Best cruiser of 2010

[Rocky]

CycleWorld magazine just released their picks for best bikes of 2010 and the Thunderbird was voted best cruiser and said the following:
"For Triumph, building a great parallel-twin was no big deal, even though this counterbalanced 1596cc unit is the biggest one it's ever built. The T-Bird's pair of 4-inch pistons make more torque at 2630 rpm - 95.1 ft.-lb. - than most cruiser motors make all day. But this bike's more than a pair of big jugs. It rumbles along smoothly, soulfully, while providing comfortably kicked-back ergonomics and suspension that actually suspends. Triumph being Triumph, it couldn't even keep from building a big cruiser that handles okay, too, and then wrapped it up in crisp styling, with a shapely no-seams gas tank, maximum chrome and minimal plastic."

 

[CarlS]

:y115:

 

[DaveM]

Cool well done I would like to read that article :y18:

 

[Rocky]

That's all there is to the article about the T-Bird. Just a photo and the caption I showed.
You might be able to call up the entire five page article on all the bikes on the CycleWorld web site. It's the September issue.

 

[DaveM]

Only found this on the site

Best Cruiser: Triumph Thunderbird 1600

 

[dazco]

I just got back a while ago from a long mountains to the coast and back over the mountains ride on one of them thar bikes. Lemmie tell ya....more than a year after i bought it i still marvel at how perfect it is. I think a lot of the other bikes i followed thru the twistes were marveling too, as its gotta be a real head scratcher to them when they see what looks like a harley sticking like glue to them on thier sport bikes as they try and lose me !! :ya2: Seriously, i have this happen almost every time out. They keep looking in their mirrors as if to say what the he|| is that thing. Don't get me wrong, a sportie with a good rider will leave me in the dust. But an average rider who's not pushing it to thier limit generally can't leave me w/o taking big risks. I'm not riding to my or my bike's limit either tho. A lot of guys don't believe it, but this bike handles much too good to be a cruiser. The only downfall is the peg clearance. Scraping pegs is mostly a problem only in the slow hairpin stuff tho, so it's not too bad. But one thing i love about it is that i can slow down and ride like grandma and it's still fun. This bike is a blast no matter how you ride it. Riding slow still gives you that feeling or big power because of the low torque....you don't have to ride fast to get that thrill like you do when winding a bike out. It's just a different kind of thrill feeling that huge torque yanking on your arms. I rode long yesterday too, so i told myself today i'm just going out for maybe an hour at most. Ended up being out about 3. You just don't wanna get off this thing. :ya2:

 

[DaveM]

Oh man I really need one of these bikes :y114: However right now that is just a dream but maybe one day

 

[dazco]

Yes you do, but by the time you get one they should be even better. Being a first adopter has it'd bad points obviously, and by the '11 model year i'm sure things will be even better because they are constantly improving little things and perfecting the tunes. Plus the 1600 may become defunct and replaced with the 1700. Heck, i may have to sell mine in a year or 2 and get a new 1700.

 

[DaveM]

Well the amount of riding you are doing you may just need to get a new one :y114:

 

[dazco]

Not always tho. I'm a fool for warm weather, so most of the year i can keep from riding a lot. I only put 10k on it the first year, so at that rate it will probably outlive me. I talked to a old biker one day who'd had a truckload of bikes over the years and he told me he's seen water cooled bikes routinely go to as much as 300k. I'd have to probably quadruple my riding to possibly outlive the current bird ! But a new 1700 in a year or 2 would be nice, IF i can swing it w/o killing any chance i have for being able to financially survive as i get older. Tho i have a feeling thats not going to happen anyways so maybe i should just say %$#@ it and jump in ! :ya2:

 

[DaveM]

Well I am sure it will be one of those Triumph that will be able to do a huge amount of miles before it give in so unless you break it I think you can expect it to be running for a long long time still