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Triumph Bonneville T100 vs Kawasaki W800

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20K views 16 replies 10 participants last post by  Stablefull  
#1 ยท
Hi friends,

Long time lurker, first time poster. Hope I'm posting this in the right section.

I'm getting ready to pull the trigger on a new bike and I'm having a hell of a time deciding between the T100 and the W800. I owned a a 2017 T100 for a short period of time (was my first bike) but had to sell it due to a move. Took about a year before I was itching to get back on a bike again and I immediately starting looking for deals on another T100. I had no complaints about the bike whatsoever. I'm a smaller rider who enjoys mellow riding on back country roads and through towns/cities...and the bike did everything I asked of it.

I was pretty certain of my decision to go with another T100 until I came across these new renditions of the W800. I think they look better than the T100 in some ways. I've read all I can read about the bike and realize that there's definitely a lower power output when comparing to the T100, it's air cooled vs liquid cooled, and its a tad heavier but for some reason I find myself looking for any excuse to sway my decision toward the Kawi.

Has anyone ridden both of these bikes?

Just trying to settle for something that's reliable and easy/fun to relive stress on. Any insight would be greatly appreciated.
 
#7 ยท
I have sat on both and honestly Kawasaki has a stellar reputation and so does Triumph. The difference in cc's is really not much to worry about or notice that much. Really, I do not think you can make a poor choice. Looking forward to see what you choose.

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#9 ยท
Dealer availability may be a factor worth considering. Especially while traveling, it will be a lot easy to find a Kawasaki dealer than it will to find a Triumph dealer. That said, prior to my current ride (Honda Goldwing) I had a couple of Triumphs and loved those bikes.
 
#11 ยท
Having owned three Triumphs; a 2006, 2014, and 2017, I would consider the Kawasaki just based on overall reliability. Two of my bikes were okay, but the 2017 T120 wasn't. Based on the forum threads on Triumph specific forums I follow, others are finding the more recent bikes to not be as reliable as they were.

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#12 ยท
Based on the forum threads on Triumph specific forums I follow, others are finding the more recent bikes to not be as reliable as they were.
That's because they are trying to build these bikes as exact replicas of the originals.
LOL!!!