SV650.org - SV650 & Gladius 650 Forum - Triumph scrambler…my mini review

Today on my quest for the next bike I took out the scrambler, gone are the older two tone colours (blue/white or red/white) and in come the matt black or olive green, I had a matt black version, looked cool with the chrome exhaust heel plates, wheels and headlight rim and everything else black, a quick walk round showed the very traditional style and setup, twin rear shocks, cradle frame, straight bars, nice seat with a good pillion perch to, single front and rear disc, no gimmicks, gadgets or gizmos here.

So I get on, first thing the seat is nice and comfy, a little higher than an SV but tapers towards the tank abit to help get both feet flat on the floor, the bars are an easy reach, the pegs are low enough I don’t have any issue with the knee either, the bike is heavier than I’d thought, but manageable, we’ll have to see how it handles it, under my right leg sits the heat shield for the high level exhaust, not a problem but I’m wondering if heat will be an issue a bit later?

Start her up, sounds sweet, ever threw the standard pipes (yes triumph will sell you a more “fruity” single can arrow system if you want), although the engine is free revving enough it feels slightly wrong to any who remember the old brit iron, none the less it ticks over nicely enough and no excessive vibrations, in front of me are very conventional twin dial gauges and the rest of the instruments are as you would expect, good mirrors (one of my pet hates is crap mirrors, they are a functional thing first, not a style one).

So pull away the gearbox is smooth by triumph standards, but I guess most would say it’s average, and right off I feel a slight “squidgy” feel to the top inch or so of suspension travel, but it soon firms up, the brakes are positive used in unison at the junction with the main road, turn to the right and give it some beans…. It climbs through the gears nicely, the ratios aren’t bad either for a “road” bike, it carries its weight well and is nimble enough on the few overtakes I make, up to a roundabout and I lay on the anchors a bit, I’d like a bit more bite, but they do the job, a flick left, then over right and I go all the way round…twice, yeah it’ll do that alright, come off the other side and a snap change takes the weight off the front wheel, it didn’t leave the ground back the kick out felt good, not sure on these tyres as they are more the duel purpose ones, but I’d probably just stick normal road rubber on there anyway (you get a slightly, and I mean very slight jumble from them), by now I’m leaving the more populated areas behind and have some open road, coming across a convenient private runway;) I see what it will do, I’d say the peak power is around the 6-7000 rev range and it’s not so much limited after that as runs out of puff, although it’ll indicate 110mph, but that’s not what this bike is about really, it’s a fun ride I do like the simplicity and the chunky feel to it, bit like a heavy rifle or macho chainsaw kind of thing, the 50 odd HP works well with the frame, but I think much more would see it overwhelmed as it would the brakes no doubt.

I cover 54 miles in the hour I have it and coming back I see myself in a shop window, hey even I look cool on this (well I did have a dark visor on), it’s been a good ride, I’d have one for traffic or the commute and you’d have a good time on sunny days to, although it lacks a little excitement for me and a little soft, not just the suspension but the whole bike, it wasn’t designed for balls out riding, perhaps in a few years time, Oh the heat shield thing, never gave it a second thought, so no problem there.

Here's a stock picture

http://www.motorcyclespecs.co.za/Gal...090%20%201.jpg

Cheers Mark.