A mate wanted to test ride a Street Twin so at the weekend we went over to Three Cross Triumph in Dorset to take one out. It was a fantastic spring day, perfect weather, warm sunny blue skies. And the ride through the Dorset countryside was perfect. Pity they only allowed us a half hour with the bike though. We swapped bikes for a couple of miles so he could make a comparison with my T100 SE and the Street Twin. I thought the S.T. Felt good during the short ride but was a bit cramped in the seat/foot peg relationship after the T100. Nice grunty engine and ride though. When parked up next to one another it struck me that Triumph seems to have taken design cues from the way a lot of older T100 Bonnies have been tweeked by their owners. Shorter mud guards, smaller lights and indicators, all black powder coated wheels, wide flat bars, different and lower headlight mount, smaller sprocket cover, slimmer shorter seat. Shorter silencers E.T.C. It all works out well though and the Street Twin is a nice looking bike. I'm not going to be swapping any time soon though
Half an hour is a bit mean, must have been a busy day. Three Cross let us have a Bobber and a Street Cup for half a day last time I did test rides with them and Destination Triumph let me and crispey have the new Tigers for over three hours. At least the sun was shining!
A mag wheel Bonneville special edition. https://www.totalmotorcycle.com/photos/2011models/2011-Triumph-BonnevilleSE
Ok, thanks Steve my mistake, I'm easily confused , but whats this then? http://www.n2nbikes.com/motor/triumph-bonneville-t100-se-2011.html Or is this an actual T100 se http://www.motorcyclespecs.co.za/model/triu/triumph_bonneville T100 SE 15.htm And is this actually a Bonneville se... https://www.totalmotorcycle.com/photos/2011models/2011-Triumph-BonnevilleSE And does it really matter?
No not really! The last example you show is actually identical to my bike (well it was when I bought it) - a genuine SE. The middle one is definitely a T100 with spokes, larger diameter front wheel, different mudguards, exhausts etc. - as far as I know there may have been limited editions of these but I don't think they ever got badged as an SE as well. The first one is a cast wheel SE - shouldn't really be referred to as a T100. It's one or the other
Well at least I've been educated today. I gotta admit I thought all the air cooled bonnies were T100's. Triumph seem to drop the SE tag (and several hundred £) onto any thing with a bit of fancy paint and plastic badges. Any how, back to the plot, it's good to see the new models moving with the times, but keeping the faith.
That was kind of my understanding.....thought it might be me. I had always used the TTP web site https://www.triumphtwinpower.com/triumph-bonneville-t100-performance-parts-accessories.php and Twin Tech drop down for models by spec as my ‘bible’. It is more comprehensive than the Haynes manuals on variations and year.
