Previous bikes Pt3

[Mick_J]

Once I had sold the Yam there was a space in my garage that needed to be filled so I started to look for something to fill it, and I wanted something big.  I have always liked the look, sound and style of Harleys but after every demo (and I've had shit loads) I always come away thinking, it's not a very good bike, the handling, braking and general feel of the bike just did not do it for me.  I was still interested in a cruiser style so tried a couple of Jap alternatives which felt like poor copies in the looks and sound department but then I saw a Triumph Thunderbird 1600, especially in the blue with white stripe colour scheme.  Took one out a couple of times and was sold, It actually handled although ground clearance was poor, it certainly stopped having the same brakes as fitted to my Speed Triple and the fit and finish were far superior to the Harley.  I managed to get such a good deal I opted for some accessories, bigger comfort seats, sissy bar and rack, straight through pipes or TORs as Triumph call them and a (can you believe it) a locking fuel cap.  Once I changed the exhaust pipes for open ones the sound was fantastic (although not as good as the hog) and it popped and banged like a good un on the over run.  The Thunderbird was a great bike to ride at a leisurely pace but handled so well it was up for a bit of chasing touring bikes around the countryside and could leave a lot of other bikes at the traffic light drag.  However it was a bugger to keep clean, the wheels were just polished alloy with no lacquer, unless you kept on top of them they would corrode up quicker than a fat bird eating a plate of chips.  It had a bit penchant for rear tyres and pads and with no main stand was a bit of a bugger to change onto new rubber.  The drive belt was also critical about being straight but I had no issues with it, some owners reporting the belts could wear badly if the alignment was not spot on.  I had an engine stand made which made life a lot easier and apart from that the bike was no trouble at all, there was a recall for front mudguard bolts but that was done at the first service.  Servicing was easy and the economy brilliant (for a 1600) so it was a painless experience owning the biggest parallel twin (at the time).  During this time my wife sold her Suzuki SV650 to become a full time pillion and as much as I liked the bike my wife was not so impressed, she liked it when I bought it but she soon found that having her feet in front of her did not allow her to shift position easily and she had nothing to brace against when we were moving along and cornering quite hard, even with the sissy bar fitted.  Had I kept it I would have tried to fit longer foot pegs to it as I always felt a little cramped on it and would have liked them kicked forward another couple of inches but as I wanted to have bikes we both liked it had to go.   So at the three year point I traded it in for another Triumph and got a very good price for it.