Triumph Bonneville T100 865cc

Mine is an 06 carb T100, bought new and now has 35K miles on her. She has Givi 990 screen, Oxford heated grips,Triumph King & Queen seat, Renntech rack, GIVI 45 litre topbox, Oxford big throw overs and I use 10 litre bicycle panniers over the tank, plus a tank bag when two up touring with my wife. From new, fitted with Scottoiler using EP80 gear oil. 19tooth front and 42 tooth rear sprockets. The front needs turning over every 10K miles and the chain goes 20K. The rear is still fine, after 25K usage. Front brakes 20K, rear 17K. Standard shocks and lights, never needed to upgrade. We go 100miles and stop for coffee/fuel, then go again. Last trip Plymouth/Roscoff/Cl.Ferrand/Millau Bridge/Valencia/Seville/Lagos [Algarve] Lisbon/Serra Estrellas and home to UK. 3,500 miles in 16 riding days. Now time for an oil change [every 10k miles and semi-synth], new rear pads and we are off again. We cruise at 60 mph/60mpg. This is year 42 on bikes for us, with our combined age of 119 years. We have an FJR 1300 in the garage at home, bought for long distance European touring. After 10K FJR miles we reverted to Bonny Long Legs for touring and must get round to selling the FJR soon. Why the Bonny ? it's at home on whatever road or dirt track you ride on, overloaded or not. The FJR likes 90mph on motorways, which is nice if you like that, but really boring for us. Put it on twisties in the mountains or a little bit of gravel and the FJR is really hard work.

Mr Bloor, sir, you have an excellent motorcycle in the Bonny, pity about being forced into fuel injection though. Mind you, the AMAL re-carbed conversion goes really quite well.....Yes you can convert them back. And in our local Devon riding group, so far there have been two BMW LT's one Guzzi 1200 and two others I forget, sold and swopped for Bonny's.

Looks are spot on.....but the indicators and rear light cluster...dreadful, cheap looking any style fits all.

Engine performance as good as can be expected but clattery at standstill and muted when motoring.

Handling....oh dear. If you enjoy a vaguely spirited ride, this one is not for you. Shakes it tail under power and bends in the middle when cornering.

What really annoys me is Triumph are very aware that the headlight points skyward after a few miles regardless of how hard the bolts are tightened. They must choose to ignore this failing or are unable to do anything about it, just like the industry of the sixties....genuine nostalgia.

For me the bike looks as a bike should, form follows function, anything else is just a styling/marketing exercise......but it needs to perform as good as it looks.

had a 09 bonny that got stolen and now have 04 carb one.. loved em both lots of character get lots of looks and the quality is great ,more so on 04. the 09 had plastic tank badges [stuck on with glue!!] cheap looking front disc and for me fuel inj on a bonny is a no no. i feel the 04 is more real old skool with carbs and also its made in england not thailand!!! in the usa the carb models are sought after because they are seen as real bonnies ,but here in uk we arent as bothered about that sort of stuff. my friend has a bandit that will corner accelerate brake etc alot better BUT he hates that mine gets ALL the attention and sounds awesome with tors pipes..If you want a bike to crawl around and chill at 50-70mph you will love a bonny.but if you want to ride it like a sportsbike get kneedown wheelie and fly at 180 you wont like it and you will think "why" BUT get in chill mode and get back to a more stylish and slow pace and you will love it.. i may be 60 but i feel sooo cool and young when on my bonny!! Oh and get an half face helmet and t shirt on to get the full effect..nothing better.

I have owned several different bikes, as well as a older 60's Triumph Bonnie 650. I recently purchased the 2013 Triumph Bonnie and not disapointed. The vibration has all been eliminated, and the acceleration with the fuel injection is outstanding, even in top gear. With my wife and I, I have had no problem with passing even at 60mph plus speeds when cracking the throtle. T just went thru the 500 mile check up and all was fine. Only problem is with the angle of attack of the front forks when making a turn with 2 riders from stop with handle bar max travel left or right. You can find yourself on the ground as it feels as if the gravity is thrown way off from center. Other than that its a great bike. The only other problem is the noise of the clutch, quite by no means.

Just love it.......

Make sure to get the performance pipes and it sound and looks fantastic as the black special. Just had first service 1000km and no problems. Great finish detail and with ultra predictable manners on road. Never a race bike like my previous Hondas - old world style with modern EFI reliability - but just getting on it gives you a smile EVERY day !

Purchased a 2nd hand (2,000k's on clock), Triumph T100 Bonneville (2011) in October 2011 colour Black/white with gold coach lines.

