BACK TO DAYS OF TWEED ‘N SPEED
Someone asked me last week what the perfect motorbike was, and I said it depended on the circumstances.
In the States, it’s got to be a Harley or an Indian, making you feel as if you’re riding into the sunset on Route 66 to knock back a few beers with your sweetheart, a good-natured cowgirl.
In India, it’s got to be a Royal Enfield on which you imagine yourself pottering over to the club for bridge and a stiff gin after a hard day on the tea plantation.
And on the Triumph Bonneville Speedmaster, you’re in a tweed jacket, flannels with polished brogues after a morning doing aerobatics in your Tiger Moth. Now you’re barrelling down leafy lanes on your way to afternoon tea with your beloved, an English rose who wears floral dresses and uses expressions like “Golly!” As opposed to “WTF?”, for example.
With its relaxed and neutral riding position and swept back handlebars, it reminded me of a lovely 1942 Harley WLA I’d ridden.
But there the resemblance ended, since the Harley had 35hp, a three-speed hand change and a rocker clutch – whereas the Speedmaster has more than twice that power, and a slick six-speed box married to a clutch as light as the shadow of a ghost.
The 270-degree crank – which Triumph has been using on its cruisers since the 2013 version of the Thunderbird to mimic a V-twin and appeal to the American market – creates a lovely off-beat burble at idle which becomes a satisfying growl at speed.
The acceleration is as lusty as anything you’ll need in the real world, and the handling is trademark Triumph: not as scalpel-sharp as its sports bikes, but light and precise enough to leave you waltzing through bends with languid aplomb.
For proper touring, the £1,762 Highway kit includes adjustable screen, waxed cotton panniers, a more comfortable rider’s seat and wider pillion, back rest and luggage rack. I’d certainly go for the comfortable seat, since the standard one got uncomfortable after an hour, and the short travel rear suspension left my spine slightly shorter after one stretch of road which had apparently been chewed by dinosaurs.
Still, never mind. I was probably too tall anyway. I’ll just have to get my tailor to alter that tweed jacket. ■ Test bike supplied by Phillip McCallen Motorcycles. phillipmccallen.com.