I ride the Bonnie + RS service

["barry.croft" <barry.croft@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Today I took the RS into Carl Rosners for it's 6000 mile service (and to fit
an 18t sprocket). Which meant leaving the house in dark freezing fog at 7
am! But although the road was glittery with ice crystals I took it easy and
had no problems.

Carl was in good humour - chatty and smiling. Especially when I asked after
the Bonnie, which he says is his best ever seller in 30-odd years of Triumph
dealership. He's already onto his second demo bike, a tasty maroon/silver
beast ... which he let me take out for 15 minutes!

First impressions do matter, so although I've ogled it at shows I walked
round it and poked at it, and it looked solid and well put-together. Also
low and narrow and short-arse friendly. ALSO a real nostalgia blast from
1970 or so. Not quite a replica, but pretty authentic-looking.

The choke is a carb-mounted push-pull thing by your left leg, but easy to
use. The key goes in near the left side of the Bates-style chrome headlight.
No tacho, just a classic black-faced speedo and four idiot lights. It
started easily, and immediately produced a deep mellow burbling which
gladdened the heart and misted the eyes. Not as loud as some old trumpets
I've heard, but enough to hear the engine properly working. That's with the
optional 'off-road' pipes, which I'd say were essential. Even in the ice it
didn't take long to warm up, and within a minute I could push the choke all
the way to off - but while it was warming I walked round it again. That bike
is real easy on the eye!

Then I was on it. Easy paddling even for me (5'6"), partly due to the low
seat, partly to the way the bike narrows where the tank and seat meet. It
doesn't feel as heavy as it is, I guess because the weight is low down
compared to the triples. The bars are great - not as high and swept back as
my 95 Thunderbird, but not as low and flat as say the Speed Triple.
Somewhere in between, and very comfy. The seat was quite slippery in
overtrousers, and of course dead flat, so at first I was sliding to and fro,
until I got my legs into a comfy position. Unfamiliar after the RS, but very
comfy again.

Into first, with a very light clutch and no clunk (it had just 200 miles on
it), then probably too many revs and too tentative a clutch for my first
cautious pull-away. For a moment the front end felt curiously heavy as I
turned out, then I relaxed and sat back and it all became extremely easy to
ride. The clutch and gears are effortless, as is the steering, and the
engine is a great soft cuddly teddy bear of a thing. Not great power
(power-freaks had better look elsewhere, or use some of that wasted
potential and tune it, or wait for the rumoured new model ...), but very
soft and gentle and forgiving. This thing doesn't have a tach because it
doesn't need one. At first I was misjudging the gear I needed and
mismatching revs and all sorts, just like a beginner, and it accepted it all
quite happily. Although the engine is not that strong (even softer than the
'bird, I'd say) it is even better-mannered, and happily accepts chuffing
along at low speeds in top etc.

I only rode a few miles 'round the block'. On mostly icy roads I didn't dare
go too mad, but in a couple of dry places I was able to open it up and taste
the mid-range, which is GORGEOUS. Not that powerful, but with a mellow surge
more than good enough to overtake most things, and accompanied by the most
wonderful deep thrum through the bars, and a gorgeous deep growling sound.
On the return to Carl's there was a short uphill straight running into a
tunnel under a railway bridge, which I went into using a lot of throttle
from low revs in third, and the engine feel and the echoing sound were just
spine-tingling. It brought back memories of 'boring up Stone Street', as a
friend of mine used to describe his window-rattling uphill run between
facing houses in my home town, on his Speed Twin. This bike is not that loud
(nothing is), but it'll certainly do! It was also a visual attention-getter,
and when the passenger in an oncoming van started shaking the driver's arm
and pointing at me wide-eyed I just had to laugh.

When I got back I immediately wanted to go out again, but work beckoned, and
besides Carl already had another punter waiting. I lurked inside the shop
window (eyeballing the neon pink Speed Triple) as Carl took the guy through
the controls and started it up again. It sounded SOOO sweet, even through
plate glass. If you sat and blipped the throttle in any biker hang you'd
soon get a crowd. Once the guy had wobbled away, with the same peculiar
'worried grin' I'd had on my face, Carl came in to talk about it. That's
when he said he'd never had such a popular model. His first delivery was
just 5 bikes, one of which has already been picked up, and he already has 28
people with deposits waiting! He thinks he'll have bikes for them all
eventually, but when the warmer weather and summer bikers arrive these
beauties will be impossible to get. He also confirmed that most of the
production will end up in the States :-(

It was about then that I noticed he already had a used green/silver one.
Personally I think the green is the better looker. Very classy. I guess it
must be his first demo, as it had 800 miles on it ... and was for sale ...
and was only £4,700!!! Sadly SWMBO has already totally vetoed the thought.

It's not a rip-snorting performer, but it's still an excellent bike for all
sorts of people and all sorts of reasons. Beginners. The short of arse.
Born-agains. Nostalgics. Dare I say it, the fashionable? Certainly those
with an eye for classical beauty. Those looking for a simple home-servicing
do-everything type bike. Or those just wanting a totally different and
interesting second bike. In fact just about everyone ;-)

Then I leapt onto the shop Trident, my third Triumph of the day (and still
only 9 am) and roared off to work, brain buzzing ...

Later I went back for the RS, expecting anticlimax. But that too is totally
gorgeous. They'd swapped the stock 19 for an 18 tooth engine sprocket, and
the whole thing has come to life, with more eager power everywhere. It's now
doing 85 mph at about 5000 rpm instead of 4500, i.e. just below the fattest
torque at my usual cruising speed, so no need to drop a gear when some idiot
drifts into your lane, just a twist of the wrist and you're awaaaay! They
also tweaked the low rpm CO to it's upper limit, which seems to have got rid
of a slight surging on a closed throttle on the over-run, about the only
fault I could find in the excellent FI system. The tickover is slower and
more even too. They even re-routed the clutch cable somehow, so it no longer
stretches to the (ST) bars on full left lock ... and the clutch action also
seems lighter and quicker now.

So despite the icy fog, today I'm a VERY happy biker. All I need now is a
warm dry day to try the RS out of corners, and as many convincing reasons as
possible for the wife on why we NEED a new green Bonnie as well ...

Barry
Dark and Freezing in Sussex, England
Light and Warm in my heart


     *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *
      The ST/RS Mailing list is sponsored by Jack Lilley Ltd.
          http://www.TriumphNet.com/st/lilley for more info
   http://www.TriumphNet.com/st for ST, RS and Mailing List info

=-=-=-= Next Message =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=