Vintage Tiger Are There Any T709 Owners Here?

Just wondering how popular the 855i/955i Tiger models are because all the forum posts here are for the newer 800 or 1050 models. I suppose for the T709 and T709EN models, it's all been said.

I've also noticed, me being new to Triumph ownership and never having considered the mark before, that the gap in prices between a 955i and the 1050 that I think replaced it, is rather stark.

The more I read and see these great looking bikes, the more I wonder why I haven't considered them before. I wouldn't like to say that it's because they are British-made and these days and our dominance in engineering was lost decades ago.

So, at the risk of sounding like a marketing employee at Triumph, what is it about these bikes that makes people shell out their hard-earned money for them? Is the build quality considered really high? Do they perform better than the equivalent BMWs and KTMs or is simply that hey are British and it's patriotic to spend money on your own - when you're a Brit of course?

* after attempting to post this thread without a prefix, I now understand.