Triumph Bonneville, Good or Bad

[Indoors]

I bought a 2004 Bonneville yesterday off a dealer in Bristol and rode it home to Leicester on a few twisty little A and B roads. Used daily, one owner, 9500 miles, bit road weary but got a great deal, well I think so.

I agree about the misfire, so the ignition coil is the culprit, is it. Thanks for that piece of advice.

I found it was happiest between 50-70mph, loads of fun, really nice to ride, but it bounced around like crazy on one stretch of poorly-maintained B-road. Rear shocks perhaps?

Loved the look of Andy's Bonnie but don't need something quite so radical. Thinking of a MCResources rack and luggage frames as I don't have the expertise to fabricate something myself. Then get a cheap top box and panniers off ebay, lots of choice, but the panniers will have to slant away to clear the rear shocks, won't they?

It already has a Scottoiler, needs a screen, can't really afford a bash plate or centre stand, don't need a tacho or voltmeter, or a satnav.

Looking forward to doing the little jobs on it that I can and paying the dealer half my life savings to do the jobs I can't.

Indoors.

P.S. Sat next to a bloke on the train who works at Hinckley. Most bikes are now made in Thailand with only a few things done here, Bonneville production is moving there shortly or has already gone... and they have about three years worth of unsold Rocket IIIs sitting in a warehouse.

[Mike]

Ironic that you should mention the rear shocks, Indoors. I've just come online to let this thread know that I just snapped.. a rear shock! 32,500 miles of European tarmac -- including the potholes and speed-dampers of Spain and Portugal -- and it was an ugly pothole in the town of Peniscola (stop giggling) that did for the shock.

Good news:
there's a great little bike shop in the next town, and one of the mavhanics had his own Tiger in the workshop, so I had Triumph-friendly help and advice.. and an Imperial set of sockets. Non-Triumph shocks fitted within two days.

Bad news:
the danged things are no good. Every bump bigger than the proverbial pea and something very hard hits something very hard somewhere under the seat. Nursed the bike on smoothest roads I could find 100 miles to Barcelona and taking it straight to a Triumph workshop in the morning. My wallet is quaking with fear..

(Still love the bike, though).

[Indoors]

Bad news Mike. Hope your dealer can work it out. But before they broke, where they any good?

I'm a firm believer of 'If it ain't broke, don't fix it', but some people recommend Ikon shocks. They're available worldwide for about £250-300 a set but don't know anything else about them.

The distributor in Spain is: NATXO BARRAL
Poligono 26, Donosti ibilbidea 78
E-20115 Astigarraga (Spain)
P: +34 943 336384
P: +34 670 292999
F: +34 943 336485
E: bmw@natxobarral.com
W: www.natxobarral.com

In the UK, Norman Hyde, among others, also supply them.

Good luck.

Indoors.

[andypettitt62]

I have a pair of Ikons on my Bonny, they came with the bike from Norman Hyde.They are fully adjustable for damping and preload.Also the front fork brace and steering damper tighten up the front end.I t can all be bought from Norman Hyde ( for a price).I have never ridden any other Bonnys so can't compare mine to a non standard bike, but it handles great and is rock steady cornering.

[Mike]

Like Andy I can't compare because I'm a one bike man.. (just read the thread entitled "Infidelity and promiscuity+ shame" and feeling very dull and boring) but.. i now have secondhand Triumph shocks fitted to the bike by an approved Triumph mechanic. (Don't worry, purists, I got my hands dirty too. A bit.)

It feels like it did, though I have yet to test them fully loaded. I'm in Barcelona and there's just too much else to do!

It's been a pfaff but I'm there now. *fingers crossed*

Indoors -- thanks for the link to the Ikon distributor.

[Indoors]

This is for Andy or anyone else who might know.

On Andy's bike, he fitted hand guards (is this what you mean by barkbusters?)

What brand did you get and were they easy to fit?

Indoors.

[trophydave]

I cannot give you a direct answer but on my Trophy I had a set of handguards from a Tiger,you may find some later Tiger ones fit.Mine cost about £20 but this was a few years ago.

[andypettitt62]

They are Barkbusters, which is an Australian company.I have 1" handlebars, so had to get the biggest fitting bracket.They took about an hour to fix, mainly because inside my handlebars there were steel plates with the drilling for fitting the bar weights.Once I'd drilled these out it was a matter of tapping in the expander fitting that the barkbusters screw into.I also had to modify the plastic guard slightly to fit round my mirrors,and also move the brake and clutch down slightly so the levers didn't catch the guards.Its sounds fiddly but it wasn't, and now I have a bit of wind protection for my hands, and know that if the bike goes over my levers have some protection.

[Indoors]

Thanks Andy, I pretty much want them for wind protection too. I might try and get some basic plastic set off ebay and have a fiddle.

[Threewheelbonnie]

Originally Posted by Indoors

Thanks Andy, I pretty much want them for wind protection too. I might try and get some basic plastic set off ebay and have a fiddle.

Let us know what works if you could? It's a job on the back burner at the minute but I've been looking for ways to keep handlebar muffs off the levers for the last three winters.

Thanks

Andy

[trophydave]

Andy,what I do on the Transalp is remove the standard Honda handguards.These get replaced by some cheapo ebay wrap around barkbuster type things.Over these go some bar muffs.A small hole and a cable tie through each keeps them secure,no flapping in the wind.