Re: Find another excuse
I've put 27,000 miles on my Trophy in a year and a half in weather ranging from 100* in traffic to 29* and icy rain (last week) to 55* and pinapple express monsoon rain yesterday.
The bike has started ran and stopped reliably the whole time, the paint isn't fading or rusting, the powdercoating on the frame and engine isn't peeling, nothing has cracked broken or fallen off, the chrome is still mirror smooth on the silencers, the stainless fastners all look like new.
I could go on, but I think you get the point. This has been the best and most reliable bike I've had out of more than a dozen Japanese, American and German bikes I've owned, and judging from the Triumph specific websites I frequent my experiance is not unique.
Total maintainance costs have been two valve checks, with no adjustment required for $200. shop labor, Two sets of tires, two sets of spark plugs, one set of brake pads all around and oil and filter every 5k using Mobil 1-10w40. I'm still on the original chain and sprockets with only two adjustments required (most likely owing to my almost anal obsession with chain care)
If you don't want one that's fine and up to you, but using reliability as an excuse is inacurate, This bike has been more reliable than the Hondas, Kawasakis, BMWs and Harleys I've owned and as reliable as my Suzuki so far.
In fact the "unreliable" Harleys were, with two breakdowns in a total of about 140k miles on three bikes as good as the "reliable" BMW, and miles ahead of the Honda and Kawi's. Only the Suzuki Bandit @ 28k and the Triumph @ 27 k have been trouble free.
While no bike is bullet proof and imune to mechanical failure, Triumph is in the upper end of the reliability spectrum, and I have every intention of buying a few more when finances permit.
So much for reputations, huh?