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Bought and paid for today, traded in the mighty sleeper '94-cum-'68 1204cc gold Sportster road burner I'd built. Went to get a Street Rod (less rake, more lean angle, bigger tank) but was seduced by both mid-set and highway pegs, the flyscreen fairing, lotta' chrome (not for it's own sake, but I live in sight of the ocean and the air is rough on polished aluminum)...and vivid black/black cherry two-tone paint to die for. Also, my wife takes delivery of a Triumph Bonneville in a couple of weeks and she's a novice rider..so this will be better for puttin' around with her than the more dedicated, mission-oriented Street Rod...if I was still single, I'd 'a taken the SR...maybe. Both have be DUAL FOUR-POT Brembo brakes and really haul you down. Finally...a Harley-Davidson with real brakes, a real transmission, and 120H.P.!
This pic does NOT do justice to the paint. I'l take my own pics in a day or so. The tank and rear fender have a center section of magnificent black cherry metallic, which sounded icky to me, but looks fantastic. I went all gushy when I actually saw it.

What hurts is I made my deal, went to bank, bought and paid off the bike (no lien)...and then it started to rain ...I'll pick it up tomorrow. So sad, yes?

So, most of the features of the Street Rod (with the upgraded 120 HP engine...which goes like stink..I test road a Street Rod).

Stoopy, if you smell rubber burnin' in the near future, it's blowin' in from the west coast...

This ain't the color, but it's a pretty good summary with nice views..
motorcyclecruiser.com/...night_rod/

Mine has trick 10 spoke wheels and not the ones in this pic...

That looks like a mighty fine ride you have acquired there Ascout !!

May I wish you may ride her for a very long time with great pleasure !


fled

Oh my freakin' gawd!!!!!

A V-ROD!! 'Scuse me, Night Rod, yeah? Jeeezus...SWEET!!!!!!!!

120 HP??!?! What, that bad black 'Stang ain't enough for ya? WOW!!!

Yeah ,an, I wanna see pics..... definitely of the 10-spoke wheels and that interesting fairing!! And a ride report on it too!!!

Dammit I'm even jealoous of your wife with the new Bonnie.....kinda wish I'd gotten a Bonneville American but the Sabre is holding up quite nicely...just went for a long ride yesterday, and, speaking of riding in the rain, got cornered by a thunderstorm on the way home!

Fer sure, we're gonna need pix of both new bikes and bikers together! TOO COOL!!!

- JG300-Stoopy

Oh my freakin' gawd!!!!!

Dammit I'm even jealoous of your wife with the new Bonnie.....kinda wish I'd gotten a Bonneville American but the Sabre is holding up quite nicely...just went for a long ride yesterday, and, speaking of riding in the rain, got cornered by a thunderstorm on the way home!

Fer sure, we're gonna need pix of both new bikes and bikers together! TOO COOL!!!

Well, it's not a new Bonnie...a 2002 in good shape with 19,000 miles on it. Belongs to a geophyicist at Scripps Institute and a stable sort of academician. He and his wife (a psychologist) are moving to Manhattan as a post-doc fellow at Columbia and he won't be needing wheels there! They move in two weeks so that's the reason for delayed pickup...it's his only ride (his wife has a car). Good maintenence records and mechanically very solid (I rode it). Wife wisely decided against a new one as it's $9,500 out the door and in case she finds she doesn't love riding....or drops the used one, it will hurt a lot less at $4,000. She loves the Triumphs and nothing else was going to do...she likes "old stuff" (lucky for me, since I'm starting to qualify)
The "cruiser" versions of these bikes are, IMO, too heavy for the modest 61H.P. powerplant in them...the Bonnie's are considerably lighter than the America and "Speedmaster"

Pics will follow...the color is amazing when you get a good view of it. (The wife's is the silver/sky blue two-tone they only did that year)

I was leaning heavily toward another Ducati...the ST3, which my wife chided me was a "mid-life crisis" bike. I don't know why the Nite Rod wouldn't qualify, but she thinks of it differently. Go figure.

[quote="JG300-Ascout"]

- JG300-Stoopy

I was leaning heavily toward another Ducati...the ST3, which my wife chided me was a "mid-life crisis" bike. I don't know why the Nite Rod wouldn't qualify, but she thinks of it differently. Go figure.

.....and don't ask questions either, as long as it works out in your favor!!!

I'm still stumped as to why my own wife even suggested a new bike when she has no interest in riding with me.....too much life insurance maybe?

