Why a Bonnie?

My wife had ridden my Honda CB500 and enjoyed it much more than I enjoyed having a passenger. I sold that bike and later got rid of my 360T. That was around the turn of the 21st century.

I thought I should quit riding before my luck ran out. At the time I was living in an area where old people tried to run over me every time I went for a ride. Of course, I missed riding every nice day after that.

Then in the Spring of last year, 2009, my wife and I were trying to think of fun things to do together. She suggested I get a motorcycle that we could both ride. I thought that could be fun but I really didn't care for baggers, cruisers or Goldwings. I don't like fairings and I'm only comfortable with a vertical riding posture. That also eliminates "crotch rockets." I didn't think I'd like any of the "modern" motorcycles.

But my wife kept talking about it and I kept thinking about it. One morning I googled "retro motorcycle" because I remembered that a few years before there had been a Yamaha that was styled like an old Triumph. I liked the idea of an old styled bike with new engineering.

One of the first images that popped up was a new Triumph Bonneville. I remember uttering to myself, "uh oh." I copied the photo to an email and sent it to my wife with those words: "uh oh."

I found lots of photos and several highly complimentary articles about the new Bonnevilles. I discovered that they were in production, beautiful, fun, super reliable and big enough for passengers. I got very excited about a motorcycle for the first time in a long time.

Of all the models, years and colors, I liked the black and white 2008 T100 best. I called the nearest Triumph dealer and they had a brand new one. I bought it about a week later.

I miss the lightness, maneuverability and quickness of my old 360 but I can't say that I miss it while I'm riding the Bonnie. I only miss it when I'm sitting here thinking about it. If I was riding the Bonnie right now I'd be too busy enjoying myself to miss the 360. Does that make sense?

The Bonnie is not a very comfortable long-distance touring bike. But it carries two passengers effortlessly and goes places I wouldn't care to take a bigger bike. It is an excellent compromise between a solo day-tripper and a two-up traveling machine. As long as I only have one motorcycle, this is my best choice.

Even if my wife didn't want to ride with me, I would still have gotten the Bonnie because it is just so cool and so much fun. And, surprisingly to me, I actually enjoy riding two-up on the Bonnie. Stopping and slow maneuvering with two requires a little extra care, but taking off and riding with two is a breeze on this machine.

I need to upgrade the saddle for the sake of our aching butts, but we have a blast riding around in the country on this bike. Oh yes, that's the other thing. A big bagger is a fine interstate bike but I prefer the scenery-lined back roads and that's where the Bonnie has no peer. A lot of the back roads in central Illinois are rolled and oiled gravel. The Bonnie doesn't mind them but I wouldn't want to travel on them very far with a Goldwing.