Triumphrat

bricktop

Just wondering what the guesses were on the the name 'Thunderbird'- i thought they had already brought that one back. Have they started to run out of old names to rip off?

Maybe a new name to suit the new cruiser would have been more appropriate.

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DrX

I couldn't agree more, I would have called it the all new "Speed Twin". Who owns the name Thunderbird, Ford or Triumph?

BeastInBlack

In this case the 'bird' refers to a turkey...

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sweatmachine

I think Chunderturd is more appropriate.

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sweatmachine

oof, that's sacrilege. A speed twin is a thing of beauty and performance. This is a heavy pig that looks like a Korean rip off of a Honda.

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biker7

A lot has been written about the new Thunderbird on this board since pictures we posted.
I just came off a cruiser and am looking to get into a Bonneville. I hate cruisers by and large but there is an undeniable market for them. This may sound bad as an American but cruisers are for fat guys that don't know any better. Yes that market exists in spades in America. Real fat motorcycles for fat guys with forward controls in particular is largely an American phenomena. 95% of the rest of the world makes motorcycles under 500 lbs and with controls where God intended them to be...under the rider to not only better support the back but control rider CG for better handling. My personal opinion is the Thunderbird for what it is...is a decent execution of the cruiser theme. It is cleaner than a lot of Asian Harley knockoffs and no doubt superior in design and performance to an equivalent Harley. I much prefer the earlier Thunderbirds of course with mid controls and more managable weight but obviously Triumph's market research has taken them in another direction. They afterall are in the business of making money and fulfill a niche they perceive to exist which it clearly does. Most Bonneville owners that may have owned motorbikes in the 60's and 70's generally see through the cruiser thing for what it is and why we prefer the purity of the Bonneville design. The whole cruiser scene is the personification of what is wrong with America IMHO....in many ways a sad caricature that is capitalized on by Europe and Asian manufactures who export these obscenely bloated bikes to America to satisfy the myth of bigger is better.
George

Iceseven

Yeah bad choice of names, my 95 T-bird was a great bike and a friends T-bird Sport was even better, they should have come up with something else. I can't see that bike being a big seller, they should have just put that motor in one of their cruiser series.

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2006 Scrambler, Previously had 2004 Bonnie Black, 1995 T-Bird, 1974 Trident, various street and dirt bikes.

KingOfFleece

A bit on the harsh side, eh gentlemen?

bobscogin

It was decided long ago that few people would confuse a Thunderbird motorcycle with a Thunderbird car, so both companies took a "live and let live" position on the matter, just as Triumph and GM/Pontiac did with the Bonneville.

Bob

Iceseven

I think that it is just fair criticism from people that actually ride these things, sometime it seems like the people at Triumph are very detached from what people want and how passionate people are about the marque and if they are going to tought Triumph's (Meriden) history be it names, t-shirts or movie stars then they open themselves up to criticism especially a name formally used on a triple.

That is a lot of money in research, tooling and manufacture so I hope it pays off for them.

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2006 Scrambler, Previously had 2004 Bonnie Black, 1995 T-Bird, 1974 Trident, various street and dirt bikes.