In Germany, Soon to be "Back in the USA"

[vecchio lupo]

Hello,

I am retired Army, and seen alot of the world. I started on mini-bikes in 1973, graduated to small Japanese motorcycles (125-500cc) in 1978, discovered Nortons in 84, grew very frustrated trying to keep Old British running as a young adult. Made the switch to Italian (insert joke here) around 1990, Guzzi and Ducati until 2009 when I purchased a new H-D XR1200, spent time and money making it faster and lighter, cxrashed it and replaced with Buell. Love Buell, they encourage bad behavior, just crashed my S3 in the Black Forest here in Germany, not too bad. Always loved the Bonnevilles, I was just prejudiced from my early experience with Norton and BSA. I've decided that my reflexes have slowed down, even if I have not, and 450lbs bikes with 100+HP are not condusive to sound judgement.

Spoke with a friend of mine on this forum who has been a dedicated Bonnie rider for the last 7 years, we talked, and I have decided to purchase a Bonnie upon my return to the USA in about 2 months. So anybody contemplating selling a well sorted machine in November, give me a shout. I will be in Southern Indiana, not far from Louisville, KY.

I am a fair weather commuter, weekend raider, and 1 or two larger tour a year. Now go out and play in traffic. Oh yeah, every curve has a high side, so I got that going for me.

 

[vecchio lupo]

Wow, really,... zero replies?? I suppose I should have limited my introduction to "It's really great to be here, and I love everything Triumph." I am truly grateful for the wealth of information on the new Bonnevilles available here, and I thank all who have contributed to the collective knowledge database.

I will continue to quietly lurk and learn, thanks.

 

[hankmarx]

Welcome to the forum, Vecchio!
And welcome back to the States!
The Bonnie is a good choice, at least We all think so.:welcome:

 

[D9]

Welcome vecchio... don't give up on us just yet... good luck with the search
for the new Bonnie, post up some adventures of the mission

 

[vecchio lupo]

No worries Boyos, I was just surprised at the views to comments ratio.

I can tell this is a good forum and I look forward to diving into the redesigned bikes of my youth. When I said that my Nortons and BSA's were frustrating, I meant to a 20 year old who did not understand tinkering and preventive maintenence, that, and I did not own or even know what Whitworth was. I deeply regret selling my Commandos so many years ago.

 

[Kirkus51]

All of us have this gleam in our eye when we swing a leg over these new fangled Bonnies that don't leak, go pretty good and have old farts (like a lot of us) at gas stops ask us what year it is and when we tell em, they regale us with stories of their Meridian bikes. We regale them with our Hinkley bikes. It's all good.

 

[mark66]

Welcome from Ct vecchio. I must apologize, I was in a big hurry yesterday, viewed your post and a few others and had to run off. I'm still running a couple of BSA's and they're fun but my Triumph is so much nicer for longer rides.

 

[whyme]

So I guess it tells you most people like their triumphs and don't want to sell huh??

my bike.......NOT FOR SALE...........sorry.

Got mine on ebay for a good price. Risky but it came in as described by the seller...no problems. Give that a try too.

 

[vecchio lupo]

Whyme,

Yes I didn't really think this was a good site to hunt down a bargain, seeing how most everybody is here because they want to increase the Bonneville experience. However, people have unexpected additions to the family, sometimes they get married and it pains me to say it but many Americans have lost their jobs. Being a gearhead and a lifelong motorcyclist, I would appreciate a long list of mods and improvements and be more willing to pay top dollar, than an ebay hack looking to snipe somebodys well sorted Bonnie from under them.

I'm sorry to say, and I mean sorry, that with our current US economy, and the holidays approaching, good deals, even great deals will be all over the place. I hate to see it happen, but someone will part with a very nice bike for not very much money. How many adds start of with "Lost my job and the toys must go" ? I was that guy about 15 years ago, I bounced back, but I was there.

Please don't misunderstand me, I wish the motorcycle industry as a whole was as strong as it was 4 years ago, I wish my Dollar was worth more than .63 Euro cents and my GM stock had not converted to wallpaper. This is a very cool forum and a very helpful online comunity, I hope to contribute and be a productive member here.

Thanks

 

[B06Tang]

Welcome to the forum and you will be able to find a good deal on a Bonnie once you get back. I am military and have been overseas for 17 years now. I went back to the states to get my 1st Bonnie and had it shipped back to where I was stationed. They are out there and a Bonnie is a great bike to buy used; not very expensive at all and a reliable/solid running bike. Good luck and have fun!

 

[vecchio lupo]

Thank you all for the feedback, I feel like a part of the machine now. I'm ready to dive into the other forum topics.

Thanks everyone, and I hope to see some of you in person over the next couple years. I'm going to Crane Navy Base in Southern Indiana, so I should be able to make quite a few events from that central location. Again, thanks for the opportunity to introduce myself.