New 2017 Bonneville T120

[Donw]

Just purchased a T120 after wanting a Bonneville for more than 50 years. I am a little disturbed by the stiffness in the steering. It takes more than normal (to me) to turn the handlebars sitting still in the garage. On the road, it is noticeable also and borderline dangerous. I called the dealer and they were worse than bad and suggested to check the tires. Has anyone heard of the steering being too tight from the factory?

Thanks,
Don Watkins

 

[rbirkey]

Don,

As a service tech who performs pre-delivery inspections on new Triumphs at a dealer, this does not sound normal to me. Have you fully inspected the front end and are sure there are no cables or other items obstructing or binding on the turn radius?

If not, something this noticeable should have been picked up in the PDA process that the dealer is supposed to perform. You could ask the dealer to show you that pre-delivery form that they were supposed to fill out and sign before selling the bike to you.

They should at the very least offer to check it out for you and ensure that the "stiffness" meets factory specs.

If they are unwilling to do so, ( I agree that would be "worse than bad") I would go over their heads and contact Triumph directly. If you are in the US, see this webpage: http://triumph.force.com/liveAgentSupport/Triumph_Request_Manager

There is a 24x7 support number and email address, as well as an online chat feature.

Randy

 

[fredv]

Don; just read your post and my 2016 T-120 had the same problem. It was the main wire harness was not long enough when a turn to the right pulled the wires tight. I found this out the hard way when riding in the middle of nowhere in the U P of Mi things started to stop working finally enough wires broke and motor quit. If your right heated grip stops working it is trying to tell you something that was the first wire that broke. When I finally got back to Ga. my dealer replaced the main wire harness. While it was at the dealer they had a 2018 blue and white T-100 and it was love at first sight. I really like the 900 better than the 1200 , the problem is the dealer would not take my 1200 on trade said had to many miles (42,00) so now I have 2 new Bonnevilles. Fred Veator Bonaire,Ga.

 

[rbirkey]

Fred, thanks for your post which sheds a lot of light on the topic! I guess it just goes to prove that just because a Bonneville is a new model and straight from the factory, it may not be without some issues and problems! This is one reason why I generally do not purchase the first model of any new product. Better to wait and let the "bugs" get worked out.