Issue 135 : June - July 2004

SV to DL
Triumph Speedmaster
Into the Valley
Retro Rule
Where Eagles Ride

Long term test

Dave Elrick road tests Triumph's Speedmaster - his impressions so far. . .

I've been an admirer of Triumph's new Bonneville range since I first spied it at the 2001 FEMA rally in Koksidje Belgium just after its launch, so when the opportunity arose to ride one on a long-term test it took around 0.3 nanoseconds for me to say: "Yes please!"

The current range consists of the America & Speedmaster (cruisers) the Bonneville & T100 (classics) and, for 2004, the much heralded 900cc Thruxton 'café racer'.

Apart from the Thruxton, the Bonneville's power plant is an air-cooled 790cc DOHC parallel twin, which pumps out 61 bhp at 7,400 RPM and, more importantly for a bike of this class, delivers 45 ft/lbs of torque from a measly 3500 revs.

The bike weighs in at around 520 lbs with a full tank, giving a power to weight ratio better than Yamaha's 1100 Dragstar or Honda's 750 Shadow. Sure there are lots of bikes out there that will out-perform the Bonneville, but to compare its performance with any of today's plastic rockets is missing the whole point of the motorcycle.

The Bonneville is intended to be a piece of practical nostalgia. It's the look, feel, build quality and all round usability of the bike that will appeal to prospective owners and, in that respect, Triumph seems to have got it about right.

First impressions.
I picked up the Speedmaster from Hinckley on a wet Thursday afternoon in late March of this year. Triumph had 'accessorised' the bike with a single seat conversion, rear fender rack, passing lamps, a fly screen and lots of chrome. The standard Speedmaster is very plain and very black and very very pleasing to the eye.

The profile forms a sleek curve from the headstock, over the bulbous tank and is picked up by the gunslinger style seat, which in turn blends perfectly into the rear mudguard. With the single seat conversion this curve is broken and somehow doesn't quite work for me, but most other people seem to like it so what do I know. Different strokes and all that.

The Bonneville had a cold engine and had been standing in the rain for several hours when I turned the side-mounted key, pulled out the manual choke and pushed the starter. What a disappointment! It's not that the bike didn't start (it's always started first time) it was the noise, or rather the lack of it that caused my dismay. The long chrome silencers do exactly what 'it says on the tin', they silence the motor's exhaust note. At motorway speeds the mechanical noise from the engine drowns out the sound of the pipes, not that it's excessive, it's more of a buzzing sound, the type of sound you might hear if you were hiding in the wardrobe in a nun's dormitory after lights-out. Or so I'm told. Triumph offer replacement slash-cut pipes, 'for closed circuit use only' and are quite understandably selling them like hot cakes. Once fitted, the bike makes a beautiful sound, it sounds like a proper British bike, loud but not offensive.

If ever there was a reason to lobby your MP over noise limits then this is it, no bike should look this good and have to sound this quiet.

Second impressions
After the long wet ride back up to Yorkshire I gave the Bonneville a clean, polish and once-over. It had 601 miles on the clock and had been part of the Triumph sales fleet for the past few months, which meant that it had been ridden throughout the winter. The finish was still very good but on closer inspection, there were a couple of things that let the bike down. The most glaringly obvious fault was the rusting serial numbers stamped into the headstock. It appears that Triumph stamp the frames after coating, and then leave the resultant bare-metal to the elements. I checked with several other models at a couple of dealers and found the same fault on each one. Check before you buy. The other niggle was a blueing downpipe. Triumph have gone to great lengths to cowl the exhaust system so that it keeps its shine but it looks like the inner and outer tubes are touching on the exit bend. I've been assured by my local dealer that the downpipe would be changed under warranty but at £7,600 OTR it's a shame that these two faults let down what is otherwise a very well screwed together motorcycle.

At the time of going to press, the bike's covered just over 2000 miles and I'm packing it up ready for the Beermonster's rally, then Into the Valley the week after.

If you see me and the bike on the rally circuit this summer let me have your comments for the next instalment.

Ride Free (well nearly free, I have to pay for the petrol!)
Dave Elrick

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