Pulling The Trigger

[atomsplitter]

After I sold my 98 Trophy 1200 I noticed there was a hole in my lineup of bikes. I have a naked sport bike, a standard bike, a cafe bike, and a light crusier.

What is missing is a heavy cruiser for longer trips, so I've been keeping my eyes peeled for a very specific model and wouldn't you know it, one came up for sale on Craigslist. Have the arrangements in place and I'm headed down near College Station tomorrow to pick up my next Triumph: 2013 Thunderbird Storm

 

[sikatri]

Awesome! Congrats! Look forward to ride reports!

 

[Rocky]

Looks like a great find. Good for you

 

[atomsplitter]

UPdate: It's now safely ensconsed in my garage. The PO also gave me a set of hard bags and all the take-offs (like foot pegs, mirrors, etc from upgrades). Nice to know if I want to go back to pegs I have the parts. Also ordered a Madstad fly screen for it. Next up, getting it registered and titled.

After backing the bike out of my trailer took it for a ride around the block. Reminds me of my old Rocket III but not as much torque. Handling will take a little getting used to, my Bobber (well all of them in fact) will run circles around this thing. Planning a trip to Forestburg and that will be my first real road test of the bike. As far as seat position and general ergos it's very comfortable. I also like the lower seat height compared to my old Rocket, makes stopping less of an adventure.

 

[Qship]

Nice. I enjoyed my T bird when I had it. Was the LT model.
Hope you have lots of fun with it.

 

[atomsplitter]

Had the opportunity to take it for a longer ride around on suburban roads yesterday and it's not a scalpel like my Speed Triple, or as nimble as my Bobber Black (altho has better cornering clearance), it does the job in a unique way. It doesn't need revs to be happy. It will putter on at 35mph in 4th as easily as in 3rd (or 2nd) just give it some fun handle and the speed goes up smoothly without drama. It also goes up hills without additional throttle input. It takes the twisty stuff just fine although requiring moderate effort at the tiller but it doesn't fight the input (it's just a lot of mass to change direction). I see (and now understand) why the handle bars are so wide on this thing. Seating is very comfortable bordering on Lazy Boy level of cushioning, and the footboards allow quite a bit of foot movement to take pressure off my hips and calves.

Overall a very comfy and satisfying ride albeit the bike was made for long days in the seat, which I haven't done in awhile. Maybe this will encourage more miles in a single trip (Forestburg and BEYOND!!). For the roads I took yesterday my other bikes are better suited, however I won't shy away from riding my Storm when the mood hits for some serious grunt out of corners. Just have to remember to scrub enough speed off at entry to avoid exit drama.

My real concern was holding the weight of this bike at stops and the affect (i.e. pain tolerance) on my knees. Happily with the low seat height (almost Bobber level) my legs are able to get plenty of leverage taking load off my knees. My Rocket III with extended rear shocks and footboards limited my leverage to the point I dreaded stopping. So it may not have the huge power hit of my Rocket but it's plenty enough to be happy with for power delivery, handling is good and the comfort is actually better than my old Rocket. So my initial impressions are all positive.

 

[sikatri]

Awesome! Great report!

 

[CarlS]

Had the opportunity to take it for a longer ride around on suburban roads yesterday and it's not a scalpel like my Speed Triple, or as nimble as my Bobber Black (altho has better cornering clearance), it does the job in a unique way. It doesn't need revs to be happy. It will putter on at 35mph in 4th as easily as in 3rd (or 2nd) just give it some fun handle and the speed goes up smoothly without drama. It also goes up hills without additional throttle input. It takes the twisty stuff just fine although requiring moderate effort at the tiller but it doesn't fight the input (it's just a lot of mass to change direction). I see (and now understand) why the handle bars are so wide on this thing. Seating is very comfortable bordering on Lazy Boy level of cushioning, and the footboards allow quite a bit of foot movement to take pressure off my hips and calves.

Overall a very comfy and satisfying ride albeit the bike was made for long days in the seat, which I haven't done in awhile. Maybe this will encourage more miles in a single trip (Forestburg and BEYOND!!). For the roads I took yesterday my other bikes are better suited, however I won't shy away from riding my Storm when the mood hits for some serious grunt out of corners. Just have to remember to scrub enough speed off at entry to avoid exit drama.

My real concern was holding the weight of this bike at stops and the affect (i.e. pain tolerance) on my knees. Happily with the low seat height (almost Bobber level) my legs are able to get plenty of leverage taking load off my knees. My Rocket III with extended rear shocks and footboards limited my leverage to the point I dreaded stopping. So it may not have the huge power hit of my Rocket but it's plenty enough to be happy with for power delivery, handling is good and the comfort is actually better than my old Rocket. So my initial impressions are all positive.

Terrific report. Thanks.

 

[atomsplitter]

Next up, ordered a Madstad flyscreen and the older version of British Custom's Hogslayer exhaust. Once those are on I'll post up a pick of the changes.

 

[atomsplitter]

Update: Just ordered LSL short clutch and brake levers. The non-adjustable levers aren't as close to the bar as I would like and Triumph in their bean counting wisdom didn't see fit to put adjustable levers on it (my 98 Trophy had adjustable levers for Pete's sake!). Doing some research found there were VERY limited options available. Since all my other bikes have the short levers I thought I'd continue the theme. Also have them coming in black with black adjusters to continue the motif of the Storm's black look.