OLD BIKE AUSTRALASIA: 101TRIUMPH BONNEVILLE SPEEDMASTER
you want for urban work. Even on our
freeways, overtaking was a simple
matter of just opening the throttle.
Just don’t use sixth under 80 KPH
because of that tall overdrive.
Brakes are 310mm dual disc Brembo
fronts and a 255mm single piston
Nissin calliper rear. ABS assisted of
course. Needless to say, they work as
expected without any vices. Now to
the suspension. Front is KYB 41mm
cartridge fork with 90mm travel and no
adjustments. Rear is a KYB Monoshock
with a rising rate linkage and only
spring pre-load adjustment. Travel is
only 73.3mm though. Both felt a little
on the stiff side to me but keep the
intended use in mind. Thank goodness
the seat is well padded and shaped.
With steering dimensions of 29.3
degrees rake and 91.4 mm trail I
thought it might be a little edgy on
the road, but the 1510mm wheelbase
settled things down and the Speed-
master felt secure and planted.Triumph’s ability to keep the seat
height to a low 705mm and all the
heavy bits nice and low helps here too.
The actual seating position is the
typical cruiser style, sit upright, feet
forward and a big wide handlebar. The
handlebar bend was a bit awkward at
first, but it grew on me. Triumph has
sensibly used conventional footrests,
not floor boards. These seem to help a
bit with weight transfer. Get used to
wearing out your heels though. Things
scrape a bit early. Not much ground
clearance. Remember the bike’s
intended use?
Instrumentation is simple. A classic
headlight nacelle with a single speedo
in it. The speedo has a small LCD in it to
show a number of functions. Cruise
control, fuel consumption, distance to
empty, RPM and so on. These are selec-
table via a button on the left-hand
switch block. Having drive by wire there
is also a mode selection of road or rain.
The engine still makes the same power
in rain, it just slows down the throttle
opening rate. The cruise control is a one
button, on or off affair without the abil-
ity to toggle up or down. Simple and
effective, it worked very well. I look at
these things as licence savers.
So, how does the Speedmaster feel
out on the road? It feels lighter than
its 245.5 dry weight would imply.
Manoeuvrability is very good and you
don’t have to manhandle it to change
direction. The front brake is a two-
finger affair with plenty of feel, and if
you over-do it the ABS will help. For
those of us of more average stature,
you can put both feet down easily at
traffic lights. Wow, no more one cheek
sneak. And just cruising along the bike
feels unbustable and planted. Hey,
these modern Trumpies are pretty
good! ■Triumph Bonneville
SpeedmasterOff-the-shelf
ENGINE Parallel twin, SOHC 4
valves per cylinder. Liquid
cooled.
BORE X STROKE 97.6mm x 80mm
= 1197 cc
COMP. RATIO 10.0:1
FUEL SYSTEM EFI, 2 x 44mm Keihin
throttle bodies.
POWER 77kW at 6,100 rpm
TORQUE 106Nm at 4,000 rpm
TRANSMISSION 6 speed. Torque-assisted
wet multi-plate clutch.
Chain final drive.
FRAME Tubular steel cradle
SUSPENSION Front: KYB 41mm forks.
Rear: KYB Monoshock
WHEELS Steel spoked aluminium
rims.
TYRES Avon Cobra
Front: 130/90B 16
Rear: 150/80R 16
BRAKES Nissin ABS.
Front: 2 x 310mm floating
discs twin-piston callipers
Rear: 255mm disc single-
piston calliper.
WEIGHT 245.5kg dry
SEAT HEIGHT 705mm
WHEELBASE 1510mm
FUEL CAPACITY 12 litres.
COLOURS Jet Black, Fusion White
with Phantom Black,
Cranberry Red.
WARRANTY Two years, Unlimited km
PRICE $19,500 + ORC.Now, this bikeis built for a very
specific market, not quite hipsters,
more the laid-back suburbanite cruiser.
Both these bikes are built on the same
platform, why not, it works. Same
basic frame, suspension and engine.
There the similarities stop. This is a bit
like what Ducati did with its Monster
and BMW did with the RnineT. Same
running gear, different Tupperware.
Firstly, it uses the latest incarnation of
the vertical twin Bonneville engine,
suitably set up for this role. It’s a lusty
1200cc parallel twin with offset crank
pins to give a 270-degree firing order
with liquid cooling. So, it sounds and
feels like a vee twin. Nothing new
there, lots of manufacturers have done
this. This firing order imbues a lovely
“feel” to power delivery. Why do you
think Ducatis do so well in WSK racing
and KTM does so well at Pikes Peak?
It’s all about feel and delivery. As a
plus, the exhaust note sounds
fantastic. Triumph has done a
wonderful job here. This engine is
tuned for great mid-band torque which
makes it a natural at urban traffic
work. See a gap, plug it. The six-speed
gearbox helps with good wide ratio
selection and a smooth shift feel. It is
very high geared, like so many bikes
these days, to get through noise tests.
No matter, the flat torque curve makes
a mockery of the gearing and is ultra-
usable from 2500 RPM to well over its
peak at 4000 RPM. Triumph quotes
106Nm at 4000. Oh, the clutch has a
light linear feel. It’s a slipper, back
torque limited unit that also has
forward “tightening” so it gets away
with very light springs. The more
torque you put into it, the tighter it
clamps the plates.
Horsepower is a quoted 54kW
(76BHP) at a low 6100RPM. Just what
The engine is a
beauty; stacks of
torque and impressive
acceleration.Forward
mounted
footrests, not
foot boards.Single instrument with a host
of functions at your fingertips.