I like standard bikes too. The Bonneville is a nice looking and reasonably well performing bike for its' intended purpose. As the former owner of a 66 Bonneville (and a BSA), I can only say, I'm glad that the Brits finally figured out how to stop the oil leaks.

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Back in the saddle again

Lordy, what will the guys on the Bonneville internet forums find to talk about? Two-thirds of all posts are about carb rejetting or tuning!!

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2005 Triumph Bonneville
2005 Suzuki V-Strom 1000
2003 Triumph Trophy 1200
2009 BMW F650GS (wife's)
1990 HD Sportster XL883 (for sale; wanna buy a Sportster??)

My dad recently purchased a HD 2k7 1200 sportster in which I quickly put 200 miles on while visiting over thanksgiving vacation. I, too, was in the “which bike to get” category back in 2k5 and ended up not even considering HD sportsters because all the "crumb" that is spewed by stupid and/or ignorant people on forums like this about them (not to mention the HD crowd calling them girls bikes). Bottom line, I would have purchased the sportster if I would have test ridden it over my Bonneville.
Good points:
Very little to know vibration when riding the bike. Where is the paint shaker I always hear about when Sportsters come up? Did HD improve the engine THAT much? If so, don’t worry about the vibration stories because the new ones just don’t have that problem.

Very nice handling. Again, you will hear all the stories about Bonneville ownders eating sportsters in the twisties. That maybe true but that doesn’t mean the sportster can’t hold its own in the twisties it just means the Bonnevilles are a little bit better.

Ergonomins on the bike is just great! I could have easily ridden the bike for hours on end without needing a break. The bike was great.

After-market parts are everywhere and much cheaper than bonnevilles. That is the one really big sore point I have with my Triumph purchase is their aftermarket support. The parts are usually higher and the quality much lower than HD parts.

Bad points:
Brakes. Not that they don’t work but they just don’t have the bite that my Bonneville has.

Price. It will be about 2-3k more than a Bonneville, depending on which model you get.

If I would have test ridden the Sportster, I would not be a Bonneville owner today. Not that the Sportster is that much better, because in many categories the Bonneville beats the sportster, its just the after market accessories and the dealer availability would have swayed me towards HD.

My advice to you is ride one. Eaglerider rents late model HDs for $25.00 an hour or $130.00 a day. I would take on out for an hour or better yet a day and see how you like it.

I got to go with the sporty 1200. For my street bikes I'm a long time harley guy. A friend of mine has a 1993 Sportster 1200 that he bought new and has over 155,000 Km's on it. The only thing he has had to do other than regular oil changes, tires, the odd signal light bulb etc. is change the cylinder base gaskets last winter. There was a slight seep on the front gasket. He still has the original belt on the belt drive. My experience with Harleys' has been that they may not be the fastest or the least expensive but they are well made, have very few problems and Harley Davidson supports their product very well.

The HD sportster used to be a hard mounted engine with no rubber cushions at the mounts. The result is that they literaly shook themselves apart (ask any Harley Dealer).

Have you Looked at the Kaw 1600 or Yamaha 1700. the Yam is built to look just like a HD and thousands less. I have a 1600 Nomad and handling in town is easy. I've never ridden a sportster but was put off by the price of the Dyna. And the Suzuki 1300 (I think that is the engine size) is sweet also,

http://www.motorcyclistonline.com/roadt ... omparison/

http://www.chuckhawks.com/bonneville_sportster_w650.htm

Heres a bit of reading I came across. This interests me too, despite my lack of money.... I can always dream

Reaaallllyyyy? I put over 120,000km on my '87 XLH1100, but I don't remember it ever shaking itself apart.

??? The Dyna isn't a Sportster, dude, it's a totally different model.

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Mike


Loud Pipes Ruin Rights

well, i picked up an '07 HD XL1200R the wed. before thanksgiving.

the base retail was only a little bit more than the t100 ($8700 compared to $8200 for new). i know that i could've gotten the '06 t100 for less than retail, but like i said they wouldn't trade. so i would've had to wait until next year when i could sell my bike and by then i'd have to buy an '07 anyhow...

i had the dealer put on SE pipes and air cleaner & since it's EFI i got a race tuner which allows you to remap numerous times if you add/subtract components. i figure the price of all that would be very similar to the cost of adding pipes/ac and that air doohickey removal on the triumph...

so, the fact that HD was able to do a trade and also that i got a 1200 for only a little bit more than a 865, i feel like a got a better deal( for me).

of course the sportster isn't as unique as the t100 (here in the USA), but i figure that i'll feel better about that when i need aftermarket parts and service.

there might be a triumph in my future (or maybe a sportbike even ) but for the time being i'm happy on my new XL.

thanks for the input, everybody!

I'll probably get flamed for pushing Victory's today but assuming your looking at new Triumph's and Sporty's, have you considered a used Victory Vegas?
I've been seeing them for under 10k and they are very cool machines (I am predjudiced)
1504cc, fuel injected, self adjusting valves.....

Probably not as nimble as the Triumph but plenty of power and looks.

Having said that, I think the Triumphs are cool and the new sporty's are probably the best deal HD has going (use to be FLHT before that secret was let out)...

Good Luck,

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Dave

"I have no room in my life for a souless motorcycle"

2003 Victory Vegas
2002 Royal Enfield Bullet
2005 Suzuki V-Strom 650 (for sale)

I don't think the Vegas has a Standard riding postion therefore would not be considered in this post.