I hear you about the Triumphs. I keep hoping they do something to fill the gap between the Bonneville and the Rocket III 2300. You'd think with the marketing and displacement wars gong on they'd be jumping all over that. Maybe they're taking the time to do it right, who knows....

Anyhoo......fantastic bike, just excellent!!! Real happy for you and can't wait to see some shots!

ditto ditto ditto ditto...:D

- JG300-Stoopy

I keep hoping they do something to fill the gap between the Bonneville and the Rocket III 2300. You'd think with the marketing and displacement wars gong on they'd be jumping all over that. Maybe they're taking the time to do it right, who knows....

Anyhoo......fantastic bike, just excellent!!! Real happy for you and can't wait to see some shots!

They did...it was called the "Thunderbird"...3 cyl, water cooled, Bonnie looks, sorta'. Didn't sell. I think it was the radiator what done it.

You really can't make a decent vert twin much over where they are now, so to make any real gains, they'd have to sacrifice some of the authentic "look" for more push. Like trick heads with more valves. You can get a lot of cooling with oil if done right. My old Ducati 900SS ('92) almost couldn't be brought up to temp unless ridden...you could idle at high rev's in the driveway for 20 minutes and not reach operating temp.

Folks in the market for the Bonnie look, don't really want, or need, much more power. Personally, I think if they could find 15 more ponies, it would really help the machine.

Ah. Makes sense.

Now.....g'wan out to the garage and get a picture of your mo'sheen even if it's rainin!!! You know you want to, you bad, bad naughty man!!

- JG300-Stoopy

Ah. Makes sense.

Now.....g'wan out to the garage and get a picture of your mo'sheen even if it's rainin!!! You know you want to, you bad, bad naughty man!!

No can do, Boss Hawg....like I said, I had to leave it at the dealer for pickup tomorrow because of heavy storms here. Besides, I'd have had to leave the car there so I just figgered I'd get a lift over on Saturday. They rolled it off the showroom floor so gawkers wouldn't sit on it and maybe scratch the tank or sumthin' I have to go postal over....

Should set off the "Hurst Special" Mustang nicely!

D'oh!!! I shoulda read that more carefully.....yep, the Ascout SE 'Stang n the background would make an awesome photo, what with about 420HP combined there......

HOOOOYAHHHH!!!

- JG300-Ascout

- JG300-Stoopy

I keep hoping they do something to fill the gap between the Bonneville and the Rocket III 2300. You'd think with the marketing and displacement wars gong on they'd be jumping all over that. Maybe they're taking the time to do it right, who knows....

Anyhoo......fantastic bike, just excellent!!! Real happy for you and can't wait to see some shots!

They did...it was called the "Thunderbird"...3 cyl, water cooled, Bonnie looks, sorta'. Didn't sell. I think it was the radiator what done it.

You really can't make a decent vert twin much over where they are now, so to make any real gains, they'd have to sacrifice some of the authentic "look" for more push. Like trick heads with more valves. You can get a lot of cooling with oil if done right. My old Ducati 900SS ('92) almost couldn't be brought up to temp unless ridden...you could idle at high rev's in the driveway for 20 minutes and not reach operating temp.

Folks in the market for the Bonnie look, don't really want, or need, much more power. Personally, I think if they could find 15 more ponies, it would really help the machine.

Yo...what he said. Check Walneck's listings for a good 2002 model or so...might just fit yer needs...

www.walnecks.com/search/results.cfm

SWEET!!!!! I don't mind the look of that radiator at all. If only it had forward-mounted pegs like the American....it's a knee thing.

Speaking of water cooled 3 cylinder machines, here's one I had (copied pic, mine was different color). A Suzuki GT750 commonly known as the "Water Buffalo"...

Bushy...
Man!...they were determined to protect that radiator, weren't they!

OK, I brought the baby home this morning...weather is marginal, so the light is bad and it's starting to drizzle...these are teasers just to capture the color...with and without flash...

Pulls 5,000rpm at 85 (redline is 9,000) so most reports of top ends in the 130 range or a little over sound about right. I'm stuck at 6,500 rpm and below for about five hunnerd miles or so. Wind impact is marginal at 80...nuthing like my Sporty was...so I think I can dodge getting a windshield.
It had some scratches on the rear wheel from sloppy mounting which I caught at the dealer...got agreement for a replacement in writing before I left.

Sure seems weird to hear a fan running for a few seconds when you turn it off!

The metalflake is not nearly as pronounced as the flash bulb makes it seem...more like in the non-flash pic...

Beeeeeeeeeautiful! VERY Nice Ascout!!!

Good thing they protect that radiator that well Ascout, I've tried riding it on it's side a few times...lol