It seems a lot of the models vary in condition when made. My T120 is still in nice condition save for the fact I found rust on the insides of the rim. Im a little surprised what you expect for your money as most of the time it's down to the owner to make sure they keep on top of it. Not that's saying they don't and metals end up in a very poor state even after the hard work that's gone into them keeping them clean and shiny. But all things corrode, there are products out there to stop it happening. AC 50 springs to mind. Believe me when after a score of guzzies, you do learn how to stop the rot.
I live near the ocean, read salt, I have a 2018 Speedmaster and use AC50 and I will confirm it works. I see no rust after a year and half. But, it does take some work. I do wipe the bike down after every ride.
I think if you’ve bought a bike from new then you’ll know it’s history and it’s up to you to either look after it or not... a pre owned may have been looked after, but a dealers road tester bike is likely to have been both used & abused... they aren’t just kept specifically for a potential buyers test ride, but can be additionally used as the dealership staff’s hacks so are ridden to and fro work in all weathers and won’t have been lovingly washed, wiped down and properly dried after a wet, cold and possibly frosty commute... when they come up for sale they’ll be tarted up to look good but underneath, the rot may already have got a grip and it’s a disappointment for the new owner to see rust coming through as they thought they’d bought a low mileage tester...just a thought when thinking how to spend your hard earned...
I think I've learned a couple of lessons. 1. Chrome isn't what it used to be and 2. I need to winterise it more carefully! I thought I'd done an adequate job but, after cleaning off the rust, I spent the best part of day ACFing it more carefully than I ever thought I'd want to. I pulled up a stool, put Spotify on the speaker and settled down to doing what I should have done in the autumn. These days the bike looks like it did when I got it. I never bothered to take it back to the dealership (I bought it from Swindon and I'm in Scotland) and I reckoned they'd probably say it was my fault anyway. I guess the bike is a bit of snowflake and I need to treat it like one.
One thing that really annoys me about this rust business is how we all just seem to accept its happening and spend hours trying to deal with it! Triumph is a great and well respected name, but also very expensive. You can easily buy a new small car for the price of a new Bonnie! Why are we happy to accept crap quality of chrome? At these prices good quality stainless steel rims and spokes should be just expected. But would I change anything, No! But Triumph, please don't take advantage of your current position in this motorcyling world, just produce good quality at realistic prices, there's a lot of competition.
Yes quite agree.... given the traffic on the road and decreasing speed limits it doesn’t make sense for me to spend a fortune on a speedy Triumph again.. I often think an army style 500 Royal Enfield would suit me quite nicely to potter around the country lanes on... and at £4500 any rust problems are less painful than with a Triumph...
