Triumph Bobber - Thumbs up or down??

[findlay13]

I had a two minute ride on the New Speedmaster yesterday. No test ride by any stretch of the imagination.The dealer has a very small track at the back of his place.So small I couldn't get the bike into second but it didn't scrape on the corners for me  which was good.It is a fairly small bike and seemed a tiny bit cramped and I'm only 5'7" but that could have been my gut getting in the way,or  the beach bars  which didn't suit me too well. I'd change them and I'd definitely need the comfort seat.It seemed willing enough, but not earth shattering .As I said the tracks not long enough to change gears.So that stops any real trial.

I came away thinking ,it's a nice bike  .I'd need to change some things from the start and also thinking my 865cc America isn't that bad.I  have re-jetted it and with an K&N airfilter and dumping the snorkel, after market pipes pipes and AI blocked plus a 19T front sprocket it does quite well.I would have preferred Triumph to put a bigger engine in the existing Speedmaster/America but that wouldn't sell as well as i expect these will.If  I didn't have my  current bike I'd have one, but  as it is I will investigate  further.I certainly need a proper test ride.

 

Edited February 9, 2018 by findlay13

[EVENKEEL]

On ‎2‎/‎9‎/‎2018 at 5:04 AM, findlay13 said:

I had a two minute ride on the New Speedmaster yesterday. No test ride by any stretch of the imagination.The dealer has a very small track at the back of his place.So small I couldn't get the bike into second but it didn't scrape on the corners for me  which was good.It is a fairly small bike and seemed a tiny bit cramped and I'm only 5'7" but that could have been my gut getting in the way,or  the beach bars  which didn't suit me too well. I'd change them and I'd definitely need the comfort seat.It seemed willing enough, but not earth shattering .As I said the tracks not long enough to change gears.So that stops any real trial.

I came away thinking ,it's a nice bike  .I'd need to change some things from the start and also thinking my 865cc America isn't that bad.I  have re-jetted it and with an K&N airfilter and dumping the snorkel, after market pipes pipes and AI blocked plus a 19T front sprocket it does quite well.I would have preferred Triumph to put a bigger engine in the existing Speedmaster/America but that wouldn't sell as well as i expect these will.If  I didn't have my  current bike I'd have one, but  as it is I will investigate  further.I certainly need a proper test ride.

 

What's the price?

[findlay13]

630,000 

Edited February 10, 2018 by findlay13

[EVENKEEL]

On ‎2‎/‎10‎/‎2018 at 3:15 PM, findlay13 said:

630,000 

The bobber is around 580,000. And, the bobber is a good reason to ride alone.

[guzzi850m2]

17 hours ago, EVENKEEL said:

The bobber is around 580,000. And, the bobber is a good reason to ride alone.

That's for the 2017 model with 1 front disk brake.

 

You want the 2018 model with double front disk brakes and the price for that one is 630k as findlay 13 said.

[EVENKEEL]

8 hours ago, guzzi850m2 said:

That's for the 2017 model with 1 front disk brake.

 

You want the 2018 model with double front disk brakes and the price for that one is 630k as findlay 13 said.

630,000 I believe is the Speedmaster, not the Bobber.

[guzzi850m2]

I just did a very short test ride of both the 2018 Bobber and 2018 Speedmaster at watcharamotor.triumph Pattaya.

 

Only allowed riding inside the land around their shops, so managed to get into 2nd gear very briefly, because another tester crashed one of the test-bikes out on Sukhumvit, hmm.

 

Man the 1st gear is long, lovely sound from both bikes, original mufflers fitted, very easy to ride. I would love a longer test ride. 

 

The Bobber feels too small for me, the Speedmaster is better because of the forward brake/gear controls but okay the Bobber has the option on setting up the seat in 3 different positions which might make a difference? 

 

Another expat showed up and also tested the Speedmaster and told me he gonna buy one.

 

I am still far from deciding yet. I also visited Kawasaki and looked at the new 900RS that is considerable cheaper and have considerable more power than the 1200cc Triumphs. I gonna try a Z900 next week, not the RS but the Z (the one that looks like a monster insect with 125hp, ha-ha). Further Kawasaki will trade in my Versys650 if I go for the RS900 but don't know at what price yet. Lovely bike the RS900 and good sitting position too. They only have the green/black model, orange(red?)/black is coming later this month.  

 

The Bobber 2018 and 2018 Speedmaster cost the same; 632k. RS900 is 485 to 499k baht depending of color choice. I don't like that the Triumphs got tube tires, not at all, a puncture will turn into a nightmare and fitting a central stand is not possible because they are low over the ground, T120 got central stand. 

[findlay13]

I didn't know the Speedmaster had tubes .I thought they'd be tubeless with spokes, but I didn't ask.I'll just carry a can of " fix a flat" type stuff If I get one.If I do it'll be in Australia .With the Aussie Dollar ATM it's 510,000 bht there and 630,000 in Thailand.

[papa al]

...thumbs up bobber

[guzzi850m2]

Haha, the other expat test rider was winching over the prices too, somewhere around the 500-550k baht range is more fair/correct.

 

At the movement I am more set on getting a Z900RS, just under 500k baht for a made in Japan bike is fair.

