Well looking at the photos it seems that it would be more in my line of sight than what the Speedy is
2010 Triumph Thunderbird - Motorcyclist Magazine
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True, but the question is whether the speedo being there would bother you since the speedy's is above the bars. My guess....once you experience the Tbird you won't care if the speedo is mounted on the rear fender. :ya2:
If it is in my line of sight I would have no problems with it. I find on the Speedy to see the panel I actually have to look down to the extent where I no longer see the road in front of me. So I find this not only stupid but dangerous so I never look down at it as a rule
yeah, you do have to take your eyes off the road. What i seem to naturally do tho is only look at it when safe. I don't consciously do that, but i naturally never take my eyes of the road when things are busy around me or there could be obstacles. I learned to to that with the speedy because i use the tach all the time.
Honestly, the positioning of the gauges did bother me when I first got the bike. I hadn't ridden for 6-8 years and just being on the bike was worrisome enough, managing to look down to make sure I wasn't speeding was off putting. Having said that, as soon as I started to get my riding legs back under me and got a feel for the bike It doesn't remotely bother me. I know when I'm going 40, and when I'm going 60 without looking. The tach is mostly a non-issue as the shift points are more than obvious. That's not to say that I don't use the gauges at all, just that I use them less and when I do I now know where they are and can easily focus on them quickly, get the info I need and go on, without it being it's own separate activity.
The gauges tucked away like they are give a really nice clean look and feel to the bike and give the bike a stripped down bobber sort of riding experience. It's just a wind in your face, motor thumpin' ride. If you have the need to analyze exactly what you're doing while you're riding then the bird may well not be your bike. That's not a dig or directed at anyone in particular, just my summation of what sort of ride I think the bird is. I'm sure Triumph will do a lot more with this engine in the future but for now, it's wrapped in deceptively simple, back to basics, twisty eatin' cruiser.
The gauges tucked away like they are give a really nice clean look and feel to the bike and give the bike a stripped down bobber sort of riding experience. It's just a wind in your face, motor thumpin' ride. If you have the need to analyze exactly what you're doing while you're riding then the bird may well not be your bike. That's not a dig or directed at anyone in particular, just my summation of what sort of ride I think the bird is. I'm sure Triumph will do a lot more with this engine in the future but for now, it's wrapped in deceptively simple, back to basics, twisty eatin' cruiser.
Maybe it's my age or the fact that I've had a bike all my life,I just find this a none issue.Like Thatch,I don't need gages to tell me where I'm at when I'm on my bird.Ride the bike and let the thrill come to you,any worries about speed,RPM,what gear am I in,Will fall by the wayside with the joy of riding this bike :happy: :wink:
No, it's true you don't NEED to know on this bike. But me personally, i like to look at them for whatever reason. Plus the speedo is important to me because there are lots of speed traps in L.A. But i agree you could otherwise ride w/o ever looking at the instruments. I just have a desire to check not only the speedo but the tach, even tho it's not necessary. Thats just me.
I actually never understood the need for a tach on the Speedy as I have always just listened to what my motor is doing.
On the speedy i actually needed a tach because at times i would wind it out thru the gears, and i had to shift at exactly the right spot or i'd hit the limiter and it would die. On the bird i don't know if the limiter will be an issue because i haven't wound it to redline yet. I don't find that necessary because with the engine's HP so stifled by the EPA tuning it stops breathing before that. So it tends to like to shift very early with all the torque and little HP. My speedy was like that too till i modded it. Once i have pipes i may end up bringing it to redline, but not nearly as often because this thing accelerates too fast to do that in most areas. But even w/o the necessity of the tach, it's just always been something i like to keep an eye on. I guess i grew up with bikes where it was more important than with these cruisers, so it's just habit i guess. But i feel a compulsion to see the RPM's more than i really NEED to. I'd feel naked w/o a tach.
I could get by without a speedo and only a tach.
Just read an article by "Keith Lloyd" after test riding the new T-bird through Madrid. Good review and notes the top end speed at 185kph. That'll rule out a few people buying the T-Bird.
When we returned to our Hotel in Madrid I went off to do a bit of motorway riding getting up to 160kmh (just keeping up with the local traffic). This is a fun machine with loads of power, a top speed 185kmh and only used €6 of fuel for 100km. Not bad for a cruiser, Brando and McQueen would have loved it, bags of character.
