Got a chance to test ride a few Triumph's
- Thread starter Merek
- Start date
I had one of the very last Triumph Bonnevilles built with a right foot gear change in 1975. It was a US export model that was being sold off cheap in the UK as a failed export order. I think the reason was that the US would no longer accept a right foot gear change. It was a bargain at £749 brand new when the UK version was over £900. Wish I still had it.
The very first bike I rode when I was 11 off road was a Hodaka Ace and later a Combat Wombat, first road bike I remember was a BSA 441 Victor single then a couple of older Triumph pre unit bikes and a BSA 650 Lightning and 750 Norton Commando. Great bikes all but maintenance and repair heavy, poor brakes and handling but good for their time. I like the the new ones although have not ridden one.
We got to ride the Triumph's again but this time was able to test 5 bikes each. I rode the T120, Speed Twin 900, Street Triple R 765, Speedmaster and the Trident, my friend rode the Tiger 900 low, Speed Twin 1200, Speed Triple RS, Bobber 900, and the Rocket 3.
Had loads of fun, bikes were a first come first serve basis but from what I could tell the Tiger 900 low, Rocket 3 and the Speedmaster were the favorites of the day. We would've stayed and maybe got a few more but he had to get home.
Yesterday we attended a Kawasaki Demo Event and it was much different as they were booking reservations and going out in group rides every 30 min. We got there too late at 10:30am so our first ride was at 1:00pm and when we got done the next available wasn't until 3:00pm. I told him that we should've gotten there at 9:00am as they might've been booking earlier, the first ride was at 10:00am. I rode the z650rs and he took the z900rs. I would've liked to have tested the Ninja 650 so I could compare it to mine but this one sufficed in that dept.
So after all that waiting we left, they didn't give us the option to book in advance but we noticed the other group got finished with the one that they went back out again.
Had loads of fun, bikes were a first come first serve basis but from what I could tell the Tiger 900 low, Rocket 3 and the Speedmaster were the favorites of the day. We would've stayed and maybe got a few more but he had to get home.
Yesterday we attended a Kawasaki Demo Event and it was much different as they were booking reservations and going out in group rides every 30 min. We got there too late at 10:30am so our first ride was at 1:00pm and when we got done the next available wasn't until 3:00pm. I told him that we should've gotten there at 9:00am as they might've been booking earlier, the first ride was at 10:00am. I rode the z650rs and he took the z900rs. I would've liked to have tested the Ninja 650 so I could compare it to mine but this one sufficed in that dept.
So after all that waiting we left, they didn't give us the option to book in advance but we noticed the other group got finished with the one that they went back out again.
When I came back from a tour overseas I didn't have a car so my brother lent me his motorcycles. He had a Hodaka Road Toad and a Bultaco. The Road Toad was the most fun to ride motorcyle of my life.
courtesy National Motorcycle Museum
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- Jun 3, 2021
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I went to a Kasasaki demo last year and I'll never go to one again. Their booking system that you described is awful and creates those insanely long wait times. I rode three bikes and I think it took like four hours total.
And like you said about the other group getting finished and then getting back out again, I noticed toward the end of my time at the demo that there were a few specific guys that got to jump the line too. At mine, the wait times were so long that some people would sign up for a time slot but then just leave. But then instead of trying to fill those now vacant slots, they just pushed the bike out of line for that ride completely when the rider didn't show. I asked at the tent if I could jump in on a bike that was about to get pushed aside, and they said that wasn't allowed. But then there were some people that were tight with the dude on the microphone that was doing the breathalyzer testing, and that guy would allow these people to jump in the same way that I had wanted to... So I basically got hosed for playing by the rules.
BMW demos and others are first come first serve too, sounding like the Triumph ones, which is way better.
I remember those well, the Hodaka were good little bikes. I was a kid with no licence so trail was all I could do. Some interesting facts about Hodaka that I didnt know for a long time was they were indirectly owned by Shell oil and Fuji heavy industries (Subaru) built all their engines, the first Subaru cars used a 2 cyl 2 stroke air cooled engine, Hodaka tried to buy Fuji but failed.
