Triumph T100 vs T120: Which One Should You Buy?

Alright, today we have the T 120 and the T 100, this one has 1200 CCS, this one has nine hundred CCS, this one is a little more expensive, this one is a little more affordable, so today we will look at all the details. Take a spin and find out if you're considering either bike,

which

one you

should

choose, but before we get started, I'd like to say a big thank you to Lyn Triumph for sponsoring today's video. They have shops in Romford Watford. Ashford and the central store can be seen here, so if you're based in or around London and fancy trying one of these bunnies, feel free to leave them lined up, in my experience their stuff is super friendly and helpful.

There is a link. in the description of their test booking form for each of these bikes, I'll hit the road in a moment, but first we'll go over the specs. This is the standard T 100 that I will be driving today in jet black. It uses the 900cc high-talk variant of the liquid-cooled parallel-twin Bonneville, making 454 horsepower at 5900 rpm and 18 Newton meters of peak talk at 3230. You get the same 270-degree firing range that gives the The entire Bonneville sounds impressive. as well as an assisted slipper clutch for a nice light feel on the lever, but along with the other 900s in the range it has a 5-speed gearbox compared to the 1200s' six-speed in terms of the key dimensions it has. a seat height of 719 millimeters and a dry weight of 213 kilograms, so it's quite substantial but not huge.

The hardware used in the T 100 suits its retro character and is nice and simple. It has spoke wheels with an 18-inch diameter front to help with that vintage look. They have a schoolboy look and are shod with Pirelli Phantom tires. For braking, there is a single disc at the front that is missing a two-part caliper and a single part at the rear for the KYB forks and shock, and they offer only preload adjustment on the shocks. To electronically compensate a passenger or luggage, the T100 is quite simple. ABS is always activated. Traction control can be turned on or off and it basically has a speedometer and rev counter with some digital displays inside, but otherwise it's straightforward motorcycling.

Experience the

t120

I have here to compare it to is actually an Ace Café edition

which

has a ton of extras including a special paint job for the bar, tank badges, engine badges, blacked out components, a bench seat , LED indicators and a bit of tail. neat, but otherwise all t1 twenty get the following changes over the

t100

: The engine capacity is of course increased from three hundred CCS to one thousand two hundred, resulting in substantially more power with a peak of 79 horsepower of force at six thousand five hundred and fifty rpm. In addition to one hundred and five Newton meters produced at 3100, as expected, with a larger engine comes reduced fuel economy, with Triumph claiming 74 miles per gallon for the

t100

versus 63 for the t1 20, the tank having the same capacity with 14 and a half liters too. so you'll get a little less reach with the larger bike, the t1 twenty years dry increases by 11 kilograms to 224, partly due to the twin disc brakes at the front, uses the same 3100 calipers that are missing with two pistons, but as you can see there. are two of them, there are some improvements to the electronics in the form of two driving modes, road and rain, which give the driver a little more throttle control in difficult conditions, which can be useful with that extra chatter, there are an LED daytime running light to improve visibility. and heated grips come as standard, in addition to this you get a center stand and on the t1 20s apart from this special Ace Cafe you also get a grab bar for the passenger so those are the specs but how do you get them compare on the road?

While this is the smaller of the two bikes or the smaller engine anyway, it's an absolutely perfect amount of power and torque for riding around town like this. Many of you will know that I own a street twin myself, so it's pretty much the same bike as this one. just a bit more modern style and that's exactly why I bought the street twin because most of my riding is in London so you rarely go over 30 or 40 max and what you need is a bike with a bit of low end torque that stops pretty far from the lights and has a nice gutsy feel to it but I guess where the t100 has an advantage over the t1 20 is that by having a 900 instead of a 1200 it's a bit more efficient in fuel and That cost difference adds up, obviously, if you ride every day, it doesn't necessarily feel like a smaller bike, although it has the same dimensions as the t1 20, same chassis, so it feels more or less Likewise, the reach to the bars and the width. of the bars, the seat height of 719 millimeters is perfect for getting around town 790 for me, I'm about 5 foot 9, you know, 790 million is not a long stretch to the floor.

I can easily walk on both sides, but that's not the case. If you're feeling tight, whether you're a little shorter or run small, you might also appreciate the fact that it's a little bit lighter compared to the T1 20. See, this is the great thing about doing bike demos from Triumph London that you may not understand. zigzag alpine roads, but you can pass Buckingham Palace and many other wonderful attractions, and it's also nice that the t100 has open locks; it still has that slightly more premium feel all the way through than maybe you know street wins in Street scrambler, you get a unique speedometer with digital readout here you get revs and speed as well as two small LCD inserts.