When we returned to our Hotel in Madrid I went off to do a bit of motorway riding getting up to 160kmh (just keeping up with the local traffic). This is a fun machine with loads of power, a top speed 185kmh and only used €6 of fuel for 100km. Not bad for a cruiser, Brando and McQueen would have loved it, bags of character.
i think thats wrong. that comes to 114 MPH, and i've hit 110 with total ease. I know it'll go over 114, probably well over. The theoretical top on it because of the 6 speeds is somewhere around 180 ! In other words, if the engine were strong enough to pull it, it would redline at 180. granted it would never do anywhere close to that, but the point is it will go as fast as the engine will pull with 180 being the redline limit. I'm sure the BB kit will allow it to pull an easy 130 because right now i feel i could get it to 120 with no problem.
just so you understand how i arrived at these numbers, at 75 MPH mine shows about 3k RPMs. And when i go 500 RPMs more (3500) i'm hitting 90. 500 more and 105 MPH. Now those are speed/RPM relationships i have personally verified. And as you can see it goes up 15 MPH for every 500 RPM's higher. so do the math. I have not looked at the tach when i went faster than 105, but the time i did check at 105 MPH the tach did indeed read 4k. so at 105MPH i had 2500 RPMs left to redline. As you can see 114 MPH is w/o a doubt not true at all. If the bike couldn't get past the approximate 4.3k RPM's it would hit 114 MPH at which is about 2300 RPM's UNDER redline, that would be one pathetic engine. It redlines at 6500, so to only be able to pull 4.2 would be pathetic. granted, it ain't gonna go close to the technical top, but 114 is just not right. I'm just a bit paranoid going that fast, so at 110 last time i did that i had to let off because at that speed the wind was too hard to deal with and my glasses were starting to vibrate off my face ! Yet it was still accelerating fairly hard. I think 120 would have been no problem. Anyways, do the BB kit (15 more HP, about 9 more ft lbs torque) and i bet this puppy will hit somewhere between 130 and 140.
just so you understand how i arrived at these numbers, at 75 MPH mine shows about 3k RPMs. And when i go 500 RPMs more (3500) i'm hitting 90. 500 more and 105 MPH. Now those are speed/RPM relationships i have personally verified. And as you can see it goes up 15 MPH for every 500 RPM's higher. so do the math. I have not looked at the tach when i went faster than 105, but the time i did check at 105 MPH the tach did indeed read 4k. so at 105MPH i had 2500 RPMs left to redline. As you can see 114 MPH is w/o a doubt not true at all. If the bike couldn't get past the approximate 4.3k RPM's it would hit 114 MPH at which is about 2300 RPM's UNDER redline, that would be one pathetic engine. It redlines at 6500, so to only be able to pull 4.2 would be pathetic. granted, it ain't gonna go close to the technical top, but 114 is just not right. I'm just a bit paranoid going that fast, so at 110 last time i did that i had to let off because at that speed the wind was too hard to deal with and my glasses were starting to vibrate off my face ! Yet it was still accelerating fairly hard. I think 120 would have been no problem. Anyways, do the BB kit (15 more HP, about 9 more ft lbs torque) and i bet this puppy will hit somewhere between 130 and 140.
Your calcs make sense - the guy who wrote the article and did the road test did have his wife as pillion. Maybe that accounts for the top-end of 185kph :silent:
That certainly would i'm sure. At those speeds where a bike is relatively struggling, i imagine weight would cause a huge performance hit.
Well, now more than a month later it's even more obvious how wrong that is. I took it to 120 and i'm positive i could have gone to 125, very possibly 130 because it was steadily gaining speed when i let off. But i had to hold my glasses from bouncing all over my face so i only had one hand on the bars. At 120 i decided i can't hang on safely anymore. I'm pretty sure 130 was obtainable tho. the BB kit will likely bring 140 or more.
Sounds like a winner to me. :y115:
I am sure those speeds should be easily reach on the Bird as I have taken the Speedmaster up to 185 kilometer/hour = 114.953 670 56 mile/hour (mph). I must admit I did not feel very thrilled at this speed as you say the wind starts getting very heavy 
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