British Steel: Year 2
Been meaning to post on this for a while-
A few weekends ago, I went to the Triumph demo test ride. Hmmm- test the newest machines from Hinckley, free of charge? Twist my arm, right?
The downside was, you could only ride two bikes a day. Didn't matter, because there were two bikes that I was set on riding anyway. Saturday, those were booked up, but as long as they still had two wheels and a motor, I'd be interested to give it a go.
SPEEDMASTER
Having ridden the Bonneville America last year and been vastly underwhelmed, I didn't have high hopes for the other sub-liter cruiser from Hinckley. WRONG. The dual disc brakes give it surprisingly nice stopping power, although I'm pretty sure that it had aftermarket pipes. The exhaust note not resembling a sewing machine was my first clue. Also, the addition of a tach was nice. The pegs are not overly forward, yet high enough to actually give you some decent cornering room. I gotta say, if I was in the market for a cruiser, I wouldn't turn it down.
THRUXTON
OK, how can you not want to ride this thing? This one had the Arrow 2-1 exhaust, giving it a more pronounced burble. First impression after climbing on- OH GOD, MY ASS!! The seat on this thing is made of wood- WOOD, I tell you! The bars are low and short, so you're in the push-up position while riding, but without the long reach of some of the sport bikes, so if you've got the forelimbs of a chimpanzee like I do, you might be a little cramped. This also puts a lot of your weight right over the front of the bike. The pegs are high- much higher and much farther back than you might expect. A Bonneville's seating position it ain't. Don't get me wrong- it's zippy, it sounds good, but practical? Hell no. The ride we took was about 35 minutes, and that was about as long as I could stand to be on it. Which is a shame, because I wanted to like this one- I really did, but I honestly couldn't see owning one, especially at Triumph prices.
And now, the grand finale from Sunday,
DAYTONA 675
motomuffin, I thought about you the first time I got to take it for a spin. Forget the not-for-anyone-under-5'8" seat height. Forget that the seat is nothing more than a potholder stretched over a chunk of particle board. Forget the seating position that makes you almost hear the snap of a doctor's rubber glove and a jar of lube being unscrewed. Forget taking any pillions larger than a Lhasa Apso. Forget the underseat exhaust warming your buns like a 115 horsepower toaster oven. All this is worth tits on a nun when you fire up the three-cylinder powerplant and listen to that deep, throaty exhaust breathing through the 3-1 Arrow can. The moment you twist the throttle, you GO. No spooling the tach up to hummingbird-on-a-coke-bender rev limits, just GO. STFU and GO. The powerband is smooth and seamless and begs for more. The windshield is low, but does a surprisingly good job of wind deflection. On the highway, the high seat height has an advantage in giving you a lot more leg room than you might expect. Cornering? Describing its turning ability as razor-like would be like calling a 'Busa "peppy." Again, the high seat height comes into play since it does require a bit more lean. I had to wait five hours for the chance to take it out and it was TOTALLY worth it.
Sunday was a lot better turnout, despite the rain. I met a lot of people from http://www.sport-touring.net. Plus it was nice getting to check out what other people brought to the ride. There was an old Honda CB350 and an older CM200. My personal favorite was the Aprilia RSV Factory with twin Devil exhaust *eargasm*.
STREET TRIPLE
Actually, I rode this one before the Babytona, but it was by far my favorite bike. Compared between this one and its big brother...I'd have to say it's a toss-up. Don't get me wrong- the Speed Triple is a torque beast- every single person I talked to- myself included- pulled the front wheel up the first time they rode it. Hooliganism on the Baby Triple requires a bit more effort, but it's much lighter and more flickable, plus the footpegs are in more of a standard position. The little flyscreen works surprisingly well at keeping the wind off you. And the TORQUE!
The only downside I found is...I don't own one. No, wait, let me take that back. The only downside to this bike is the inevitable climb in insurance premiums. This is a bad bike for bad people.I think the hardest part was trying not to ride like a total jackass. If you're the type who can't ride without headphones, I would recommend Peter Murphy or Pink Floyd, or something relaxing. No Ministry, White Zombie, or Metallica, unless you enjoy being the center of attention of half the fleet of your local constabulary. Ten minutes at the bars of one of these will show you why they're called "hooligans."
It's a 675cc, which makes it a middleweight. Which means that it's going to inevitably be compared to the SV650. This is NOTHING like the SV650. To say that the SV and the Street are equal because of their engine displacement is like comparing .40 S&W to 10mm. There are enough gun geeks on here where I don't have to explain that, but for everyone else- okay- you know that movie Green Street Hooligans, where Elijah Wood starts off as some preppy college poofter and finishes as a fist-swinging, bottle-smashing soccer hooligan? Yeah, sorta like that. This thing would eat an SV with a pint of Guinness and basket of fries chips. A beginner could probably get away with an SV. A beginner would end up flat on their back watching the Triple roll riderless down the street. Middleweight or no, this baby's got a LOT of grunt. Granted- the SV is about $2K less than a Triple Jr., but what you GET for the extra $2K is more than obvious. If you can find a Triumph dealer willing to loan you the keys, I highly recommend you take them up on it. There aren't a lot of new bikes I would ride off the lot these days, but MAN- what I wouldn't give for the pinkslip to one of these babies.
