I STAND looking in awe at Triumph's Thunderbird Storm. It has a sheer presence which few bikes have, and it backs it up on the road, proving its bite is as big as its bark.
The boss went to the launch of the original 1600 Thunderbird, an act for which I have yet to completely forgive him.
However, he was partially pardoned by allowing me the joys of fraternising with the 1600 that featured the factory fitted 1700 big bore kit.

That lilting parallel twin at idle was almost enough for me to forgive him; at speed, we are almost friends again.
Perhaps my heart has been tarnished. I remember back in the ’70s, sitting astride that '69 Bonneville in the workshop. Somehow my soul was never going to be the same again.
And then along came this black, black Thunderbird. Be still my beating heart!

Yes, the hair is now much, much greyer and I'm probably not the right demographic, perhaps.
Triumph's large capacity cruiser is aimed at a younger demographic targeting riders looking for an alternative to standard custom styling, as if being a big, big parallel twin isn't noticeable enough on its own!
A powerful engine that delivers an exciting ride as well as those dark, brooding looks, aimed of course, at a much younger but perhaps wider audience, so maybe my demographic is in its sights after all.

One thing is for certain - black is the new black!
The black finish extends to engine covers, clutch cover, alternator cover, pulley cover and cam cover, while the new clutch cover embellisher carries the Storm name and graphic.

On the stand

She has a piercing gaze through those twin headlights. You won't mistake that capricious look.
There are new handlebars with new black finish tall handlebar risers (a chrome option is available - sacrilege!). New black finish to top and bottom yokes. The handlebar ergonomics are the same as the Thunderbird with only a slight difference in the hand position.
There is also a new tank badge featuring new Triumph calligraphy as well as a black finish for the instrument cover. I thought that was interesting. Even in its past Triumph did not often mess with things that are well established and almost iconic in their status. So the new tank script and Storm logo grabbed my eye.
And there's no shortage of other black stuff too, such as blinker shells, headlight shell, wheels, rear guard strut - you get the picture.
Of course it comes in two colours: jet black and matt black. And, you expected?

In her black, black heart

She is a liquid cooled parallel twin with DOHC and a 270 degree crank pumping out a sinister 98 PS, 97 bhp 72kW @ 5200rpm and torque of 156 Nm, 115ft.lbs @ 2950 rpm. When you hold one of those whopping 107.1mm pistons in your hand it speaks volumes more than just stats on a sheet.
And the spec sheets will tell you about the revised camshaft, the larger piston rings, new cylinder liners, new gudgeon pins and gaskets.
But as I sat there in the briefing before the ride listening to Triumph's Cliff Stovall give us all the lowdown on the new girl I kept turning that huge piston around in my hand, over and over.
Her stance is helped by a cast aluminium five-spoke 19 inch front wheel and a five-spoke 17inch rear wheel. Don't ask me what colour, I refuse to tell you. You should already have twigged to my hints. She wears Metzelers that have been specially designed and developed for her.
Up front she has Showa 47mm front forks with 120mm travel and black lowers.
Twin black Showa rear shocks with 95mm rear wheel travel and five-way adjustment look after the back end.
Twin 310mm front disc with four-piston fixed caliper and a 310mm rear disc with twin-piston floating caliper provide the stopping power and do it admirably.

On the road

The plan was to spend some time riding through the Dandenong Ranges and a few rainy patches failed to dampen our enthusiasm.
In fact, it was probably a good thing that the conditions were like that. I mean anyone can open up the throttle and just go hard in the dry.
The enjoyment came from not only the open stretches of road, but also some of the tight, twisting roads; some very wet and covered with mud washouts and debris and being able to use the sheer torque of the motor without necessarily shifting through the six-speed transmission which also features upgraded heavy duty clutch springs.

The Storm has an impressive amount of torque and flexibility and the conditions provided ample opportunity to put it to good use.
The belt drive is beautifully smooth and the seat height of 700mm will not deter people with short legs, such as yours truly. The net weight of 339kg also is not crazy heavy for a cruiser of this engine capacity and, combined with the relatively low-ish seat height, is not a problem.

The fuel tank capacity at 22 litres means you have cruiser with decent cruising capacity.
There were several Thunderbirds on our ride, some featuring the solo long haul seat which is definitely the go for longer trips.
The standard seat is passable for shorter trips but once you try the long haul seat you'll want to keep it.
There is a rider and pillion backrest combination available. The rider backrest can be adjusted on the run, with six different positions, the pillion backrest looks like it could be moved slightly further forward.
The good people at Triumph have a function on their website called Create My Triumph where you can go and literally create your own personalised Triumph with all the things that your heart desires.
Interestingly, when the first 1700 factory big bore kit became available up to 17 per cent of Thunderbird buyers chose to buy the kit when it became available - a very high percentage indeed.
So clearly, the Thunderbird Storm fulfils a need that was obviously there because you can never have too much power, can you?

Of course there's lots of black aftermarket stuff as well such as rear swingarm covers in gloss black, pressed single seat rack, gloss black teardrop mirrors - you can see a theme developing here can't you?
There are Hi Flow short silencers available, although the standard pipes have a very nice note too.
Having seen all the derivatives that have evolved from the Bonneville platform it will be interesting to see what Triumph have on the drawing board for the Thunderbird, because clearly there is plenty of scope here to develop a separate big parallel twin pedigree.

On the wallet

The standard Thunderbird Storm will set you back $20,990 plus on-road costs which is a pretty competitive price for a bike of this size, capability and quality of finish.
The ABS version is $21,990 and of course they all come with two-year unlimited kilometre warranty.
So you see, a reasonable amount of money can buy an awful lot of soul.