New Triumph Bonneville Street Twin gets excellent fuel economy

[jackcorbett]

Today I got up very early and drove my new Triumph Bonneville Street Twin to Rayong and back.  Keep in mind that this bike now has a 900 c.c. displacement and produces its maxium torque at 3300 rpms.  Triumph claims its new engine configuration gives excellent fuel economy.  Well, it does.  How does 166.4 kilometers on just 6.67 liters of fuel sound?  I filled up at the same gas pump here in Naklua and returned to the same pump.  Kept the bike upright so there's no lean angles that differ.  Filled the tank to the brim both times.  That' s 55.5 miles to the gallon and that includes a lot of city driving.  Got lost about 4 times.  And a lot of time sitting at those long stop lights.  To get around heavy traffic on route 36 a few times I took my Triumph up to 120.  Once I took it up to 145.  

 

If anyone can find my blog, there's a lot more info there.  But this is an excellent all around bike.

 

[NormanW]

Great stuff. Do you have a YouTube channel?

[OmegaRacer]

Fuel economy has never been a priority for me,  but it's a nice plus.

But yeah, the ST is indeed a great bike.

[jackcorbett]

Just now, NormanW said:

Great stuff. Do you have a YouTube channel?

Yes.  I do.  Have over 75 videos there.  But nothing on the Triumph yet

[jackcorbett]

Just now, OmegaRacer said:

Fuel economy has never been a priority for me,  but it's a nice plus.

But yeah, the ST is indeed a great bike.

Traded my SR 400 for it.  Traded with Wachara Marine and got a pretty good price for the SR

[OneMoreFarang]

On my new KTM Duke 390 it shows me the fuel economy for the recent trips. I reset the trip counter a couple of time and until now I saw values between 2.9l/100km up to 5.2. City traffic uses obviously a lot more gas but it's interesting to see how much the difference is.

[Rhys]

Sweet bike.

 

[eisfeld]

That's 25km/L roughly. Indeed very good. As a comparison: my Ducati Scrambler with 803cc gets about 19-20km/L while weighing a good chunk less. A 500 series Honda will do ~27km/L. But I think the riding style makes a big difference, people on the Ducati will probably push the bike a bit faster than riders of the Triumph. The Triumph is much better mannered in low revs which helps cruising along. I'm with OmegaRacer regarding fuel consumption, it's very very low on the list of things I look at on a bike but of course it's nice if a bike doesn't drink so much - also good for range. The Street Twin also sounds great. Triumph really did a fine job there even tough I think a little bit more horse power would have been nice for highways. I think you'll enjoy the bike. Happy riding!

 

Edit: Found the Youtube channel. Not exactly the content I expected (hint: it's about stuff that Pattaya is known for).

Edited July 11, 2018 by eisfeld

[JaiLai]

Yeah, nice machine, very nice.


Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect

[Denim]

My Bonnie wave can top that. 

 

2 weeks on a full tank !!

[jackcorbett]

10 hours ago, eisfeld said:

That's 25km/L roughly. Indeed very good. As a comparison: my Ducati Scrambler with 803cc gets about 19-20km/L while weighing a good chunk less. A 500 series Honda will do ~27km/L. But I think the riding style makes a big difference, people on the Ducati will probably push the bike a bit faster than riders of the Triumph. The Triumph is much better mannered in low revs which helps cruising along. I'm with OmegaRacer regarding fuel consumption, it's very very low on the list of things I look at on a bike but of course it's nice if a bike doesn't drink so much - also good for range. The Street Twin also sounds great. Triumph really did a fine job there even tough I think a little bit more horse power would have been nice for highways. I think you'll enjoy the bike. Happy riding!

 

Edit: Found the Youtube channel. Not exactly the content I expected (hint: it's about stuff that Pattaya is known for).

Michael, a German friend of mine, now has a Kawasaki 900.  Prior to this he had a Kawasaki 800 and he commented to me, "It has over 100 horsepower".  Of course his Kawasaki 900 has even more.  So after trying out my Triumph, Michael had a huge grin on his face, and he commented, "Your Triumph feels like it has almost as much power as mine.  There is very little difference.  And I have more than twice its horsepower."   Thing about Thailand, the roads are not nearly as good as the roads in Germany or the U.S.  And we won't even speak of the drivers.  Another German condo resident owner friend of mine just bought a BMW boxer.  Can't remember the horsepower it makes but it's at least 110.  But he and his new bike are both in Germany now.  Huburtus told me his new BMW is way too big for Pattaya and its traffic.  My last BMW in the U.S., a 1985 BMW K100 RS (90 horsepower) would also have felt like a fish out of water here.  But my R-65 boxer twin would have been great here in Pattaya with its 50 horsepower, light weight and low center of gravity.  It was excellent on U.S. highways too, so long as you didn't try to cruise much more than 75 miles an hour or so all day long.  But man, you take any of these bikes and drive too fast even on a Thailand four or six lane highway and suddenly you see (or not see) a hole in the road or a huge crease or wrinkle in the pavement and you are apt to be in serous trouble.  

