Triumphrat

SixtySpeedTwin · 05-17-2008

I'm fortunate enough to have a meriden speed twin - i say meridian before they slap the name on that ugly truck pseudo cruiser thing, anyway...

Before the scram i was seriously looking at Tritons but in the end i was swung by something completely new, reliable (hopefully) and able to do long stints at higher speeds with my friends on modern bikes.

I'll still get a triton - eventually but don't regret getting the scram. I cant wait to see what its like run in.

the only thing i don't like about the Hinc triumphs is they all sound pathetic -i need some tors. But how do ducati do it?

Clive

Kirkus51 · 05-17-2008

Never considered it. I didn't even know Triumph/hinkley was back in business until I saw one while I was plying my trade as a Trucker. There were two of the Triples and I was really surprised to know Triumph was back in business. I just filed it in the back of my mind and was really surprised when my Brother mentioned that they had brought back the Bonneville. Now I'm embarassed to mention this but I discovered this three years after they had been out on the road. Took me another four to buy one.

meatwagon · 05-17-2008

I wanted to get a bike ,realized that what I wanted was a standard type,and that many of the classic Japanese bikes were patterened after Brit bikes.So I looked at getting an old bonneville.I realized that my mechanic skills weren't up to the task ,then found out that there were new bonnevilles ! So I got one of those ,love it and after a year and a half I bought an older fixer upper and learned to work on it.I love that bike too...

Keith G · 05-17-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by FrankBlack

I realised I liked the idea of an old bike rather than the actuality. With the mods I've done, the bike I have is looking and feeling more and more what I originally wanted, and parts and upgrades are readily available of course. It's specifically the design and originality that attracted me to the old Triumphs - and old bikes in general - but I wanted something that was reliable and relatively easy to fix as well as looking good. The new Bonneville has - potentially - a lot of the good design features of the old and, to my taste, can look better in many ways once you swap the cheap parts for well made components (for me, that's what creates the annoying 'gap' in design quality between the old and new bikes. If the new bikes were fitted with more well-made metal parts and less plastic, there would be a greater connection between the Meriden and the Hinckley identities). I still love the old bikes and would still consider owning one if I had the money to own another bike. And I certainly respect the dedication of those who keep old bikes well maintained. In the end it's a compromise of course, but I certainly wanted to spend more time riding than repairing or searching for parts, even if it has meant some of that time has been spent modifying!

Ditto ditto ditto.....

(All this d*** talk about the 'old' 'bikes is messing me about....

)

Old Scratcher · 05-17-2008

Thanks for the replies everyone. I thought there'd be a lot of folks who went through the same conundrums that i did, when shopping for my Scram.
A major influence for me, was that I knew that I wanted to ride the snot out of any bike I bought. & while I knew that a properly sorted Meriden could have handled the work, I personally would have felt guilty about hammering a historically significant object d'art. Whereas I've no qualms about giving a new bike the treatment it's manufacturer intended for it. & I could have never modded a Meriden into the 21stC (disc brakes, progressive suspension, high comp big bore kits etc.). Not without seriously affecting it's value & desirability. Whereas modding a Hinkley is not only expected, it improves it's V&D.

Dale_K · 05-17-2008

I came pretty close to buying a blue 1970's Bonneville like the one pictured above. Then I found out they had left over 2006 Scramblers for only a couple thousand more bucks. I had a 1970 Bonneville in the early 1990's that I fixed up from a rolling basket case. I never trusted that bike to get me home. It took some of the fun out worrying about which part was going to fail next. Once I broke down at the ice cream shop and finally got it running on one cylinder. Lucky a master Brit bike mechanic named Frank Diehl lived only a mile away. He diagnosed a bad coil in about 30 seconds and had me running perfectly in less than 5 minutes. But I never trusted Meriden bikes. Still don't.

Odysseus · 05-18-2008

I wanted a Meriden Triumph all my life, and still do to a large extent. But I knew that I would never be able to maintain it and keep it on the road, so it has never been a realistic option for me. To this day I would love a T120 or TR6, or even a T160 Trident, but if anything went wrong with them I'd be in the soup. And another consideration was that there are no spares for them here in Southern Europe - I'd have to get everything from the UK, even nuts, bolts, etc., because they're all imperial measurements. Back before the internet that was just a non-starter, and even now it wouldn't be easy - one little screw breaks and you have to order a replacement from another country! Also I don't have a garage, so the bike would be parked in the street. I'd give it about a week before it disappeared.

Before I bought my Hinckley I was on the point of buying a UJM, because I wasn't a fan of the Hinckley Bonneville at all. That was until I stumbled across a Bonnie made by MecaTwin and realized that I could probably take the basic bike and turn it into what I wanted. But I have to say, Scratch, that I wouldn't have any qualms about riding the bike into the ground if I had the time for such things. I don't do off-road like you do, but I don't like bikes as museum pieces and I wouldn't want one just to be able to say I owned one. Maybe that's because having grown up in the UK I saw more ratty, clapped-out Meridiens that you can imagine, but their owners still kept riding them. My problem would simply be that I wouldn't be able to fix the bike if it broke, and I don't like the idea of being stuck in the middle of nowhere with a broken-down bike and me totally clueless.

Pythas · 05-18-2008

I actually DID by a Merriden first, a '73 T140V, when I was 22.

When my father died last July I inherited the '67 Norton Atlas that he bought new when he was 21. We were going to restore it next (this) summer.

Then go for rides together on our 750 Brit twins.

After he died I decided to combine them, which has evolved into this:

Should be on the road a week from today...

Incidently the pic of the Norton... that was his first new motorcycle, and in the back ground, his last new motorcycle the '05 T100 - which he loved SO much... That count's as my Hinkley, tho it's now my brother's.

sorry fellas, I know this has gone a bit off topic.. but it's been on my mind as of late, coming up on one year in July.

TB-T100 · 05-18-2008

Nope, never considered it. After an eighteen-year break from riding, it was about getting back to riding that was my goal. I only would consider new or near-new bikes, so that reliability would be assured. I was truly fortunate to find a three-year old T100 that matched my budget.

However, I must say that if I had a garage, lots of tools (or lots of money to buy tools), lots of money for a second bike, then I might buy an old one and restore it. But probably I would just get a totally different kind of bike, to fill other biking-needs (maybe a Duc Sports Tourer, or a Streetfighter of some kind).

boxerman · 05-18-2008

I didn't consider a Meriden at all. I wanted a mint (used) Hinckley - - I never buy any vehicle new - - and I found one. Made the usual mods and it's now a much more likeable machine. I've owned a couple of the old machines and I may own one again some day, but not right now. I have three airhead Beemers that are sufficient to scratch the vintage itch. They don't sound like an old Bonneville but they don't do a lot of the other things that my old Brit bikes did, and that's a good thing...