Admittedly the previous owner had already removed the air box and fitted new air filters, as well as after market Arrow exhauts and also Exhaust guards, which cover the blueing effect on the exhaust manifold, thus keep the pipes looking chrome.

Love the bike to death, I have certainly run out of fingers and toes to keep count of the amount of people/strangers that have commented what a great looking bike it is. Admittedly I wash and polish it most weeks which keeps the lustre up. However I do use it every day, on a round trip of 40 k's and it is in the constant harsh sun of the Northern Territory of Australia, but after a year still looks great.

I am also a motorcycle instructor and assessor thus have experience of a variety of Motorcycles, plus also take the Bonny on the Race track every now and again, doing Advance course, Ok some Jap bikes shoot past me exceeding 200kph whilst I am crusing at pretty much top speed of 165-170 kph's on the straight, but who cares I am riding the best looking, sounding and I reckon handling bike on the circuit..(-:

My aim now is to save somedolalrs to pick up a Triumph 800cc Tiger XC to join the stable, thereby allowing a bit of off road adventure too. Hey maybe I will even pick up a Daytona, for the lad so I can show those Jap Bikes that Triumph speed cpaability on the track too...(-:

Purchased a 2009 off the showroom floor, now it is 2012 and I can report not a single problem with the bike. I have updated the front brake to get away from the plastic sample cup and replaced the seat with a oem solo seat which gives a much better ride. For me this is a bike right out of the early 70's without any of the mechanical issues of that eras bikes. It does ride like that eras bike but handles at higher speeds much better. If I were to ever wear this bike out I would buy another one!

I've ridden bikes since the age of 14 and had a bike in garage since then. After a lifetime ( I'm now 63) on bikes including Race reps, screaming two strokes, Vrods, Super motards and tourers I had a Triumph 865 Scrambler 2007 carb version some three years ago. On a whim I swapped it for a Kawasaki Versys in January this year. The Versys was a great bike but I missed the Triumph and bought a new Bonneville with the limited edition black and red paintwork from Triumph Birmingham last month. It's a completely different bike to the Scrambler and in my view far more satisfying. A silky smooth power delivery,great handling, fast stearing, brakes with good feel and a sound (with free flow Triumph silencers ) absolutely addictive, not ear-splittingly noisy like a Harley but sharp, rasping and satisfying.I thoroughly recommend these bikes for real world fun.

I will celebrate 50 years of riding large displacement motorcycles in a couple years. I have owned race bikes but find them impractical for long comfortable rides. For that you need either a large or medium size all round Road Bike. A proper Road Bike is confidence inspiring at any speed from parking lot crawl to high speed touring on the highway. For this purpose I find the 2007 Bonneville T100 an exceptional all rounder.

Mine is a shiny black one with torch red racing stipes hand painted on the tank. I can not tell you how many times older riders have stopped dead in their tracks, convinced they are looking at a meticulously restored original 1968 Bonneville. I am quite proud when I announce that my "Hinckley" Triumph is a 2007. Amazing you can simply buy such pleasure with your miserable dirty luchre, haha.

Such changes as I have made are mostly in the cause of sorting out the basics which I received from the factory. There was not much wrong just as she was delivered but over time I have removed the terribly restrictive airbox and rejetted her to match the new K&N air filters. At the same juncture I spent a few minutes changing her gearing to a much more highway friendly 19 tooth rear sprocket. What with the huge increase in power and the much more broad range of gearing she is now happy no matter what road I take her down. Before she buzzed a bit and lacked any real guts in her power band.

The factory seat was upgraded to a much richer looking 60s style Triumph seat marketed by Burton's Bike Bits. It has a basket weave pattern, chrome trim and I added a rather pricey but oh so authentic looking chrome grab rail to the package. All in all a first class very attractive and comfortable upgrade.

The stock handlebars were a bit crowded for my six foot frame. I found an adjustable set of early Laverda bars that feel much more a part of the bike. This alone gave me extra confidence to push her at least 20 MPH harder. I do find that most any bike needs to be fitted with that "perfect" set of bars to make it suit you to a T. The Bonnie was not far off the mark but it is all ways surprising how much more control one gains with bars that feel natural.

I will end simply by observing that I own a much larger long distance highway road bike for those occasions when I leave home for several weeks. The Bonneville is more likely unbeatable on a three day short trip through the mountains.

At her intended mission she is one very special machine. I will never willingly part with her. She has no competition at her weight, her looks and her all around competance.

I did not try enough bikes before being won over by the hype and good looks of a brand new 2009 Triumph Bonneville SE. The Pacific Blue and White tank