How reliable are modern Triumphs?

Had a 2010 America, really enjoyed it.
It had a bad cam chain tensioner (was told by the dealer that there was a bad batch of tensioners) and waited SIX weeks for the replacement part. It had to come from England. SIX weeks is unacceptable, as was the bullshit that came in the explanation for the delay.
I will never own another Triumph.

Ah, you didn't mention it was a first bike. I'd recommend getting something cheaper, smaller, and used for a first bike. Something better suited for learning on, then moving up to the bigger bike in a year or so.

PhilB

Triumph continually raises their market share worldwide,they have no relaitionship to old Triumphs except the name.
Triumph has gained 25% market share while most japanese makers were holding tight and doing nothing trying not to go broke.

I ride a 99 1200 Trophy around,its a blast!

20,000 miles on a Bonneville in the past two years... only tires and oil...

NFE

Yah,many bikes bought "for the wife" end up sitting dusty and unused,best to some how make sure they want it to ride and not just a whimsy thing. A speedmaster is a heavy bike,like most all the Triumph twins they are kind of a styling excersize.
I had an 07 Scrambler,got sucked in by the vintage look,too slow,too heavy,poor brakes,poor suspension,no ground clearance,didnt hold much gas,didnt get good mileage,it was an "image" bike I figured out after a while.
It did look neat sitting outside a burger joint though.

Many are infatuated with them, and they would be ok for a starter or extra bike.
Probably run a long time,built well enough,sound neat with pipes.
38 HP on a dyno didnt seem right for a near 900cc bike that weighs over 500 lbs.

Get whichever you can get the best deal on. There aint spit difference between the two.

I rode my Speedmaster to Michigan from Alabama with the missus on the back. Had a great time with zero problems.

By the way. budget for a seat. It sucks. Something other than a Corbin, because it sucks almost as much.

It will be her first owned bike.
She has been riding mine and we have rented Harley's from the local eagle rider several times she has probably close to 1k miles on a bike so far so i don't see her letting it sit.
so far she has ridden : my 08 FZ6, Honda Shadow RS, Harley Iron 883, Suzuki S40, tested a Speed master. so I don't think it is a passing fad or that the bike will get away from her.

30,000 miles in two years (nearly to the day!) on my bonneville mag wheel. burns no oil, goes all day, never gives me any problems. change the oil every 6k miles, check valves every 12k miles, and i ride it every day.

I love the look of the Speedmaster but couldn't get past the forward controls. Mid-control bikes like the Bonnie/T100/Scrambler would probably be more comfortable especially on long rides.

I've put a couple of 500+ mile days on my Scrambler and it's done well. My only comfort issue was a crick in my neck that I think was caused by having to crane my neck upwards because of the high seat and the low bars. I resolved the issue by putting a lower seat (stock Bonnie seat vs. the Scrambler's thicker seat) and raising the handlebars with a pair of 1" spacers.

Don't confuse the historic triumph brand with the current Hinkleys. The only connection between them is that Mr Bloor bought the rights to use the name.The current Bonneville twins are as reliable as any other Asian assembled bikes.(Enfield excluded)

That's not exactly true...

-Bloor bought "the old" Triumph in Meriden.
-Shut it down.
-Redeveloped the property where the old factory was.
-Licensed production of "old" Bonnevilles to a 3rd party company.
-Meanwhile, he developed the new bikes and built a new factory in Hinckley.

Bloor is the link between Meriden and Hinckley.

I have heard that there is a guy in Brit Iron Rebels that has an 01 Bonnie with over 100,000 miles on the clock. Never opened. Hope my 2010 Thruxton will be as good.

That was true 40 yeaars ago, except he left out BSA.
There really aren't any unreliable bikes on the market any more, as long as you're not looking at Ural or Royal Enfield from a few years back.

With BSAs you were lucky to reach the road in the first place. I loved mine, but boy did they use up time and money.

One good thing with the huge amount of restoration work going on has been the development of decent bearing replacements/conversions, oil filter systems and quality wiring harnesses and electrics. A late 60's Lightning or Thunderbolt can be rebuilt to be very reliable now and at a moderate expense. Great bikes, always preferred them to Triumphs.

Modern day Triumphs seem to be quite reliable. There's a German motorcycle magazine called Motorrad. In their 50000km test the Tiger 800xc is the third most reliable motorcycle ever tested.

To make sure the Hinckley's didn't have issues I think they sacrrificed some performance for durability. They are extremely durable. Everyone I've had has proven more reliable than my VFR much as I love it. My 95 sucked an exhaust valve at 180K, my 2001 Sprint RS hit a dump truck after 40K and in the garage is a 98 Sprint Sport with 36K. It did have some oil leaks from sitting for ten years with 12K on it before I got it so it did mark it's spot for a while.

Back when they first came the manager of Triumph North America said that actually modern Lucas was really quite reliable but they didn't want to here the jokes so went with Bosch and Marenelli.

I have a friend with a Bonnevile that has 90K and rolling. Other than being delivered with an issue with the rear wheel and bearing it's only had normal maintenance.

Buy it. It's not the last motorcycle you'll own and if she likes it it's worth a try.

I'm not sure Bloor ever bought the Meridian factory. As I heard it he purchased the intellectual rights and trademarks for US $200.000.00 and nothing more. I'd be interesting to know the full story. He also allowed a Brit firm to hand make Bonnevilles for the 6 years he spent setting up the new Triumph. Much of the new company was based on the time he spent in Japan to study Kawasaki and the early bikes from Hinkley show the connection.

http://triumphtalkcom.blogspot.com/2008/03/john-bloor-man-of-vision.html This may assist.

what year ????


that chart looks like it may have some usefull infomation, anyone have any idea what it says ?

Well...sort of..... Bloor's link is to the Royal Receivers office which he bought the defunct property & name from. They received it from the Meriden Workers cooperative that had been awarded the property & rights when the previous owners Manganese Bronze Holdings went bankrupt in 1977. Manganese Bronze was the holding company that owned Norton Villiers Triumph. They inherited Triumph when they bought the bankrupt BSA in 1972. BSA had bought Triumph in the late '60s, the last time Triumph Engineering was an independent company. Whatever Bloor was a link to, it's hard to call it the "old Triumph".