The rallying call of a Trumpet

Been meaning to book a test ride on a Speed Triple for a while, and with the friendly Triumph dealer taking delivery of a demo Street Triple, thought it would be best to try both back to back as it were...

Wow... rode the Speed first, and this was with the Arrow system fitted... what a blast (literally ). Absolutely stunning, just an endless steamroller of power that the wind pressure made me back off before seeing what it would ultimately give. Even at (ahem...) high speed, it felt planted on the road, and the brakes were sooo good; strong but progressive

Almost thought that i was going to be dissapointed with the 675, but not a bit of it; what a superb bike, especially for the money. Both sounded good, almost halfway between a twin and IL4 (well, there's a surprise ), but the Arrow system definitely imroves both the sound and it seems, the output. Must try a Street with the Arrow system, as that would be a great halfway house.

I'm really torn as I don't want to say goodbye to the SV, but would find it difficult to justify two bikes

Anyone else tried the Street Triple yet?

A buddy took the street triple out for a test two weeks ago... picks his new one up in 4 weeks. He's had his current bike for seven years so was in no hurry for a change, yes the Street Triple is that good. He didn't try the speed triple though....

Tried it, loved it. Saving to buy! Am working on Mrs scWirral to do her test before it all gets silly so that I have an excuse to keep the SV!

Do you lot just go round trying bikes even though you couldn't (didn't want to?) buy at the time?

I need to get into that

Originally Posted by muffles

Do you lot just go round trying bikes even though you couldn't (didn't want to?) buy at the time?

I need to get into that

You certainly do need to get into it

It does have a positive side to it for dealers tho' - I had booked a test ride on a BMW F800S when it came out as I had previously owned BeeEms before, and at the time the demo F800S was not ready, and the local dealer (Rainbow in Rotherham - good place with helpful people) had an SV650S taken in PX. They offered it to me to try (I hadn't ridden in 14 years, so it was all a good experience ) and I came back after a 2 hour ride with a smile from ear to ear as my mate described it. Although I subsequently tried the F800S and the F800ST and thought the S particularly was a great bike, I couldn't get over how good the SV650S was/is, especially when I found a new K6 with full fairing for £3900 - nearly 3 grand cheaper than the F800S.

If you show an interest in the bikes and look like you can afford them, dealers will be pleased to let you try - have done the same with cars as well.
The local Porsche dealer was more than happy to let me test drive a Cayman S as well as a 911 Carrera S (I'm honestly not bulls***ing). It does help if you turn up in a decent mode of transport though

It all benefits the dealers as they can show to the manufacturers that they are getting interest in their products, and therefore justify subsidised demo vehicles

Triumph V SV? bye, bye SV - sorry no contest IMHO

Had a test ride planned for today, but now i'm off work it's gone from sunshine to p*ssing it down.

It looks and feels perfect to sit on. My dealer won't have em in till october, just *generating interest* with the demo, so would be rude not to.
The entire world seems to have fallen for this bike, me included! But i haven't fallen out of love with my sv yet - anyone know a way to speed the process?

[northwind]

Originally Posted by muffles

Do you lot just go round trying bikes even though you couldn't (didn't want to?) buy at the time?

I do. But I'm making an exception for the Shiver and Street Triple, and the new Hornet, to stop me from buying one

Oh dear. This is going to cost me money, and the SV..

Booked a test ride on the street triple today. Annoyingly when I got there it had been lent out for an hour already due to a **** up by the dealer, so they lent me the daytona 675 for an hour to keep me interested

Lovely bike, but the riding position was pretty nasty - I haven't ridden a modern sportsbike less than 4 years old, and they have changed a lot - the bars were no lower than the SV but far closer to the rider. I felt like I was on top of the front wheel. My arms were almost straight down and really had to crouch to shove on the bars with any force - felt very reluctant to turn in at first because of this.
It had only done 800 miles, and conversely to andy I found it much more reluctand than the street triple down low. Engine sounded gorgeous - the grin on my face when I cracked the throttle properly from traffic lights reminded my when I opened up my first kawasaki after passing my test. -->
Good power, but I kept hitting the limiter as not used to the engine. Otherwise, seemed like a very strong 600 with quality suspension etc. Very difficult to brace myself under braking though - nuts ended up distinctly pancake shaped after a few corners, there's just not enough tank to grip onto.

And then after an hour of that, the street triple. O.M.G.



Felt very strange at first, not had an upright bike for a while, and the bars seemed all wrong. Was now p*ssing it down and I had no faith in what the front wheel was doing. For the first 100 yards that is. Then it just all clicked and I had the best hour's ride for years. It sounds AMAZING, all airbox sound. The braaAAARP as you wind it on sent my grin actually outside my helmt, angriest noise you can imagine. It's the most thrashable bike i've ever ridden, tuono included, and I rode like a lunatic in the pouring rain for the whole ride. Felt absolutely rock solid over bumpy roads, never wanted to slap but quick steering too - and the roads around here are VERY bumpy.
Also strangely never hit the limiter once - not sure what triumph have done to the motor from the daytona, but upchanges around 8-10k seemed right, despite it going freely to the redline (it had done about 1200 miles).
About halfway through the ride I was trying to persuade myself I should be happy with the SV, and then I parked the triple up in a pub car park and looked at it - and that was that thought out of the window :\
Wind protection excellent too - had the headlamp cowl and the flyscreen, and 80 was wind free, and 90 no problem at all.

Just three problems - black or white? And who shall I take a loan out with? And how many points can my license stand? I am _far_ more likely to get nicked on this than the SV or the CBR. Such is life..

Well I've just bought a new bike but the Street Triple is next on my list.

Watch this space.