2018 Triumph Bonneville Bobber Problems
Owner-reported complaints filed with NHTSA, grouped by component
Data refreshed
What this page shows
Everything below is an owner-reported complaint submitted to NHTSA about the 2018 Triumph Bonneville Bobber, grouped by the component NHTSA recorded on the report. These are not confirmed defects, and they are not recalls. NHTSA does not verify most reports before publishing them, and a category with more reports in it is not evidence that a part is defective.
Complaints are reports submitted by owners and drivers to NHTSA. They are not verified and do not establish that a defect exists.
Reports by component
Ranked by how many owner reports name each component category
- Exterior lighting150.0%
- Other / unspecified150.0%
Percentages are of component mentions. A single complaint can name more than one component, so these do not sum to the total complaint count.
Each component in detail
What the reports in each category say, in the owners' own words
Exterior lighting
Reports naming headlights, tail lights, turn signals and other exterior lighting.
From owner reports, verbatim
1.) I would like to begin by saying that my bike is nearly brand new. Only just over 4k miles. So, the following problem is not in any way a result of the bike being an old or beaten down vehicle. The rear brake light and turn signals failed due to the cable that runs under the rear fender to the rear lights (being suspended by very weak and half attached thin metal tabs) becoming dislodged from their incredibly suspect holding tabs and rubbing on the tire. Thus, stripping and destroying the cable. This is available for inspection upon request. The way the cable is attached is the crux of the complaint I am making. It is unfathomable how this could have not only been designed in the first place, but then approved for production. 2.) If the tire had gotten hold of the cable and ripped it from the bike I could have been thrown from the bike and killed. This is an incredibly unsafe and extremely poorly designed portion of the bike. In addition to the feature having the ability to kill any rider it also has resulted in the lights not working. Not having brake lights or turn signals in the rear can result in other drivers not knowing what you are doing and causing an accident. 3.) To my knowledge this problem has not been addressed in any way by the manufacturer or any other person. I am currently waiting for an upcoming appointment with the dealer to address this issue. 4.) There was no warning of the possibility of this issue. One moment it works perfectly fine, next it is sent into catastrophic failure. Luckly in my case I was uninjured, and the cable was only stripped and frayed and did not get grabbed by the tire. Conclusion This problem is insanely dangerous and can result in death. This feature is so irresponsible and poorly designed it bogles the mind. How Triumph can get away with this without a recall is utterly monstrous. There is no reason for this poor design other than to have it fail on purpose or a complete disregard for any concept of safety.
Too few reports in this category for a page of its own — they appear in the full complaint list.
Other / unspecified
Reports whose component NHTSA recorded as unknown, or that do not map to one of the categories above.
From owner reports, verbatim
1.) I would like to begin by saying that my bike is nearly brand new. Only just over 4k miles. So, the following problem is not in any way a result of the bike being an old or beaten down vehicle. The rear brake light and turn signals failed due to the cable that runs under the rear fender to the rear lights (being suspended by very weak and half attached thin metal tabs) becoming dislodged from their incredibly suspect holding tabs and rubbing on the tire. Thus, stripping and destroying the cable. This is available for inspection upon request. The way the cable is attached is the crux of the complaint I am making. It is unfathomable how this could have not only been designed in the first place, but then approved for production. 2.) If the tire had gotten hold of the cable and ripped it from the bike I could have been thrown from the bike and killed. This is an incredibly unsafe and extremely poorly designed portion of the bike. In addition to the feature having the ability to kill any rider it also has resulted in the lights not working. Not having brake lights or turn signals in the rear can result in other drivers not knowing what you are doing and causing an accident. 3.) To my knowledge this problem has not been addressed in any way by the manufacturer or any other person. I am currently waiting for an upcoming appointment with the dealer to address this issue. 4.) There was no warning of the possibility of this issue. One moment it works perfectly fine, next it is sent into catastrophic failure. Luckly in my case I was uninjured, and the cable was only stripped and frayed and did not get grabbed by the tire. Conclusion This problem is insanely dangerous and can result in death. This feature is so irresponsible and poorly designed it bogles the mind. How Triumph can get away with this without a recall is utterly monstrous. There is no reason for this poor design other than to have it fail on purpose or a complete disregard for any concept of safety.
Too few reports in this category for a page of its own — they appear in the full complaint list.
Higher-selling and older vehicles accumulate more reports. Counts are not failure rates and are not directly comparable between vehicles that sold in very different numbers.
Elsewhere on this vehicle
Data sources
- NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation — owner-reported complaints and the components recorded on them
Data on this page last refreshed .