Hey all, well I'm back from my euro-mission on the beast!
All in all, the bike has been awesome. Modifications for the trip were simply a gel seat and double bubble screen. I had a motrax Spinex tank bag and Givi soft luggage at the back.
I had a set of Pirelli Corsa III tyres fitted prior to the trip and they have been outstanding. I'll post up pics soon, but they've withstood a thrashing on the alps over France/Italy/Switzerland/Austria, many hundereds of kilometers on motorways and 14 laps around the nurburgring. They've still got plenty of tread all over and aren't squared off too badly still.
The grip of the corsa III has been phenonminal. We stayed at Sliders Guest house near the ring which is run by the guy who is 'The Baron' for Performance bike magazine. This chap is like 'The Stig' from Top Gear (UK TV show), but on bikes, and has the lap record on a production bike on the ring. He took us around the ring, and for a high-speed road run. The bike was fine banked whilst doing a 130mph turn. You can have total confidence in the tyres.
I did get some brake fade, but as a previous poster mentionned, this can be alleviated temporarily by removing the brake lever overnight, or filling down the back by the light switch in order to allow the M/C to come out completely.
Around the ring the bike was fantastic, and I was only limited by my own confidence. We timed just one lap which was 9:18, though I'm positive we achieved quicker times when following the baron. I got my knee down a few times, but it's best to not try and do so and to concentrate on the corner. The better times when I got contact were unintentional whilst I was trying hard to be as smooth and fast as possible.
If you ever are in the apls on your bike, you *MUST* go to the below road. It's simply the best road I have ever hit on my bike. Ever. The best corners and views you'd ever imagine. We went west to east, and couldn't return due to poor weather, but I could spend a week going back ad forth on that road!
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=d&hl...6395&z=11&om=1
The triumph is at >14,000 miles now and it didn't miss a beat throughout, even when I had to ride in sheeting rain through the night, and took the beating that the engine receives when going around the ring (lots of engine braking).
I'm looking to sell her now though, since she's getting on a bit. I'd swap her for a 2007/2008 1000cc Daytona in a heartbeat, if only they released one...
Cheers for reading!
And thanks for the review on the tires. When these ones I have now are up, I think I will try out a set. That road looks like it would be great fun. So now for an oil change?
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