes...oil your chain.


if you want to tour, the priority is lockable luggage and organized stuff you never use.

imafunkyman

A good seat and more teeth on the front sproket will help. A more laid back position on an America may be better though.

Brooksie

Bonnie works great on the road. Tiger would work better.

amanger

Having had both a Sprint ST and a couple of Bonnies,I can say with some experience the Bonnie is a great town bike but you cant beat the Sprint if you want to do 1000 km in a day.It is so much smoother and less tiring not to mention the fact that you stay dry when it rains.

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07 865 Silver Bonnie....Bobbed Guards, Tacho, Grab Rail, Lucas Tail light, Mini Blinkers, Dart Screen, LSL Sport Bars, 1" Longer Hagons, 10mm Raised Forks, K&N Pods, Staintunes, 140/40 3 1/2 turns + 1 shim......etc....etc...

scooterjunkie

The bonnie is a blast but I'd take my Tiger for the longer rides over the bonnie anyday.

hankmarx

It's all context. My bonny is the only motorcycle I've got. Consequently, it is my favorite bike for touring . 3200 miles in 6 days,no windshield, stock seat, I had the time of my life.

There are bikes more suited too touring, but do you want a Bonneville?

If yes, go for it.

wonderdog

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Waste is a terrible thing to mind.

lindsayt

The bonnie is fine for long distances, and with the right accessories can be a comfortable tourer. But I have to say, if you're buying a second bike explicitly to be a tourer, the Bonnie seems a strange choice. There are plenty of good faired bikes with hard bags to be had for $10k or so, and by the time you've got the bonnie ready for the same job you'll be in just as much money for a steel-framed, chain-drive 60hp standard with aftermarket bags that almost approximate the $10k tourers.

Now me, I'd love to build my Bonnie up to be a tourer - with full fairing, hard bags, etc. - but I've already got the bike, it's my only multi-cylinder bike (I also have a scooter), and I know and love the bike. Plenty of people here have built their bonnies into splendid, spectacular tourers - but they've also spent a lot of money and/or spent a lot of time in machine shops.

Those 1970s "touring bikes" really intrigue me - the standards with custom Vetter touring kits to make them into touring bikes before real touring bikes existed, a la the first-gen Wing, the big Suzuki, and all those other Japanese standard liter bikes of that time. I think the Bonnies, with a Parabellum Scout, H&B cases and Corbin G&L seat, plus better shocks all around, better pipes, better front brake, and better tires would pretty much be *JUST* like the experience of riding those big tourers of that era. But that's a lot of mods to a bike when there's purpose-built bikes out there, hence the reason that Vetter went out of business and the aftermarket disappeared when factory tourers showed up.

I guess my opinion is, if you love the bonnie and want to make it into a tourer, then a bonnie is a great tourer. If your definition of "tourer" is like mine - spend several days on two-lane roads going 300-400 miles a day - then it's a great tourer without all the additions (I use a dart flyscreen and Givi soft bags for those trips). But if you really mean "tourer" in the 1000-mile-days, riding interstates, then you really should buy a Tiger, a BMW F800ST, or one of the several Japanese bikes in that space. $10k can buy a pretty nice purpose-built tourer.

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38% rocker, 30% mod.