[VocalNeal]

My NSR 300 used to get about 33 mpg if cruising with gusto. 

[OmegaRacer]

15 hours ago, jackcorbett said:

Traded my SR 400 for it.  Traded with Wachara Marine and got a pretty good price for the SR

I kept my SR and got the ST as well ?
Next on my wishlist is the SS (Ducati 900SS from 1991)

Edited July 12, 2018 by OmegaRacer

[Neilly]

19 hours ago, jackcorbett said:

But this is an excellent all around bike.

Yep it sure is...couple of pic's of mine, in Island mode, and touring mode...

 

 

[NormanW]

Stuart Fillingham on YouTube does some great things with triumph. 

[thaiguzzi]

5 hours ago, OmegaRacer said:

I kept my SR and got the ST as well ?
Next on my wishlist is the SS (Ducati 900SS from 1991)

Off topic, sorry.

Marcus, i thought your SR was a cafe racer? The bike pictured is more brat/tracker style. Love the front drum brake, rims and tyres.

If you ever want to sell me similar, pm me.

Found the SR Facebook page, some shops selling legit very nice 500 SR's with drum front brakes approaching near 200k...

 Non legit older carb'd 400's from 60k on.

Dbigbike in BKK has some decent prices and good stock of Monsters around 300k, A/C 865cc Thruxtons around 350k.

[findlay13]

That front brake on the SR looks the same as the first XS1 650cc drum.Actually that could be an XS1 tank too perhaps

.

There's a silver ST Triumph like that for sale around here,two years old but with the pipes lagged 300,000 baht

 

Edited July 12, 2018 by findlay13

[OmegaRacer]

You're right thaiguzzi, it used to be a racer (and a tracker before that). It looked great but didn't get enough riding time on it in that dress. I missed riding my SR, so transformed it back into a tracker. Now I want to buy a frame and engine to build the racer again, just to keep it in the garage as a decoration. ?
The SR as it is now is not quite finished.
The new fuel injected SRs can be had for as little as 170k now. My friend just sold a nice one with 15k km for around that price. If you get one, I'll provide the parts. ?

[OneMoreFarang]

1 hour ago, OmegaRacer said:

You're right thaiguzzi, it used to be a racer (and a tracker before that). It looked great but didn't get enough riding time on it in that dress. I missed riding my SR, so transformed it back into a tracker. Now I want to buy a frame and engine to build the racer again, just to keep it in the garage as a decoration. ?
The SR as it is now is not quite finished.
The new fuel injected SRs can be had for as little as 170k now. My friend just sold a nice one with 15k km for around that price. If you get one, I'll provide the parts. ?

Looks like the Mad Max bike from the first movie - at least as far as I remember it. Great bike!

[OmegaRacer]

Back to topic ?

The Street Twin is great for touring, but not with the stock seat.

[eisfeld]

First time I see Blaze panniers (right?) on a classic bike, actually looks really good. Are the mounting rods easily removable?

 

Also superb tank strip there! Where did you get that one made?

[OmegaRacer]

Side bags are SW-Motech from Germany. I had them on my ER6n before, but really liked them and the way they mount on the bike, so I just bought new mounting hardware for the ST. Yes, there are 2 rods supporting the bags, which can be removed in 2 seconds, leaving the bike's line nice and clean when not in use. Best system I've seen so far. Hate those bag racks that stay on the bike.
The tank strap are made for my shop...I sell them online.

The ST is good for off-road too! ?

[thaiguzzi]

5 hours ago, OmegaRacer said:

The new fuel injected SRs can be had for as little as 170k now. My friend just sold a nice one with 15k km for around that price. If you get one, I'll provide the parts.

No can do.

1. Only 400cc, big difference in torque and bhp between the old 500 and the new 400. As you know.

2. FI - don't like it, can't tinker with it, over complicated wiring harness. As you know.

3. Would need to swap the front wheel out. Immediately. SR's look so much better with a front drum. The stock Yam drum  brake was pretty good in it's day. As are the aftermarket TLS brake plates.

  As you know...……………….

