Britbike forum Forums General discussion The Rod and Tappet My 08 Bonnie Scrambler...

Last spring in the middle of the covid madness and the middle of my first bout of cancer, I decided I would treat myself to a new used bike, like you do! when this Bonnie scrambler came up on a dealers site on the web, after a couple of phone calls a deal was done, and a few days later it was delivered, untried, and untested by me.
A great looking bike, ran well, pretty quick, and sounded great. Unfortunately I never bonded with the bike probably something to do with my illness, so I moved it on, but it was fun for the short while we had together.



















:gerg

Looks like a nice bike Kev...

Ah Kev, looked like a nice bike although I never wanted any of the "retro-y" Triumphs badly enough to buy one. I've heard more than one person say they never bonded with their modern Bonneville, so I understand.
The one modern Triumph I sort of always wanted was the Sprint GT- NOT the super sporty ST but the last of the Sprint line, which was apparently made specifically for "2-up,long distance comfort" according to something I read about them... well that was BEFORE the purchase. While I really like the bike- the 1050 Triple is completely fantastic, and it sure is a gas to ride.... but it's far more on the "sport" side pf Sport Touring than any of the BMWs I ever owned.

The main way this manifests is behind the fairing. It's almost totally sport bike fairing with a dinky sport bike windscreen... I can pretty well tuck my legs into the bike's body well enough to be mostly out of the wind but upper body, arms, and hands are all fully exposed. This has the unexpected benefit (actually) of slowing me down! At 75 I feel like I'm getting the snot kicked out of me, and at speeds above that, the battering is quite nearly too much.Add the fact that there's no cruise control, and there goes any real (distance) commuting (my "commutes" to work can be 100 miles or more one way)- or serious distance riding. Well for me anyway.

That said, I had the bike basically all last summer. I spent the 1st half of the summer doing long day rides of 200 miles or less - BUT- we in Entertainment went "back to work" in earnest long about late July/August and I spent the rest of the year panic-grabbing every gig that came along! At the end of the riding season, I'd only ridden the GT to work on maybe 2 occasions, and didn't get away to ride for 4,5,6 days as I like to do each year.

I'm going to give it a minute but I can say in honesty that I do have some regret in selling my plastic fantastic K1200 RS- which I'd just dumped a pile of money into which included new custom built Shocks by Penske Racing suspension!

The good news is that A not a lot of Sprint GTs were sold in the U.S. market, and B: K1200s are readily available and not a lot of money. But I seriously need to spend some days on a lap around the east coast (or something) so I can know for sure how I like the bike for long distance riding.

Maybe I could ride down to the TSMR and back the "long way"- and experience all the best roads the east coast has to offer over 1800 miles or so of up-and-back.


Meanwhile tho... Kev, what replaced the Scrambler then?

I know the feeling! I do like my 19’ Speed Twin but it does not connect with me the way my Norton or my BSA connect.

Happy riding no matter what we have though🤘🏍

Well I looked around for six months or so deliberating, but I had always fancied one of these...

https://www.britbike.com/forums/ubb...something-else-nearly-british#Post870469

So I pulled the trigger a couple of weeks ago, and it is sitting here at the marina waiting on me to feel well enough to enjoy it!
I do still have my old Guzzi sitting in the lockup, but I don't have the energy to get on and fix it ready for the summer just yet, but that day will come.

Ahh them were the Daze Kev lad, that photo with the BP in the background, £1.30 a litre..... Look at how much it IS now....

...that Triumph model is expensive here (19000 Dollars new) for what delivers. I mean; the forks; the details etc are just normal old (tech) things not updated. Should cost almost the same than a Royal Enfield (about 9000 Dollars new here)

They are expensive here too, even old used ones hold their price, and if you see a cheap one for sale, best to keep walking