2 Hour Sunday Ride

[atomsplitter]

I've been riding my other bikes more than my T-120 so today I had great weather and the opportunity and took it for a 2 hour spin around Tarrant county. Very little highway, mostly residential and suburban riding. When I'm riding everything else in the stable I tend to forget what a competent and fun ride the T-120 is. It doesn't have the cornering chops of my Thruxton R, or the relaxed seating of the Bobber, nor will it yank my arms out of the sockets like the Speed Triple, but it's good at just being a little of all that. I upgraded the suspension shortly after I bought it and it really does handle very well, I didn't get tossed out if the seat once going over bumps that launch me off the Bobber. Throttle response is crisp and it corners very well, so all in all just a very good and enjoyable experience. Sometimes it's good to be reminded why I bought that bike in the first place, it's a great communter and all rounder. On a sunny cool Sunday morning it was the bomb.

 

[sikatri]

Great report! A nice all around motorcycle is good to have!

 

[CarlS]

That is a fine report and I feel that way about my T120, a superb all around bike.

 

[DaveG]

Interesting Report, thank you. I have a 2022 T-120 and am curious about the suspension modification you made. Can you provide some detail on what it was and what the improvement was? I added the tallest windscreen that Triumph offers, and it deflects the wind from off my chest, but it hits square on my helmet. I'm probably spoiled by my Tiger 900 Rally Pro where the windscreen deflects the wind perfectly, something I enjoy at highway speeds around 85 MPH. Have you added a wind screen to your T-120.

 

[atomsplitter]

Here's my T-120:

If I remember the rear shocks are remote reservoir fully adjustables. I swapped out my stock fork springs for progressive springs with 9.5 NM/mm compression on the main spirals and added preload adjuster caps to set fork preload. I wasn't thinking I need fully adjustable forks since the bike is set up for two up riding and I'm a large load solo so damping was adequate as is.
Here's where I set my preload on the forks:

The shocks I have set for about 24mm of static sag and the damping is at the factory settings. The forks are smoother and hitting bumps and square edges doesn't updet the chassis at all. It absorbs hits without transferring them to my spine (a big plus) and overall riding comfort was improved. The seat is a bit hard for my lard butt and I may at some point switch that to something with a little more give. I haven't hit any bumps hard or big enough to bottom out my suspension on this bike like I have on my Bobber. Triumph built a gorgeous little run-about with the Bobber but I had to spend over $2K to get the suspension so it wasn't crippling me on city streets.