RE: The Seat of Daphne's pants

["Daphne Lowe" <lowedaph@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

 > So, you have no statistical data to back it up, but you are willing to =
hang
 > the quality less than Honda tag on Triumph?! Are you a journalist or =
do you
 > write Dan Rather's nightly news pieces?


My impression is based purely on talking to riders over the years,  reading 
moto press, and hanging out on lists. I'm not knocking Triumph, to the 
contraire, I think what John Bloor has been able to accomplish in a little 
more than a decade has been incredible. Look what his company
has achieved to compared to other companies that have tried to be reborn, 
Indian, E-H, and Royal Enfield. Or relatively young companies like Victory, 
MZ, and Cagiva. Or older, more established companies like Moto Guzzi and 
Laverda. Even Aprilia, which has been aggressively growing by any means 
possible, hasn't been able to establish a presence in North America as 
successfully as Triumph.

With success comes growing pains, and Triumph is in the midst of it. Honda 
is a mature company. It's no accident that they are the largest
motorcycle manufactor in the world. They do alot of things right, for a lot 
of people, and they've been doing it for a long time. It's no insult to 
Triumph that they don't have the mature operational efficiency of Honda. 
Bloor may be brilliant, but he ain't God.

I love my bike (even though it has major problems that we're still working 
on resolving). There is no other bike I'd rather have. But I bought it with 
realistic, not rose colored expectations. First, though it's my primary 
(not sole) means of transportation, reliability is a convenience but not 
absolute necessity. Secondly, while I wouldn't enjoy waiting 3 weeks for a 
part, its not a crisis. Third, there are no less than 5 dealers within an 
hour's drive of my house, two of which are very competent.

I wholeheartedly recommend Triumph. But not unconditionally. Having the 
right expectations is crucial. Expecting Triumph to have the same
efficiency as Honda, is a path to being an unhappy Triumph owner. And when 
that happens, everyone loses.

Daphne


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