Regular Bonnie much better on ALL accounts, nostalgia included. i.e. unless you fancy up-swept pipes. Scrambler engine is terminally bland. A pizza delivery ute or a riding school mule, IMO. Which does not imply it' won't be successful. Fact is, it was the most sought demo mount during the local Triumph day I participated in and reported on earlier. Jamie
I had mentioned the Supertest World Association of bike magazines. Some of you asked about the membership of that association, hoping, I suppose, to recognize their favorite US, English or Australian mag in there. Hate to disappoint but "only" the following mags took part in the above-mentioned SWA-sponsored comparo:
Moto 73, Netherlands
Due Ruote, Italy
Solo Moto, Spain
Moto! Brazil
0-300, Greece
MO, Germany
Motojornal, Portugal
Young Machines, Japan
El Periodico, Spian
L' Intégral, France
MSS, Motor Sport Schweiz & Motor Sport Suisse, Switzerland
It seems that the Japanese motorcycle manufacturers are taking Triumph a little more seriously now more than ever! Case and point: Honda's R & D Department just bought a brand new 675 from my local dealer, the second one he had received. When I asked WHY he sold it to them, he replied; "They are going to get one from someone, why not make a few bucks off of them! I charged them full bore on the price. And they told me that they were going to tear it down as soon as they got back to their shop." I would have to guess that the other manufacturers (Kawasaki, Yamaha & Suzuki at least) have already purchased their 675 also. So we will soon see the war of the 600's enter a new phase with the Japs copying Hinkley's all new engineering. I hope Triumph continues to keep thinking outside the box to keep one step ahead of them!
In another life I worked R&D on specialized memory chips for a smaller micro chip company in Colorado Springs. What an awesome experience to work R&D on state of the art motorbikes......WOAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!