Now I'm not going to be driving on any highways today, but I know firsthand from owning a Street Twin for a couple of years that that's where this bike will fall short if you ride alone and are always in the city, probably You'll barely notice the difference between the two bikes, but as soon as you hit the highway, the fact that it only has five gears. and that little bit less power, you know, those factors contribute to it feeling a little more worn out when you get to 70, if you carry a passenger often or want to put luggage on them, you can get some soft luggage options for these Bonnevilles.

You might be willing to do a weekend tour or go further afield. You know, for the extra money it's probably worth it. It's been that extra grunt you get on the T1 20. You could do that on this bike. I've ridden my 900, my Street Twin. to Wales and back, but you'll find that in fifth gear at cruising speeds it accelerates just a little more than you'd expect and in situations where you're on the motorway and want to overtake, a little extra power wouldn't go amiss. and the last area where you could score the t100 compared to the

t120

is possibly the brakes so it's a single disc with a two piston caliper on the front you get twin discs on the t1 20 you know these kind of speeds that you don't know I need exactly MotoGP brakes, so again, if you ride most of the time in urban environments, they'll probably be adequate, but like I said, if you two go a little faster, you have some extra weight on the Brake.

Riding those twin discs may provide some extra peace of mind, but bottom line, you know this is a great little bike with that extra fuel efficiency, plenty of power for the city with a more old-school finish, and a little more of chrome than something like the street twin, so that's the t100, but does the t120 really feel that different now? You probably wouldn't notice if you demoed a t100, you walked away and thought about it and then came back and wrote a t120, but after riding them back to back the t120 feels a little more substantial, they're the same chassis like I already said , but it weighs about 10 kilograms more and you notice that when you push the bike and maneuver it out of the shop, this special edition Ace Cafe has a bench. seat too, I think that might add a little seat height and then the 1200cc Bonneville twin seems to have some extra base and arm, so like I say back to back, you'll notice that slight difference unless there are differences subtle that extra power is very noticeable.

I don't want to understate how different the power is between these two bikes Chris, while 900 to 1200 doesn't seem like a huge jump in capability, it's really like riding different bikes around town, can you? I really use it in this traffic though, I mean I'm not so sure, but I had Triumph's scrambler 1200 on loan as a press bike and did a lot of motorway work and I can confirm that it's much more comfortable to ride on. at 70 more than a Bonneville 900 brake wise there is noticeably more power obviously having two of these two Neesons up front you can feel there is more power there the initial bite is still quite soft it's not like the braking of a sports bike, but I think that fits the character of the bike, it has a retro feel, a bit old school.

I don't think you'd expect to find sharp brakes on a bike like this if you've seen any of my street twins. Owner Reviews I've said several times that I'd prefer better brakes on those probably twin discs, and personally, yes, I prefer the feel of this bike when you're braking. Fortunately, today I was lucky to have good weather. but it's worth mentioning that there is a mode button on the right side switch and that allows you to switch between road and rain, obviously if it's raining you might prefer that more muted throttle response just to avoid losing traction when accelerating .

To be just as careful with the throttle, the other benefit of having a rain mode is that if you carry a passenger frequently, it can also smooth out the ride a bit, especially if you're in the city where you're speeding up and slowing down. and stepping on and off the accelerator quite frequently, are there any negative aspects of the t1 20 vs the T 100? Well, I guess if you have your heart set on this more traditionally styled Bonneville but want the lightest bike possible then you have that to consider, but really I think the rest comes down to cost.

Want to part with those extra seventeen hundred pounds for the bigger bike? So which one would you personally choose? I think the extra money is probably worth it for the flexibility it offers. The t1 20 especially delivers if you're thinking of hitting the motorway a little further afield at the weekend touring that sort of thing, but if cost is the main factor for you both in terms of purchase and operation then the t100 might be a more sensible option. especially if you ride mainly in the city and on B roads, but as always, I'd love to know what you think in the comments below: would you go for the T 100 or does 25 extra horsepower sound too tempting?

It would also be great to hear from anyone who has purchased any of these bikes with their ownership experience, message me in the comments and if you're new here and want to see more videos like this, please subscribe and I'll see you next time.