Right, I went back and had the ST out for almost 2 hours yesterday and it was better. This time I had my son as pillion to give me a good idea of what it's like 2 up.
Overall the ST is a fine bike, it looks great and rather unique. The sound that emits from that "sports" can (£300 Triumph option) under the rear seat is really good, low deep rasp that crackles & pops on overrun. It's extremely comfortable too. Alex was very impressed with the seating position, comments like "compared to the Gixer my legs feel like I'm standing up" show how well thought out this bike is.
The first couple of corners I ran a little wide, probably due to my tentativeness and the fact that I'm used to the quick turn in of the GSXR. I soon got the hang of it and within 10 minutes was counter steering with confidence and enjoying taking it into turns. Whilst not really "flickible", it is light and responsive on bends, and when combined with all that torque, roundabouts can be a hoot
I like the 3 cylinder engine configuration, which seems to combine the grunt of a V-twin and the revvy nature of an IL4, but not at a compromise. It pulls and pulls in the lower gears, so much so that I only ever got to 3rd until we hit the motorway. Not sure if was just this bike, but kick shifting from 1st to 2nd was a pain. I was hitting neutral more often than not, and reverted back to using the clutch (yuk!).
Ergonomics are pretty good, but I hate the speedo. Why they had to stick with an analogue unit rather than digital I don't know. It has UK & Metric unit crammed into a small space and is a bugger to read, but I guess you could get used to it. The seating position with regard to seat/bars/pegs is nice although a little more upright than you would first think. But my back was fine, and as that's why I'm looking to change that's good.
I'm not sure of the brakes though... The front lever seems to travel an awful long way before you feel it bite. Once there, they work fine, I just found it a little disconcerting. Talking to the staff at Jack Lilley's I'm not the first one to mention this. Apparantly Triumph designed it this way to try and make the brakes more progressive, but there is an unofficial upgrade for £100 which gives you a larger master cylinder and this solves the problem.
Overall I like the bike, it has a few niggles that I could possibly learn to live with, but essentially it does what it says on the packet. However, and you may find this hard to believe, the VFR does feel like a better all round machine. The Triumph is more powerful and has more character, but the VFR does everything better, and if you ride it right, gives you a big smile too.
The ST is £8000, that's a lot of dosh for a bike (that's 2 SV650's!!) but if it floats your boat it's worth the money. As much as I wanted to really love this bike, for me it's an also ran, close but no cigar.....
Jack Lilley's in Ashford Middlesex lent me the bike twice, great service and I recommend any of you who are thinking about a decent sports tourer to give one a try. As for me, I'm back to the drawing board (again)....
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