[kickstart]

14 hours ago, jackcorbett said:

Michael, a German friend of mine, now has a Kawasaki 900.  Prior to this he had a Kawasaki 800 and he commented to me, "It has over 100 horsepower".  Of course his Kawasaki 900 has even more.  So after trying out my Triumph, Michael had a huge grin on his face, and he commented, "Your Triumph feels like it has almost as much power as mine.  There is very little difference.  And I have more than twice its horsepower."   Thing about Thailand, the roads are not nearly as good as the roads in Germany or the U.S.  And we won't even speak of the drivers.  Another German condo resident owner friend of mine just bought a BMW boxer.  Can't remember the horsepower it makes but it's at least 110.  But he and his new bike are both in Germany now.  Huburtus told me his new BMW is way too big for Pattaya and its traffic.  My last BMW in the U.S., a 1985 BMW K100 RS (90 horsepower) would also have felt like a fish out of water here.  But my R-65 boxer twin would have been great here in Pattaya with its 50 horsepower, light weight and low center of gravity.  It was excellent on U.S. highways too, so long as you didn't try to cruise much more than 75 miles an hour or so all day long.  But man, you take any of these bikes and drive too fast even on a Thailand four or six lane highway and suddenly you see (or not see) a hole in the road or a huge crease or wrinkle in the pavement and you are apt to be in serous trouble.  

Interesting  the last bike I had in the UK was a R-65 often thought it would do well here in Thailand, I use to cruise at 75 mph, never a problem but like you said, Thai roads, and Thai drivers is enough to put you off,

I looked at an SR 500 in the UK 35 years ago and always fancied one, some friends of mine had the XT-500 good bikes for here, for me an SR 400 would be nice.

But having had a Triumph  T100R many years ago, one of these new Triumphs would be nice, to make matters worse, in Lopburi they is a main Triumph dealer, which I have to drive past often, and call in.

[Neilly]

17 hours ago, OmegaRacer said:

The Street Twin is great for touring, but not with the stock seat.

I'll second that...I bought an Air Hawk cushion (the dual sport version) and it makes a heck of a difference. I bought the bench seat when I bought the bike to raise the seat height a bit, plus I like the look...but my a55 doesn't after about 5 hours.

 

 

[thaiguzzi]

Back on topic.

Like a lot of Hinkley (Chonburi) Triumphs the new Street Twin is well over engineered and well under designed in the performance dept. Part of it is friendly novice bike, first big bike post learner etc etc in the Euro market, and also to keep it well away from the 1200cc design which has decent bhp and huge torque.

The ST is one of those rare bikes which makes more Ib ft of torque than bhp. A specialist company in the UK had a bunch of dyno time with one and could not figure out why the performance was not increasing with the usual air filter, air box, PC V/Tuneboy and ex pipe mods. Realized it was the factory cam (these new W/C twins are all 8V SOHC compared to the old A/C 8v DOHC twins) on this 900 ST which on purpose designed by the factory to keep the engine tune low.

 Change of cam and bhp went up 50% !!!

If any of you guys (owners) are interested in more reliable power the company is called TEC Parts in the UK. Plenty of stuff on their website and YouTube inc whole tutorials on the cam change. Anyone decent with spanners and a normal toolbox could fit a cam in an afternoon with no specialists tools. A complete s/s ex system (check the noize boyz) is 300 quid, then there are basic de-cat x pipes etc etc. For less than a grand you can have an 80 bhp ST instead of a 50 bhp ST. And even better, tq goes thru the roof also.

 FYI...., no affiliation whatsoever with the afore mentioned company, just one happy grease monkey interested in YouTube Tech stuff.

  

[NormanW]

Stuart Fillingham on YouTube does some great things with triumph. 

[NormanW]

I've got the same SW Mototech panniers for sale. PM me if anyone wants them.

[Neilly]

18 hours ago, thaiguzzi said:

Realized it was the factory cam (these new W/C twins are all 8V SOHC compared to the old A/C 8v DOHC twins) on this 900 ST which on purpose designed by the factory to keep the engine tune low.

I'm subscribed to TEC's YT channel so saw this when it was first discovered...I'm still in two minds as to do it or not (fully qualified C & G mech so I'd do it myself no problem)…99% of the time I just use the bottom end grunt for overtaking (and no one has beaten me off the lights as yet), and rarely find I need more top end because there are very few straights on Samui...if I was off the island more, or riding back in UK then yes I could see it would be worth doing...here, not so much.

[guzzi850m2]

Great tread.

Yes I read about those cams thaiguzzi mentioned on a huge US Triumph forum and 900cc owners was all over it.

OK if you fit those cams you better upgrade the brakes or you might end in trouble.

This is something I will research more into as I want a Triumph Bonnie badly but are not too keen on the spoked wheels on the 1200 and they are very expensive too the 1200cc models.