Nice sunny morning yesterday so I decided to take the Speed Triple out. I need to get it booked in for a couple of warranty recall jobs so thought I’d swing by my local friendly Triumph dealer while I was out and get it booked in, plus of course it’s always nice to have a nose around the showroom. I did have a bit of an ulterior motive as I’ve been interested in the Bonneville bikes for a while.
While there I got chatting to one of the salesmen and decided to take a couple of bikes for a test ride (it seemed rude to decline the offer) – A Bonneville T120 and a Speed Twin 900. I took them both down the same route, some local small twisty minor fairly bumpy roads near where I live, of which there are many – just the type of roads that the Speed Triple 1200 RS can’t cope with due to it’s stiff set up.
The T120 was the Gold Line edition – the quality of the bike was excellent and the paint job looked very nice and although it coped okay with this type of road it did feel a bit heavy and ponderous and wasn’t in its element – it didn’t leave much of an impression on me. The Speed Twin 900 on the other hand was something of a revelation and I have to admit to being rather smitten with it! It felt very light and agile and just glided over these bumpy roads – I’ve ridden the Speed Triple down this route and it’s like trying to control a bucking bronco. The ST900 has 64hp so I wasn’t expecting much in terms of performance, but from low down in the rev range I was pleasantly surprised by how well it pulled. I’m sure once you get to about 70mph it would probably quickly run out of puff, but on these kind of local roads you’re unlikely to get above 60-70 on any bike!
So here is my dilemma – I think I want one in my life 
That would make three bikes (three Triumphs!) and although I’ve done the man-maths and I think it’s doable, I don’t think it’s sensible. Now normally when it comes to bikes “sensible” is at the bottom of the priority list, but thinking about if I had the Tiger 900, the Speed Triple 1200 and a Speed Twin 900 in the garage I’m struggling to think of a scenario where I would pick the Speed Triple over the Tiger or the Speed Twin. The cost saving of keeping it to two would also buy an awful lot of petrol per year as well.
For longer distances and touring, the Tiger is perfect – comfortable, practical, plenty fast enough, lots of toys and good wind protection. I genuinely enjoy riding it. The second bike is purely for fun local rides and I’m thinking that the Speed Twin would open up more possibilities than the Speed Triple does. I will be 60 years old this year and maybe comfort and convenience have moved higher up my priority list than outright performance, although I still get that tingle of excitement when I open the garage door and see the Speed Triple sat there waiting…
I’m genuinely torn at the moment. On the right day on the right road, the Speed Triple is an awesome machine – but you do need to pick your roads carefully. If I swapped it for the Speed Twin 900 it would mean cash back my way. I also need to add the Speed Twin 1200 into the mix – the dealer should have one on the road as a demo later this week, so I want to try that back to back with the 900 version again.
There are a couple of other options I could consider – I could keep the Speed Triple and go look at the considerably cheaper Royal Enfield Interceptor and BSA Goldstar. Or I could go all in and sell the Speed Triple and spend the extra on the latest iteration of the Norton Commando.
First world problems, don’t you just hate first world problems…… I’ll wait and see how keen my local Triumph dealer is to keep me loyal.
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