New Bonneville(s)

[Bonzo]

So fellow naked 2 wheeled bike appreciators, what do we think of the new Bonnies?

I must be getting old(er) cos my pick would be the T120 Black :freak:

[smiffyraf1]

love em. if we are talking the whole range i love the thruxton R especially the one with the fairing like the duc sports classics.

[pompone]

Same old hat ;)

[EvoAde]

I might be getting old but I don't really get the Bonneville retro thing. I had a Commando in the 70's, and whilst it was ok in it's day, things have moved on. The reason the British bike business went bust is because the bike world moved on and they didn't. If Meriden were still around I would hope they would have come up with Street/Speed Triple type bikes, not rehashed Bonnies.

[utopia]

I'm not really a fan of retro.
Or at least, I don't like it when it becomes the dominant feature.
It all kinda stops being about bikes so much and becomes an overblown exercise in styling.
Style should be an adjunct to design in my opinion, not the driving force.
Form should follow function.

Norton got it about right with the modern commando range which echoed the past but was primarily about building a decent bike rather than being a fashion statement first and foremost.
Though naturally it is the monster which, in my opinion, still flies the flag for how to build a modern motorcycle which retains traditional, naked biking values while still looking forward.
In fact, my 750 monster is the modern take on the original bevel engined 750S and 750GT .... which was precisely what I wanted them to build back then and is why I'm so wedded to it now.
But the monster is a bike build with style added, not vice versa, and the difference is immense.

I will still enjoy seeing the new Triumphs around, but I wouldn't be in any way tempted to buy one myself.
Quite like the retro red/white paint scheme though.

[emzedder]

Totally agree, from the early singles Ducati (through Eng Taglioni) concentrated almost totally upon integrated engine/chassis for optimum performance and beauty and then thought "hmm, guess we better include some road equipment" which often translated almost to "what's in the parts bin today". Certainly can see that in my '73 750GT and that essential purity has thankfully remained for some time. Unfortunately EU noise has sounded death nell for aircooled's so that purity in future new machines gone forever.

[EvoAde]

BMW intend to build an oil/aircooled range built on the RnineT so maybe aircooled isn't quite dead yet (plus the Ducati Scrambler of course)...

[jerry]

the new 2016 Bonny engines are all now 270 cranks so ape ducatis not real parallel twins with 360dg cranks ,,,not retro at all .. truly aweful ,, I would rather go for a KAWASAKI W800 with proper 360 engine or an old commando

[utopia]

On the other hand, I remember a magazine article in the 70s (I think I still have it somewhere) where a guy, possibly Australian, was building Triumphs with 270deg cranks and a corresponding v-twin character.
I was quite impressed at the time.

I guess it would usefully reduce the inherent vibration from a 1200cc parallel twin.

I too, would rather have an old Commando though.
In fact I have one ... but its been in boxes since 1979.

[emzedder]

TRX850 with 270 cranks were very impressive engine ...