Wednesday, January 23, 2013

That new toy...

On my Wings over Wairarapa blog the other day I mentioned that the ride over to Masterton was memorable in that I got to try out Brian's latest toy.  So I thought I'd better share it with everyone - I'm sure Geoff and Troubador will approve...

2003 Speed Triple 955
After selling his VTR a while ago Brian has obviously been missing it (I still miss mine too) and decided that he needed another "fun-bike" to hoon around on and to keep his Connie for the more serious touring.  He spotted this beastie at the local bike shop and somehow or other it ended up following him home.

It's a second hand bike so it has a few little nicks and a ding in the can (Brian's already onto that and a new can is in the works).  It also has those terrible bar-end mirrors which are also probably going to go (they really are only good for getting a warrant of fitness - not for seeing anything behind you).  A rad guard (and oil-cooler guard) are on there way too.

Parked next to a truly classy machine
Anyway, I got to ride it!  So naturally hopping off the Connie and onto the Striple felt a little funny - it's just a tad smaller/lighter than the Connie...

But, straight away I was comfortable on the bike - as with a lot of naked bikes the riding position and wider handle bars always tend to be a lot more comfortable than say...a gixxer thou.  If she was mine I'd definitely ditch the mirrors and adjust the gear lever (it's just a little high) and then it'd fit nicely.

The clutch needed a decent pull but once released the bike pulled away nicely - reasonable torque and a very smooth mill.  The engine's smoothness also lends to it feeling happy to rev and pretty smartly I had gone up through the box and was managing to keep up with Brian on my Connie.  I'd have to say that the engine was kinda like a smoother Bandit 1200 (got a bit of time on a couple of those eh) but with perhaps not quite the torque.  This makes it a very easy engine to live with.  Even with it's current pipe I thought that the bike sounded lovely as you went up through the gears - soon it will speak with a bit more authority.

Barty McFarty checking out the bug-eyed monster
The brakes were very nice although I kinda grabbed a handful first time up - I think the riding position had me thinking I was on the DL with it's unimpressive front brakes.

Climbing off the Connie I also had to get my head around the Trumpy's handling.  The chassis feels really nice and tight with what feels like a front-wards (is that a word?) weight bias.  I rode the bike through to Mangamire so got to pilot it through plenty of nice tight corners and had absolutely no complaints with the handling - although I was in no way pushing things.  I'm sure it could be hustled along under the right conditions...

At the end of the road we swapped back bikes and I let Brian know that I approve of his new toy.  I'm pretty sure he's going to enjoy his time on it.

11 comments:

  1. That is awesome, the 955i is such a great motor I can only imagine what it'd be like stuffed into a smaller frame. You're right though, it does need a smaller or at least a tidier can and solid mirrors. It's always nice when a friend buys a bike then offers to share.

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    1. Yep! I reckon a high rise can might suit it - although I think it's going to end up with a smaller stainless number.

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  2. I had a chance to follow behind a 3 cylinder Triumph a couple of years ago. It had a very distinct sound, quite nice, almost race car sounding.

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    1. Yeah, I've heard a few 675's being given the berries and they can wail...

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  3. That is a sweet looking bike. I always liked the older round headlights better than the newer angular ones.

    Glad you liked it. Of course now you have Troubadour checking them out.......

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    1. Yeah, I agree about the headlights - much nicer than the current model's ones.

      Does he have the cheque book out while he's checking them out?

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  4. Nice, Andrew, you'll move over to the Dark Side yet ;-). Those older Triumphs offer value for money and handle pretty well as you state. I agree with ditching the bar end mirrors and it also cries out for ditching that massive can and having a nice little shorty Ixil or similar on it.

    Nice post mate - must give you a ride on mine sometime!

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    1. Printing above comment for later use...

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  5. Nice looking bike and definitely a "hoon" bike :-)
    Yes, nothing beats the sound of a triple, except a YZF-R1 ;-)

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    1. I love twins too - my VTR sounded pretty damn good with it's titanium Two Bros mufflers.

      Oh, and the Merlins the other day trump everything in the beautiful noise stakes!

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    2. Oh yea, nothing better than seeing a Merlin at full power going by, I love to see airshows too.

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