Milonga by Cafe Twin

Remember that giddy feeling when you went into your favourite toy or sweet shop?  That’s the feeling I got when I stumbled onto the Cafe Twin website.  They are an Italian company who sell the bits that can transform your retro twin cylinder bike into the custom machine of your dreams – if you have the money.  This is best exemplified in their bountiful gallery of customised Triumph Bonnevilles, Scramblers and Thruxtons.  This video below features one of their builds dreamily meandering through a folky Italian landscape just to incase you didn’t feel envious enough.  Watch it full screen.

“You’re gonna love it”.

I have finally made the upgrades to my 2009 Triumph Bonneville!  My main aim was to slim the bike down and give it the cafe racer look that it deserves.  I found the parts from four different suppliers in three different countries!  Gone are the stock lights, replaced with the oval cat-eyes tail light and mini bullet indicators.  The rear indicators are relocated to the shocks.  This has significantly cleaned up the rear and generally slimed down the look of the bike.  The clubman handlebars are from Royal Enfield and it has neither rise nor fall, giving me a more agressive riding position, but it is kinder to the wrists than clip-ons or other clubmans.  Lastly I found bar end mirrors from Moto-Deluxe on ebay which I have been very impressed with as they vibrate less than my Napoleon mirrors.  Overall, I am absolutely in love with the new look of the bike.

I had the parts installed by my mechanic Brett from Madbiker in addition to my regular service.  He texted me back with this message, “Your bike is ready & you’re gonna love it..”.  Right he was.

This is what it looked like before…

My New Bike

Got my dream bike!  Triumph Bonneville SE 2009 model.  Used but still under warranty!  I couldn’t pass up the opportunity.  As I stare at it in my garage, I can’t believe I actually own one – such a beautiful machine.

The best way to describe the ride is… easy.  The engine barely feels like it’s ever struggling which belies the power it delivers.  Steering is quick and riding is confidence inspiring.  Coming from my Honda VTR 250 it certainly feels like a bigger bike but everything is in easy reach and the weight is incredibly well balanced.  Just like many riders out there, I wish the pipes made a bit more noise and I wouldn’t mind the handlebars being a little further forward.  Already bought some Napoleon bolt on mirrors to replace the lolly pop mirrors.

MCN recently compared it to the “new” Norton Commando and found that in the low end the Bonnie was actually quicker despite costing three times less.  Can’t wait to take it on a big ride and enjoy all it’s retro goodness.