Triumphrat

RickyT

I am looking to add a second bike to my family and I am leaning toward one of three bikes. The America, Honda Shadow Sabre or a Speed Triple. I like the brand loyalty idea of sticking with Triumph but: I have a Sprint St and feel like the Speed Triple is basically a naked Sprint and I'd be buying the same bike twice. As for the America, my first ever cruiser was a Suzuki Intruder 800 and it seemed very slow and under powered. I ended up trading it in after a few months for the 1400. I got tired of searching for a non existant 5th gear in a four speed transmission. The America doesn't have too much more displacement, will I run into the same issue.

As for the Honda, its not a Triumph, its only 250cc bigger and in 25 years a Triunph is still cool, a 25 year old Honda is just an old bike.

Any input for me to help me decide

davidc

"As for the Honda, its not a Triumph, its only 250cc bigger and in 25 years a Triunph is still cool, a 25 year old Honda is just an old bike."

Your best argument is the one above.

Echoance

...buy a Speedmaster!!!

Seriously, what do you want it for? The America or the Speedmaster will give you all the thrills you need, albeit at a slower pace than the S3 or your Sprint. Tour on 'em, bend-swing on 'em, cruise on 'em, chill on 'em; they corner better than most cruisers out there; there's ample power (it won't rip your head off but it'll surprise a lot of people) and there are so many options available, from go-faster bits (fancy a turbo?) to go-shinier bits. You can basically make the bike your own. It's an air-cooled, over-engineered parallel twin so good reliability and easy to service yourself. They sound gorgeous with the right pipes and you'll get people stopping you in the street to talk for a minute...or 20!!

Read through the forums here or head on over to a dedicated cruiser site: bonnevilleamerica.com for more biased opinions.

Actually, the best advice I can give is go for a test ride and decide for yourself.

neill

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TLCS3

I was in a similiar situation a year ago. I had put 63k miles on my 2000 Speedtriple and wanted something to add to the riding options. After test riding a Sprint ST, Tiger, Thruxton and a Rocket III I signed up for the Speedmaster. I rode both bikes for about 6 months and sold the Speedtriple to a friend. The Speedmaster has been great. I don't have the 107 rear wheel horsepower of the S3 but I enjoy all the same twisty roads and do more cruising with a few friends then I did before.
As mentioned above the add ons don't seem to end though.
Test ride a Speedmaster - You decide.

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2001 TT600 Turbo
2006 Speedmaster - 111.101 mph at Bonneville Salt Flats
2000 Speed Triple (retired after 63k miles of FUN)
1976 Honda 400 Super Sport
1973 Honda 350 Four

rudyr

I've had a america for over 40,000 miles with very few, littel warrent issue's at frist. I well run 75 to 80 pack's and me all day(600 miles +) wih no problem's. It wll go over 100 but I'm not having fun then. Rudyr

brolane

I would recommend the Speedmaster. First, you get the dual discs on the front for increased stopping power. You also get a tachometer, and you will find yourself looking at the tach more than the speedo.

Finally, the LACK of chrome distinguishes this cruiser from other bikes. those that ride HDs or HD wannabes seem to delight in finding new places for chrome accessories. The Speedmaster is the anthesis of the "maxi-chrome" philosophy, and therefore (IMO) shows a lot more class.

There is certainly nothing wrong with an America or a Bonnie, but the Speedy will always be my favorite cruiser.

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Matter can neither be created or destroyed, but it can be lost.

mikeyland

The America is a great bike you will enjoy every minute of it. After market acc. are out there. Two up riding is no problem. Long distance 200 + not a problem.Mikey

srm8950

Honda's are just boring. To me there is nothing interesting about them at all. I would stick with the Triumph. A friend of mine just bought a Yamaha midnight warrior that is cool. Check it out if you are leaning towards a jap bike. Plenty of HP for criusing.

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06 Harley, Custom Built rigid, 07 Speedmaster
Ride hard and ride fast!

Speedblue2

Hondas are boring! I have had a few.Good bikes---boring though.Get the Triumph.Stock they are toooo quite,easy fix.So they are not perfect,almost.Hold up well.Lots of people like them,lots do NOT know they make them again.Not that many Triumphs out there in the SW USA anyway and Honda & Harleys are as common as Ford F150 almost.Lots of people think they cost a lot more than they do ,a few Harley riders I talked to thought my Speedmaster cost much more than it did.

gilligan

You saw my bike on sunday. Go to Gengras and test ride one. But remember these bikes respond well to jetting mods so if the stock tune seems a little underpowered, it can be easiily improved. Right now I am running short TORs, a Uni-filter, drilled airbox, 125 main jets and TBS (Thunderbird sport needles) with one shim and the bike was running pretty strong on Sunday (OK its not as fast as a Sprint). More power can be had by going to aftermarket pipes (Bubs, Sceptres, etc) installing the Freak kit (individual pod air filters) and going up in main jet size. The next step from there is a big bore kit. Go look at the Bonneville America web site which has tons of technical advice on these bikes.

Pat