new Bonneville performance

[79t140]

I am new to the site and was hoping to get some feed back from new Bonneville owners. I currently own a 79 T140 and love the bike. I am looking for something newer and more reliable for long distance trips. Of course I am considering a new Bonneville but wanted to know what the performance is like since I've never ridden one. My 1979 is great around town but on the highway the vibration is severe over 75 or 80.
I am looking for something faster and smoother. So, my question is, how fast does a new Bonnie go? Is it comfortable at highway speeds?
Thanks for your feedback.

 

[steamfitter]

i ride back and forth everyday on my 08 bonneville t100 to work. it is a 100 mile roundtrip commute. almost all of it is spent on I-75, so i am pretty much cruising at between 70-80 mph. i have done this for the whole 11,000 miles i have on her at the moment. as far as how fast will it go, it depends on how stock you keep it and what mods you do to it. mine has the restrictor removed, ai removed, filter opening enlarged, and aftermarket pipes. i have rejetted accordingly. with this setup i hit the ton (100 mph) at will, with ease. the highest speed i have gone is 115 mph, as measured by a gps. i had more tach left, i just chickened out. for me, the bonneville does everything i need it to do. now, i just have to be able to afford the speed triple to act even more idiotic! LOL!-keith

 

[steamfitter]

sorry, forgot to say hello! welcome to the site. you will find a host of information on here. there are a multitude of posters that have some pretty incredible knowledge. use the search function and sit back and read for a few hours.

 

[PieMan]

I used to have a 79 T140 Special, great bike, but I was working on it every other weekend. I now have an 04 Bonnie Black, just as great, but I can now ride every other weekend, I would never go back.

From the factory they put out about 53bhp and go very well. If you mod the air box and put on free flowing silencers they put out between 65 - 70bhp and go even better.

I'm pretty sure you would not regret buying a Hinckley Bonnie, they have the heritage and the technology.

 

[Sal Paradise]

I can confirm what steamfitter says. Plenty of grunt, more than enough top end.

With a naked bike, unfaired, you really are limited to about 85 anyway, except for short bursts laying on the tank.It is capable of doing a lot more than that, and all day long.

Handling is very nice, probably a bit heavier than what you are used to but they carry it well.

 

[Speed3Chris]

I am new to the site and was hoping to get some feed back from new Bonneville owners. I currently own a 79 T140 and love the bike. I am looking for something newer and more reliable for long distance trips. Of course I am considering a new Bonneville but wanted to know what the performance is like since I've never ridden one. My 1979 is great around town but on the highway the vibration is severe over 75 or 80.
I am looking for something faster and smoother. So, my question is, how fast does a new Bonnie go? Is it comfortable at highway speeds?
Thanks for your feedback.

Hi and welcome to the site.
I will dissent a bit from the other guys. If you are looking for a bike for long distance trips, don't buy a bonneville. I love my T100 as much as the other guys but it is the wrong highway bike. Many, many more capable trip bikes than the bonneville. For trips, you want wind protection and that means fairings. The Triumph Sprint is much better for this style of riding...or Honda VFR...or Kaw Concours....or Gullwing...or Duc ST4...its a long list.
That said, the bonneville is a fabulous bike but riding at 80 mph on the highway it will beat you up. The bonny is a great all arounder but not a very good highway bike for the simple fact that it doesn't have fairings which incidentally is why many of us choose a bonny...we try to take the scenic route and avoid the grudgery of the superslab.
Good Luck.
PS: the new bonneville beats the old one in virtually all categories, from brakes to suspension to engine performance and in particular vibration. The new bonny has fantastic vibration control with the addition of counter rotating shafts. The other day while out riding, I ran into a guy on an early Norton Commando and he couldn't believe how vibration free my bike is. There is a sweet and unmolested 2008 bonny in the classified right now for a steal with less than 500 miles I would seriously consider if looking (no affiliation).

 

[TC_Dick]

I've ridden from Seattle, Wa to Mexico (and back) on my Bonnie. Get a cheap windscreen (and maybe a new seat) and hit the road.

 

[msc66]

and if you're gonna do a lot of riding at 70 plus, I'd go up a tooth on the front sprocket but that's just me.

 

[tbirdsp]

I have put 1000 miles on my Bonnie so far. I agree with Speed3Chris.
First off - if these other guys are going by the speedometer for their speed - it's off by nearly 10 mph at highway speed compared to GPS. When I talk speed I am talking GPS-indicated - add 10 for what the speedo is reading.

IMHO the bike likes to cruise at 65, maybe 70. Once you are above that the wind blast will wear you out. Yes, some kind of windscreen will help.
The lack of vibration with this engine is truly amazing. I'd say it rivals my Honda ST1100 for smoothness.

I don't have a tach on mine but I'd say the revs aren't too high even at a true 80 mph. I personally don't like to gear bikes up though.

The seat on the mag-wheel bikes is thin. It's not that it's terribly uncomfortable, but the seat-to-peg distance is too close and I'm only 5'9" with a 31" inseam. I have the Triumph solo seat which is about 1" thicker, plus I picked up a used T100 seat (also 1" thicker) for when I need to carry some gear or a passenger. This has helped the position for me.

