The Triumph Bonneville Street Twin is a rare thing – a motorcycle in the universal sweet spot. And having said that, I’m guessing that some people are already arguing with me.
When we choose a motorcycle, we have a primary purpose in mind. If touring is our need, then the sort of motorcycle we want is governed by that need. If we are into track days and motivated Sunday rides, we’d be looking for a motorcycle that matches that requirement.
You can do everything on every motorcycle type, but some are suited to a specific task more than others. So if you had to buy one – just one – motorcycle to do everything – Touring, Commuting and Sunday Scratching, which motorcycle would you pick?
Suggestions
The Africa Twin was the immediate suggestion, mainly due to the number of people in the office who have them. Yet, the size of the 2021 model doesn’t make it the most suitable city bike. Sport 600s came next, and whereas the Honda CB650R was light and flickable, the thought of all day on a howling 4-pot motor was too frenetic for long days.
KTM 790 or 890. On a warm sunny morning, absolutely, but all day and every day, the one motorcycle to do it all? I’d need something with a more relaxed view of life. Something that will deliver me in refined style rather than chomping at the bit and raging at the traffic.
My choice of the Triumph Street Twin, the most popular of the Bonneville range, wasn’t received with my colleagues’ universal agreement.
Some argued that the bigger 1200cc Speed Twin was where I should be looking. Perhaps so, and there will be other motorcycles that may fit the definition of the complete all-rounder.
But when I bring it all together – purchase price, cost of ownership, reliability and finish the Street Twin is a hard package to argue against, especially when you consider that the bike can be converted in and out of A2 specification at your local Triumph dealership.
It was even argued that the Street Twin didn’t count because it wouldn’t go off-road, yet Turkish creators Can and Mert Uzer of Bunker Motorcycles would argue otherwise, having been customising Street Twins since 2017.
Challenge
And so the debate continued. Despite my assertions that the 900cc motor with its 10,000-mile service intervals, that produces 62 horsepower and has a wide and constant torque band was going to be epic to ride in town as well as on “A” roads and back roads, there were still those who would not buy into this point of view.
The centre point of their derision appeared to be that for the guy whose last fully naked bike was a Suzuki GS750 in the late 80s, I was going to enjoy a Triumph Street Twin until I put in back to back 200 mile days.
There is only one thing for it then – I’ll have to prove it to them.
A few phone calls and some long explanations later, Triumph kindly agreed to lend me a Street Twin so that I may educate my colleagues as to the delights of this beautiful machine. In turn, my colleagues have set me three distinct challenges that I must complete without complaint or reservation if I am to prove my point.
- Ride it into the middle of a city during rush hour, passing through a significant set of roadworks along the way. They have also insisted I take with me a briefcase and a change of clothes for that added touch of realism.
- Load the bike with all the standard touring stuff and clothes for a week and then ride 300 miles in one day, of which at least 30 miles must be on a motorway.
- Follow them across the Lincolnshire backroads to Sutton on Sea where I am to buy the teas, thereby proving that the Street Twin has the power and the grace for Sunday Scratching. I’m not sure how my buying the teas proves that, but so be it.
With the challenge accepted, I started thinking about the practicalities of how to prove my point.
Luggage
The Street Twin comes standard with a high specification, but luggage isn’t one of the features. There are also precious few options in the Triumph accessories catalogue for the Street Twin. Other than a tank bag, the only options were nylon panniers, saddlebags or a rack and top box. These are all perfectly functional choices, but I couldn’t get past a certain lack of heritage style.
The nylon panniers are modern for the bike’s classic looks, and the saddlebags aimed perhaps more at our American cousins. The rack and top box? Well, maybe yes on an NC700X, but not for me on a Bonneville.
For the last five years, Carle has been running a Ventua luggage system on his Fireblade, mostly configured as a grab rail. Release a couple of thumbscrews, and the grab rail gets replaced with the pack loop, and he has a 40-litre touring bag that can sit on the pillion seat to keep the weight inboard.
When he arrives at his destination, two minutes to swap back to the grab rail, and he has the perfect bike for twisting backroads.
Now, do I ask if I can borrow everything except the L bars, which are bike-specific or do I get a Ventura Luggage system for the Street Twin, knowing I can easily transfer it to the KTM or most any other motorcycle?
It’s not really a question. I ordered the Ventura Luggage system for the Street Twin on a Wednesday, and it arrived on Friday. Superb stuff.
Navigation
Before I started my love-hate relationship with a TomTom 550, my GPS of choice was the excellent MyRouteApp running on an old mobile phone. Something in an android update started conflicting with MyRouteApp’s navigation app and hence the move to a TomTom.
As the TomTom is wired to the KTM and Android and MyRouteApp have been through several updates over the past few years, I thought I’d try resurrecting the old mobile phone and getting everything working again.
The phone has been in a draw in the garage for the last two years, wrapped in its Ultimate-Addons tough case. After an hour on a charger and a lot of time updating, I once again have one of the best route planning and navigation apps, running on a cheap as chips, ancient Samsung Galaxy S5, which I bought second-hand for £100.
The Ulitmate-Addons case – other than a few dead flies from the last time I used it on a bike – is still in perfect condition. When Ultimate -Addons called then Tough Cases, they were not kidding. The Triumph Street Twin will be the 5th or 6th motorcycle I’ve used it on. It has protected the phone in all kinds of weather and never given me a problem.
After all that use and then two years in the garage, the inner lining that helps dampen out the vibrations that kill phone cameras, especially those with stabilisation, is still supple. The edge seals are perfect, and the case remains watertight. I know this because it has been through our utterly unscientific stick-it-under-the-tap-for-30-seconds test, and the phone was bone-dry.
No Ducking Out
Triumph has confirmed the Street Twin is arriving in a few weeks. Once it is here all I need are a few days out of the office to complete the challenges. I’m sure I’m right, even if the paranoia monkey in the back of my brain is questioning some of my logic.
Oh well, what could possibly go wrong?