Final verdict: Street Triple- buy the ticket, take the ride.
A few weekends ago, I went to the Triumph demo test ride. Hmmm- test the newest machines from Hinckley, free of charge? Twist my arm, right?
The downside was, you could only ride two bikes a day. Didn't matter, because there were two bikes that I was set on riding anyway. Saturday, those were booked up, but as long as they still had two wheels and a motor, I'd be interested to give it a go.
SPEEDMASTER
Having ridden the Bonneville America last year and been vastly underwhelmed, I didn't have high hopes for the other sub-liter cruiser from Hinckley. WRONG. The dual disc brakes give it surprisingly nice stopping power, although I'm pretty sure that it had aftermarket pipes. The exhaust note not resembling a sewing machine was my first clue. Also, the addition of a tach was nice. The pegs are not overly forward, yet high enough to actually give you some decent cornering room. I gotta say, if I was in the market for a cruiser, I wouldn't turn it down.
THRUXTON
OK, how can you not want to ride this thing? This one had the Arrow 2-1 exhaust, giving it a more pronounced burble. First impression after climbing on- OH GOD, MY ASS!! The seat on this thing is made of wood- WOOD, I tell you! The bars are low and short, so you're in the push-up position while riding, but without the long reach of some of the sport bikes, so if you've got the forelimbs of a chimpanzee like I do, you might be a little cramped. This also puts a lot of your weight right over the front of the bike. The pegs are high- much higher and much farther back than you might expect. A Bonneville's seating position it ain't. Don't get me wrong- it's zippy, it sounds good, but practical? Hell no. The ride we took was about 35 minutes, and that was about as long as I could stand to be on it. Which is a shame, because I wanted to like this one- I really did, but I honestly couldn't see owning one, especially at Triumph prices.
And now, the grand finale from Sunday,
DAYTONA 675
motomuffin, I thought about you the first time I got to take it for a spin. Forget the not-for-anyone-under-5'8" seat height. Forget that the seat is nothing more than a potholder stretched over a chunk of particle board. Forget the seating position that makes you almost hear the snap of a doctor's rubber glove and a jar of lube being unscrewed. Forget taking any pillions larger than a Lhasa Apso. Forget the underseat exhaust warming your buns like a 115 horsepower toaster oven. All this is worth tits on a nun when you fire up the three-cylinder powerplant and listen to that deep, throaty exhaust breathing through the 3-1 Arrow can. The moment you twist the throttle, you GO. No spooling the tach up to hummingbird-on-a-coke-bender rev limits, just GO. STFU and GO. The powerband is smooth and seamless and begs for more. The windshield is low, but does a surprisingly good job of wind deflection. On the highway, the high seat height has an advantage in giving you a lot more leg room than you might expect. Cornering? Describing its turning ability as razor-like would be like calling a 'Busa "peppy." Again, the high seat height comes into play since it does require a bit more lean. I had to wait five hours for the chance to take it out and it was TOTALLY worth it.
Sunday was a lot better turnout, despite the rain. I met a lot of people from http://www.sport-touring.net. Plus it was nice getting to check out what other people brought to the ride. There was an old Honda CB350 and an older CM200. My personal favorite was the Aprilia RSV Factory with twin Devil exhaust *eargasm*.
STREET TRIPLE
Actually, I rode this one before the Babytona, but it was by far my favorite bike. Compared between this one and its big brother...I'd have to say it's a toss-up. Don't get me wrong- the Speed Triple is a torque beast- every single person I talked to- myself included- pulled the front wheel up the first time they rode it. Hooliganism on the Baby Triple requires a bit more effort, but it's much lighter and more flickable, plus the footpegs are in more of a standard position. The little flyscreen works surprisingly well at keeping the wind off you. And the TORQUE!
The only downside I found is...I don't own one. No, wait, let me take that back. The only downside to this bike is the inevitable climb in insurance premiums. This is a bad bike for bad people.I think the hardest part was trying not to ride like a total jackass. If you're the type who can't ride without headphones, I would recommend Peter Murphy or Pink Floyd, or something relaxing. No Ministry, White Zombie, or Metallica, unless you enjoy being the center of attention of half the fleet of your local constabulary. Ten minutes at the bars of one of these will show you why they're called "hooligans."
It's a 675cc, which makes it a middleweight. Which means that it's going to inevitably be compared to the SV650. This is NOTHING like the SV650. To say that the SV and the Street are equal because of their engine displacement is like comparing .40 S&W to 10mm. There are enough gun geeks on here where I don't have to explain that, but for everyone else- okay- you know that movie Green Street Hooligans, where Elijah Wood starts off as some preppy college poofter and finishes as a fist-swinging, bottle-smashing soccer hooligan? Yeah, sorta like that. This thing would eat an SV with a pint of Guinness and basket of fries chips. A beginner could probably get away with an SV. A beginner would end up flat on their back watching the Triple roll riderless down the street. Middleweight or no, this baby's got a LOT of grunt. Granted- the SV is about $2K less than a Triple Jr., but what you GET for the extra $2K is more than obvious. If you can find a Triumph dealer willing to loan you the keys, I highly recommend you take them up on it. There aren't a lot of new bikes I would ride off the lot these days, but MAN- what I wouldn't give for the pinkslip to one of these babies.
Final verdict: Street Triple- buy the ticket, take the ride.