[Kwasaki]

On 2/13/2018 at 8:27 PM, EVENKEEL said:

The bobber is around 580,000. And, the bobber is a good reason to ride alone.

Well more like left behind. 

Edited February 15, 2018 by Kwasaki

[eisfeld]

I rode a Z900 around for a few km. Plenty of power for the street. Not a fan of the dash, it's not bad but I just don't like most modern Kawa dashes. The RS dash though looks fine. The one thing I really didn't like was the vibes in the pegs. But I'm not sure if that was because the bike was heavily modified and no idea if the RS would suffer from the same. The Z900RS looks really good, better than the Z900 imho. Yamaha also made retro styled versions of their nakeds but I think Kawa did a much better job. Haven't had the chance to try one yet but from reviews people really seem to like it apart from not so great fueling.

 

The Triumphs are bit overpriced imho. Can get the Bobber as mentioned in Europe for a bit over 500k. BTW guzzi it's still listed as 580k on the official site. Would be weird if it cost the same as the Speedmaster. Maybe a misunderstanding?

[EVENKEEL]

1 hour ago, Kwasaki said:

Well more like left behind. 

No problem, the rest can plow the field.

[guzzi850m2]

The Pattaya Triumph dealer still have quite a few 2017 Bobbers on sale, they are around 580k I believe.

 

There are huge differences between the Z900 and the RS, the RS engine have lower compression, milder cams, heavier flywheel and so on, all giving it more torque at lower rpm/more linear power delivery. Okay this cost in max hp output but good for real world riding, Z900 is more track bike in my opinion, cheap at 399k baht so already popular among Thais that tends to favor max hp for as little $ as possible, also no traction control on the Z, but the RS has it.

I don't like the Yamaha at all, an odd looking fish.

Well as I said, I am still thinking about it.

Sorry for drifting off topic, it's was about the cool looking Bobber

[Rhys]

Well OK..but not first choice.

[EVENKEEL]

5 hours ago, eisfeld said:

I rode a Z900 around for a few km. Plenty of power for the street. Not a fan of the dash, it's not bad but I just don't like most modern Kawa dashes. The RS dash though looks fine. The one thing I really didn't like was the vibes in the pegs. But I'm not sure if that was because the bike was heavily modified and no idea if the RS would suffer from the same. The Z900RS looks really good, better than the Z900 imho. Yamaha also made retro styled versions of their nakeds but I think Kawa did a much better job. Haven't had the chance to try one yet but from reviews people really seem to like it apart from not so great fueling.

 

The Triumphs are bit overpriced imho. Can get the Bobber as mentioned in Europe for a bit over 500k. BTW guzzi it's still listed as 580k on the official site. Would be weird if it cost the same as the Speedmaster. Maybe a misunderstanding?

No doubt the Bobber is overpriced in Thailand, 50% up from US price.  Buying one won't be about the best deal, It will be about how much you're willing to spend to ride a super cool bike.

 

No more Honda, Kawi or similar for me because it's a better deal, cause I'm worth whatever I decide to overpay on.

[thaiguzzi]

I think people are getting confused with the Bobber pricing @ 580 and 630k.

For 2018 there are two Bobber models, the original one with a 19" front wheel and single disc, and the new "Black" version with fat 16" front wheel and double discs. Hence 2 prices, 2 models.

Plus the Speedmaster which is basically a Bobber set up for a pillion with (ugh!) fwd controls.

[canthai55]

3 hours ago, thaiguzzi said:

fat 16" front wheel

Rode a Honda in the 80's (?) with the 16" front. They did it to get the engine further forward. Must say that it was not my cup of tea. Had to muscle it to get it to turn. Fat tires look good, but the real world performance suffers.

[thaiguzzi]

6 hours ago, canthai55 said:

Rode a Honda in the 80's (?) with the 16" front. They did it to get the engine further forward. Must say that it was not my cup of tea. Had to muscle it to get it to turn. Fat tires look good, but the real world performance suffers.

Converted my FXR in the '90's from 19 to a 16" front, at the same time putting a 330mm fully floating disc and billet 6 pot caliper on.

It handled (and stopped) fantastically. But then FXR's handle well stock anyhow. The tyre was state of the art at the time for 16" fronts, almost like a radial, very non stock HD....

[findlay13]

The Speedmaster handled very well on the short ride I had.

[canthai55]

18 hours ago, thaiguzzi said:

 But then FXR's handle well stock anyhow.

Owned an FXRS-SP

[EVENKEEL]

On ‎2‎/‎15‎/‎2018 at 8:28 PM, thaiguzzi said:

I think people are getting confused with the Bobber pricing @ 580 and 630k.

For 2018 there are two Bobber models, the original one with a 19" front wheel and single disc, and the new "Black" version with fat 16" front wheel and double discs. Hence 2 prices, 2 models.

Plus the Speedmaster which is basically a Bobber set up for a pillion with (ugh!) fwd controls.

Went by Triumph in Pattaya today. The 2017 model Bobber with 19" front tire is 585K, the 2018 Bobber with 16" tire is 630K. In 2018 both Speedmaster and Bobber will be same price at 630K.