I thought the new Thunderbird was a gas as well (see my amatuer Review somewhere's here in the archives.) It's obvious that the great new T-Bird was intended to fill the sector/gap in the "big" cruiser market, which I think it did very well.
Triumph's Speed Triple's, Street Triple's, Tigers, Sprints, Daytona's etc. are all super-excellent bikes, and one-on one big time competition for the various similar Asian offers. Performance wise, reliability wise, price-wise, they are all neck and neck for the finish line / win.
I sugest that a HUGE thing that places the Asian bikes in possible jeapody is... looks(?). Hear me out on this:
1.) Asian bikes lack ... physical 'character', when compared to American, and British Bikes. How to define that "character", or "look" is difficult, but you know what I mean.
2.) Asian products, whether it be Bikes, Cars, or ... Furniture - lack certain distinct elements of style and design proportion. Note how Asian "Cruisers" try extremely hard to mimic and copy the traditional "Cruiser" style, yet miss out by just a little. They tend to look more like characitures, or cartoonish, slightly altered clone versions of the original. You see this very clearly in Asian made "Classical" furniture copies. Close, but no cigar my friend.
3.) American "Iron", and Brit bikes have a huge, longstanding heritage, which drives the appearance and sound expectations. Granted, Asian bikes HAVE been around for a while, but a rich, established "old-timey" heritage in the Western world... no.
4.) In these aspects, American and British Motorcycle stylists and manufacturers seem to have a considerably significant edge.
Performance -wise, and "track record" wise, obviously the Asian bikes have an edge when measured over the past 30/40 years or so. That said, they still have a distinct "whine" instead of a "rumble" that most new riders associate with a motorcycle, as spoon fed by the media and "overload" advertising programs.
Maybe this is why motorcycling is so much fun, and so interesting. Some folks go for the sleek "racer" image and lifestyle, some go for wandering aimlessly around back country roads, some go for "Doo-rag" and "bad-ass" pretend lifestyles on the weekends, some go for the rich heritage and history of the ol' classics. Some challenge each other in distances rode in a day, sights seen (lookit' all my vest pins!). The choices are endless, and a blast whichever way you go.
Some ride scooters, some ride Rocket III's! It's a big, wide, "go yer own way" world out there!
Back down to earth
, it seems Triumph has done a great job in getting on the gravy train and riding it fast with these various model offers, let's just hope they don't get "too big" for themselves, and self implode. It's happened to the best of 'em!
Will they be around ten years from now? We'll see. Personally, I think the motorcycle world has peaked, sales wise, and now that a couple a' million or so Baby Boomers have experienced what they thought they may have missed back in their youth, the mid-life crisis period for those folks is fading in the sunset, and the overall sales will begin to level out.
But I would never expect those "boom" years of say 1995 to 2007 to return. Long time dedicated riders and enthusiasts will remain, and the market WILL grow, albeit slowly, just as long as legislative boards such as EPA and various Safety / Noise regulatory groups do not continue to get antagonised by squids (Loud pipes save.. ! Hey watch me smoke my tires!), and the manufacturing restrictions become so strict as to crush the sport for everyone.
Ride Safe!
Bob
Triumph Sales In UK up...
Triumph Sales In UK up... 
