The Street Twin - A Bike For All Family Members...

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hdready

Member
I just want to state something that might be obvious to many "experienced" Triumph riders... When my wife got her license, she bought a Kawasaki Zephyr, traded that in for a BMW Scarver later on. I have ridden both bikes, on occasion even more than 400 miles a day. Both were good bikes, but not a pleasure to ride for me. The seats were too low, the ratio between handlebars and ass too short. I never wanted to go on a ride with either of those...

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Ten years later, we were looking for a "Unisex" bike... Something I (6") would have as much pleasure riding as my wife (5"4') does. The retiring Kawasaki W800 was a beauty, but technically outdated. The Guzzi V7II might have worked, but the seat was a little too high for her and the weight distribution wasn't perfect either.

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Then along came the Street Twin. Our dealer had the Brat Tracker mod as a demo bike. The first ride we took was me with her as a pillion. I didn't expect much from a 55hp bike and what can I say - it performed so well. Then it was my wife's turn (while I tried the new Thruxton R). The Brat Tracker Seat was a little too high for her, but the dealer swapped it for the standard seat - perfect for her.

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She loved the bike and after I took another test ride with the T120, I must say it was my pick of the day too. Sure the Thruxton performed great, and the Bonneville is such a comfy bike. But the Street Twin sparked some nostalgia in me. Distant memories from half a lifetime ago, when I was sixteen and inherited the 1958 MZ RT125/2 from my great aunt. That wasn't a 'big bike for touring the continent'. It was something that you're happy to take out of the garage every day to visit a friend or for a short ride across your favorite countryside.

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Needless to say that it was exactly what we were looking for - the 'unisex' bike with a classic look and up to date engineering. Of course we could have swapped seats on any other bike. But that doesn't necessarily mean, that with both seats it is still a good ride. Usually you get the standard seat and swap it for a lower one - which screws up the weight distribution and the afore mentioned handlebars-to-ass-ratio, because your bum is in a fixed position in a seat pan.

But on the Street Twin, the higher Brat Tracker seat is the non-standard seat, meaning the bike was developed for the lower seat. So my wife has a comfy position, and I get the different weight distribution & handlebars-to-ass-ratio. The former is no problem, it makes the handling even better since the weight is even lower for me; and the latter doesn't matter either since you can move around freely on the Brat Tracker seat - it has no seat pan.

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For those of you who have followed our customization log, you know I'm really fond of this bike - not because I ordered spokes wheels from half a world away or gave it a nice paint job - but because I'm trying to make a good bike even better by tweaking all sorts of small details, even if it is just the position of the horn. Plus: I'm happy to see that the next generation is already growing fond of our "KraaaaKraaaa"...

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Great Pics by all!
Many years of various bikes and I've settled on a couple of Harleys over the last few years.
I wanted something light weight and more flick-able recently. Also as the post states "family", time to teach the younger ones and the added 2 or 4 hundred pounds is not ideal for them. But I'd say I tend to always go for the Triumph for trips under 2 hours by myself.
What a beautiful bike, much more practical than the older ones I used to toy with.
 
That Street Twin is a very nice bike and it sure seems to be making a positive impact on the market up until now. @hdready I love what you did with your bike and I really did not think that you would be able to make such a great bike better but you sure did manage to do just that.
 
Yes it does, especially at 55+
Would not have believed it if I had not tried it! Worked so well we got one for the R9t as well...
 
Thanks for the input. I have often thought of using one of these, but always felt they detract from the clean lines of the machine. Still, the wind blast gets old on those long journeys.
I'm tempted to try one!
 

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