This month our friend Kaiwa Elavian, leader of the Mumbai Classic Riders, one of the 2 communities we have in India with New Delhi, is sharing his ownership review of his 2014 Triumph Bonneville.
Find much more cool moto content on his blog: The Bawa and his Bike !
Phantom black in colour….silver alloys…that sweet chrome body and with the name Bonneville I was sold the first time I saw this beauty standing outside the Triumph’s, showroom in Mumbai. After clocking 12000+ kms and owning this beast for more than a year, it was time to write down my thoughts about the bike….
I still remember it was raining in the July of 2017 heavily when I wanted to test ride this beast out and see what it feels to have 865cc of pure horsepower between my legs. As soon as I switched on the ignition….hearing that sweet gurgling sound of the air-cooled, fuel injected parallel twin engine I knew I was in heaven. The guys at the Shaman Triumph had fondly named him ‘Seabiscuit’ after the stallion in the movie Seabiscuit. And boy was he waiting to stretch his legs (wheels) out….off we went on our first ride together into the rains and on to the streets of Mumbai. I literally zoomed through the highway in between the traffic and in no time was I in the lead sort of…and everyone and I mean everyone who heard me come and go wondered who’s this new beast on the road.
Being the second owner of any super bike has its advantages, you get most of the accessories pre-loaded on your bike, I had the free flows which gave the bike a great sound to the ears…music to my ears if I may…then there was the most comfortable touring seat you might have ever sat your ass on…just wow in every way possible.
For me this was the first time owning a super bike and a proud moment since I had aimed to own one and but hadn’t hoped I’d achieve this so early in life. I was also very impressed by the previous owner who had maintained the bike & no one could say this bike was ~3 years old and had done more than 32k Kms when I bought it.
Slowly but steadily I started to learn that owning a super bike ain’t easy, it needs to be maintained and for that you need good quality parts to be sourced for which I was suggested to go online and shop on Motousher. These guys provide you with a plethora of accessories and genuine parts for all types of bikes in the market at competitive prices. I started short listing and with calculative selection of which parts I wanted such that I could maintain this beast at optimal performing levels at all time, overtime it became easier.
The parts I sourced from Motousher were as follows;
- Air-filter by HI-FLO
- Oil- Filter by HI-FlO
- EBC Brakes (Front &Rear) Double HH Sintered
These helped me feel good and made all my rides safe. With every ride my confidence jumped tenfold and then there was no stopping me & Seabiscuit from conquering the world. With a 12ltr tank capacity and fuel mileage of about 15-18kmpl within city limits my office rides were smoother than any normal joe…..but then on the highway with the performance parts installed I had this beast doing 25- 28kmpl easily. What I loved more is the analogue speedo, round headlamp which gave it that modern classic look.
I had a lot of help from Zubin Ponappa from Zubin Designs & Garage Built Motorcycles respectively with my bikes parts installation and servicing from time to time and would like to thank them for all their support. Wonderful people to be with who breathe and live bikes and understand what your bike wants. You can be rest assured that there would be Zero problems and customer satisfaction guaranteed once you go to them.
Here’s to all those memories and many destinations that we have had the chance to go and explore. Signing off….until next time… Ciao!!
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