I finally did it. I swapped bourbon for tea and sold my Harley Sportster Iron 1200 and bought the motorcycle you guys have been telling me to buy for two years now: the Triumph Bonneville T120.

This divorce has no drama, and no trash talking, because I loved and miss my Harley, but honestly, I regret nothing. Here’s why.

The Troubles

I’m going to tell you all about my 1,200cc liquid cooled Bonneville T120 and how it compares in pros and cons compared to the Harley, but first, a quick recap of my Sportster situation so you know where I’m coming from:

I was pretty close to having my Sportster dialed in just the way I wanted it:

• Screamin’ Eagle exhausts for a little more sound but not too much.
• Forward controls for better comfort for me.
• OEM Harley-Davidson Badlander gel seat so I could go for a longer ride.
• Passenger pegs (sold separately) so I could bring the missus along with me.
• Progressive Suspension rear shocks so we wouldn’t be bottoming out all the time… (and yeah, it still bottomed out all the time anyway).

The only thing left to do was even better suspension, a handlebar that made more sense for the kind of riding I do, and a tank swap to the larger capacity, wider gas tank. That’s it.

The Sportster Iron 1200 just felt good every time got on it. It sounded fantastic, made gobs of torque, had character to match. It just brought so much attitude and character. It was also the motorcycle I bought when I moved into my first apartment and got my first dog. It was the motorcycle I rode into becoming my own man.

So why did I get rid of this American motorcycle that I absolutely loved, for a British Triumph Bonneville T120? Let’s compare and see.

Iron 1200 vs T120

The thing about the Iron 1200 vs the Triumph Bonneville T120 is that on the surface they’re very different motorcycles, but I still kind of feel like if you love one of these motorcycles, there’s a good chance you’ll love them both. It’s an unpopular take, but hear me out:

• The first Sportster came out in 1957. The first Triumph Bonneville came out in 1959.
• Both motorcycles are modern interpretations of their 70 year old grandparents.
• Both are roughly 1,200cc.
• Both make roughly 70-something foot lbs of torque.
• Both are absolutely beautiful in my eyes.
• Both have upright ergonomics.
• Both have excellent fit and finish.
• Both cater to people who want power for ripping through their cities or back roads, paired with that retro 1970s inspired look.

See? They do have a lot in common. But how do the differences compare? Let’s score the differences like a boxing match. Take out your score cards, and lets judge!

Power delivery: The Iron 1200’s power delivery can feel almost violent from a stop when you push it. The fun from down low in the rev range is raw, unrefined, and addictive. The T120 on the other hand also brings gobs of torque but it’s more smooth and linear across the rev range.

Some people are going to prefer the more gentlemanly nature of the T120, compared the smash-mouth vulgar American, but me, personally, I’ll give the power delivery down low to the Harley.

Harley: 1
Triumph: 0

Highway riding: Things change when we get on the highway though. Being naked motorcycles neither are particularly great on the highway, but the T120 has about 20 horsepower more than the Sportster 1200, and you’ll notice it. You might also notice that the T120 comes with a sixth gear, but you’ll definitely notice that the Sportster only has five gears. I score this one for the T120.

Harley: 1
Triumph: 1

Brakes: Maybe because of the extra power, the T120 comes from factory with dual disk brakes up front with ABS, compared to the Sportster’s single disk brake, and optional ABS, which mine didn’t have. The stopping power round goes to the T120.

Harley: 1
Triumph: 2

Rider aides: Speaking of rider aides, the T120 is ride-by-wire, so you get two ride modes, and traction control. My Iron 1200 had none of those things, which is great because it’s less stuff to break, until it’s bad because you find yourself in a situation where you wish you had it.

We can’t know for sure whether or not the components will ever fail us. We also can’t know for sure whether or not having rider aides to count on will be enough to save us if we get into trouble. For those reasons, I’m calling this round a draw.

Harley: 2
Triumph: 3

Parts availability: One thing you’re guaranteed to find, is a lot of new and used Sportster parts out there for cheap. I was able to find some great used Genuine Harley-Davidson parts like my Screamin’ Eagle exhausts and my gel seat that probably cost me a third of the new price. With the Bonneville T120, anything good that comes up for sale locally is usually priced sky high and sells quickly. Easy point for the Sportster.

Harley: 3
Triumph: 3

Weight: Neither motorcycle is particularly light, with the Sportster roughly around 550 lbs, versus about 520 lbs for the Triumph, but despite the Sportster’s size, it doesn’t necessarily feel 30 lbs heavier because it carries a very low center of gravity. The weight round is a draw for me.

Harley: 4
Triumph: 4

Suspension: And that brings us to suspension. I hate those slimey YouTubers who just say every motorcycle is great, so I won’t do that. I’ll be totally honest with you, the rear suspension on both of these motorcycles suck. Period. Suspension round is a draw.

Harley: 5
Triumph: 5

Insurance costs: Here’s an absolute wild one: Insurance companies charge a markup on brands like Harley-Davidson and Ducati. When it comes to insurance, my T120 costs $600 US per year LESS than what the Iron 1200 costs. Every year I insure the T120 instead of the Iron 1200, I save $600.

Am I going to save that money? No. Am I going to use that money to fix problems with the T120 in future videos? Absolutely. Still though, easy point, T120.

Harley: 5
Triumph: 6

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Side-note: So far, I score this at around 6-5 in favor of the Bonneville, but I’m not the only judge here, so if you’ve been keeping score, please drop a comment and tell which one of these two icons wins in your eyes.

I know it’s going to be really subjective. There are some guys who won’t consider anything but a cruiser for some reason, there are other guys who aggressively hate cruisers for some reason… so I’m, very curious to see how the comments go.

Personally, I see the value and the appeal of both of these motorcycles. Two years ago I did a 9 video series to find the best mid-size retro motorcycle where I compared my Triumph Bonneville 865 vs my Moto Guzzi V7 vs my Royal Enfield Interceptor 650, and you guys kept leaving me comments saying “Sounds like you need a T120!” and “Just buy a T120!” and I finally listened.

And I do miss the Sportster, but, maybe the 12^th round of this fight should come down to availability. How easily can you really buy one of these things at a reasonable price?

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Availability: I picked up the T120 to try it because they don’t come up at a good price often. I sold the Sportster because at any given moment in time, there are always 1.8 zillion affordable Sportsters for sale. You can always buy another Sportster, and I’m sure I will.

So my final score at the end of 12 rounds, unfortunately is:

Harley: 6
Triumph: 6

And I hate that because I don’t like those greasy shill-tubers who tell you “Every motorcycle is great!” and “You can’t go wrong with any motorcycle!” because they’re too afraid of offending anyone to say how they really feel… So let me tell you how I really feel.

Well, you already know! I picked the Triumph Bonneville T120.

Other than character and cheap aftermarket parts, the T120 has just about everything that I love about my Sportster Iron 1200. The T120 just also gives me the extra nice-to-have stuff too, like better brakes, ABS, traction control, heated grips, dual disk brakes, a tiny bit more torque, much more horsepower, liquid cooling.

Yes, you can modify the heck out of a Sportster and make it whatever you want, but you won’t be able to ever add a lot of that stuff to a Sportster for any reasonable amount of money. Out of the box, the Triumph Bonneville T120 is just a more complete, more finished motorcycle.

But remember, the Triumph Bonneville T120 isn’t a perfect motorcycle either. It has two shamefully embarrassing flaws that we will definitely be correcting, so, hit subscribe if you want to see that.

Thank you for watching, and ride safe, but have fun.

Adrian