That said - the bike will do anything you want it to. Everything is relative. It's a better highway bike than my KLR650 thumper. It's a worse highway bike than my ST1100.

 

[Kirkus51]

I believe the performance is similar to your T140, but with fewer headaches.

 

[Speed3Chris]

I have put 1000 miles on my Bonnie so far. I agree with Speed3Chris.
First off - if these other guys are going by the speedometer for their speed - it's off by nearly 10 mph at highway speed compared to GPS. When I talk speed I am talking GPS-indicated - add 10 for what the speedo is reading.

IMHO the bike likes to cruise at 65, maybe 70. Once you are above that the wind blast will wear you out. Yes, some kind of windscreen will help.
The lack of vibration with this engine is truly amazing. I'd say it rivals my Honda ST1100 for smoothness.

I don't have a tach on mine but I'd say the revs aren't too high even at a true 80 mph. I personally don't like to gear bikes up though.

The seat on the mag-wheel bikes is thin. It's not that it's terribly uncomfortable, but the seat-to-peg distance is too close and I'm only 5'9" with a 31" inseam. I have the Triumph solo seat which is about 1" thicker, plus I picked up a used T100 seat (also 1" thicker) for when I need to carry some gear or a passenger. This has helped the position for me.

That said - the bike will do anything you want it to. Everything is relative. It's a better highway bike than my KLR650 thumper. It's a worse highway bike than my ST1100.

The shorter alloy wheel bonnie sadly has pronounced speedo error because inexplicably Triumph didn't chnge the speedo gear when changing wheel diameter from the T100. The T100 maybe fractionally off as well but believe not nearly as much as its alloyed wheel brother. Hopefully Triumph will address this eventually and a different speedo gear can be retrofitted.

 

[bonnxton]

T140 v Bonnie

Iv'e owned and loved them both.
It's the vibration over 70 that gets you on the 750.
New Bonnies are way, way smoother. I've done long trips including cross- country on the new ones.
Would have been a PITA on a Meriden Bonnie.
It's not a Goldwing but it's a vast improvement at highway speeds. Plus a few easy mods can make it even better. Pipes, rejet maybe lower bars.
Your T140 is arguably cooler and lighter but that's about it.

Dave

 

[79t140]

Thanks for the replies. It seems the new bikes are smoother but not much faster? I like speed and I like to cruise at a true 80 to 85. I want to be able to do that without feeling like the motor is gonna blow up like it does now on my vintage. I don't mind doing some preformance mods but also don't want to get into another bike where it seems like it's struggling at those speeds. I don't mind the wind at high speeds, it's all part of the fun for me.
thanks

 

[79t140]

Are Thruxtons any faster?

 

[thearcticsea]

I think the Thruxtons have a bit more HP and torque.

I'll weigh in real quick as to the Bonneville though.

I have the 790cc motor Bonneville and I think it's plenty powerful enough for highway riding.

It comes stock with a 17 tooth sprocket, so I bought an 18 tooth from British Customs for $19. This effectively dropped the RPM by about 500 in 5th gear. I ran with this sprocket and no other mods for a couple of months and the bike performed fine.

Highway was good at 75 MPH. Fairly smooth and fun.

Now, the newer Bonnevilles have 865cc motors and come STOCK with 18 tooth sprockets. So not only are you getting more HP than I have you're also getting my sprocket upgrade built in.

I haven't ridden an 865, but I have to assume that given these facts, the 865 will have no issues whatsoever on the highway.

Also, you can get a 19 tooth sprocket from BC for $19 as well.

IMO, buy a Bonneville.

Oh yeah, and I also did all the exhaust, fuel and intake mods that everyone talks about on here and the bike is now ridiculous. It's not a supersport, but this thing flies.

 

[mondokat]

FYI, at 3500 RPM's in 4th gear I'm at 50mph, 5th gear is 65. 80mph is more like 4500 RPM's and she starts to whine a bit. At 90 she roars and gulps down gas like no one's business. Didn't have the tach when I went that fast, but I'm sure she had a lot left. Almost no vibration, but the wind will beat you to death with no fairing. hugging the tank helps.

My bike is a 2008 (carb'ed) with stock gearing, TOR's, and a removed air injector.

 

[grindal]

if you really go for looks, get the bonny.. but if you want to do a lot of long higway trips... maybe a tiger, sprint is what you are looking for

shot trips on highway is no problem, but 100km is pretty long / hard handeling a bonnie

 

[menzies]

Highway speed

I have ridden my 03 Bonnie at 75-80 mph all day, I went up to a 19 tooth sprocket from a 17, also had a flyscreen to knock the wind off my chest.
The bike ran effortlessly and still does at 30,000 miles.

 

[Stars&Bars]

I have a stock 2009 EFI model with spoked hoops that I added a Parabellum windscreen and saddlebags to and the bike will run real smooth at 90 mph and hold it with no problems for miles on end. I do live in fairly flat terrain though so I cannot speak about how it does in the moutains at those speeds.
I like it very much and I like my Escort Passport 8500 too.
Don't Feed the Bears!

 

[Sal Paradise]

suspension

They can break the ton at will but believe me its the suspension that will be foremost in your mind at that moment.:eeek: I think the stock suspension is all too " authentic " for those types of speeds.