observations on 2006 Speed Triple

[zmann]

Howdy,
This forum has been a great help so far. I'll put my observations/impressions up in hopes that they'll be of use to others.

450 easy miles on the odo so far- varying speeds on highway, city, and canyons.

The stock suspension settings were too firm- I was bouncing all over the place when riding on anything rougher than new blacktop (I'm around ~165 lbs). I softened up the damping to the soft settings specified in the manual and it feels much better around town.

The front end feels loose at speed but no different from other bikes with bars rather than clip-ons that I've ridden.

The brakes feel slightly mushy (a hard squeeze brings the lever within an inch of the grip) and I'm using the widest setting (1). Not sure if this is part of "progressive response" or maybe the seals/air-bleeding issue I've seen in other posts. They're sticky enough for now.

The fuel injection needs to be updated- everything is stock but it seems to be running lean. The engine stutters a bit a low rpms.

The staples on the bottom of the seat were exposed and they gouged the paint on the fuel tank in a few spots. The dealership made a warranty claim and Triumph is sending a new tank.

There is a click or thunk felt through the handlebars during hard braking. I suspect the steering head bearing is slightly loose. Anyone else experience this one?

Fender elimination- It was fairly simple to unfasten the large hunk of plastic and fabricate new signal mounts with small L-shaped brackets and plumber's tape (although I'm not sure about legal or safety issues with such small indicators) . Pix to follow.

The seat is probably better suited for a small female.

The engine is excellent and powerful.

-ZM

[Diego]

> There is a click or thunk felt through the handlebars during hard braking. I suspect the steering head bearing is slightly loose. Anyone else experience this one?

I haven't, but others here have. Your diagnosis is probably correct. Have your dealer correct it when the tank comes in.

Just out of curiosity, what color did you get?

Enjoy!

[InParkSlope]

I had the thunk.
Reported it at first service. Dealer said they tightened it up.
Now it clicks. (ie: a smaller thunk)

annoying.

[ELP_JC]

Pretty much all the annoying and disppointing issues I've read about; nothing new, thankfully :hammer: .
I have a few questions for you, if you don't mind:
1. Do you consider the stock exhaust loud enough to go with the bike's attitude? Supposedly, the 'off-road' cans (TORs, I think) along with their map eliminate the FI problems, but $600 more... and maybe too loud?? I thought the test-bike I rode sounded awesome with the stock exhaust.
2. I'm 155, but probably like you once geared up. What exactly did you change in the suspension? That bike supposedly has TWO damping adjustments (compression and rebound), plus spring preload, which I think is the biggie for light people like you and me. How about the front ones? Just curious. I'll try to set it up correctly on my next test-ride, along with a Duc S2R1000 in a month. Have to travel 300 miles to do that .
3. I thought seat was awful, and some folks here said to give it a chance. I don't think I'll like it. How are you going to do about it? The problem is those holes for the cowl; don't think anybody is going to make them.
4.How's the riding position for around town?

Thanks for your great report, and for your additional help. It took me weeks to find out what you said in one post. This is the kind of information new people are looking for indeed. Keep it up man.

[zmann]

Diego- it's a florescent orange and neon green limited edition Versace Superbowl halftime replica with a tribal racing pattern. Just kidding, It's black )

JC- Glad it helped!

>1. Do you consider the stock exhaust loud enough to go with the bike's attitude? Supposedly, the 'off-road' cans (TORs, I think) along with their map eliminate the FI problems, but $600 more... and maybe too loud?? I thought the test-bike I rode sounded awesome with the stock exhaust.

It's all relative but I personally think the stockers sound too refined and the bike will do well to have some bass and volume added by aftermarket pipes.


>2. I'm 155, but probably like you once geared up. What exactly did you change in the suspension? That bike supposedly has TWO damping adjustments (compression and rebound), plus spring preload, which I think is the biggie for light people like you and me. How about the front ones? Just curious. I'll try to set it up correctly on my next test-ride, along with a Duc S2R1000 in a month. Have to travel 300 miles to do that .

I just set all 4 damping settings at 2.5 full turns out from max. Eventually I'll set preload (which should probably be the first thing to do but I didn't have extra hands around).

>3. I thought seat was awful, and some folks here said to give it a chance. I don't think I'll like it. How are you going to do about it? The problem is those holes for the cowl; don't think anybody is going to make them.

I'm probably going to either try to rebuild the stock with some of that crazy memory foam stuff or maybe buy a Sargent.

>4.How's the riding position for around town?

Very upright.

[ELP_JC]

Thanks a lot for all your help; great contribution. Bike should arrive in a month or so, just after Ducati's open house for the S2R1000. S3 is lacking cowl, screen, dry clutch, and hydraulic clutch, but Duc is air/oil cooled, and has less power. I'd immediately put a vented clutch cover and red pressure plate, which would cost the same as the cowl and flyscreen on the S3. Both need pipes, and seats too (the S3 more so). One more month. :hammer:

JC, I think you'll find that you made the right choice with the S3 over the Duc. I saw your posts over at the DML, as well as here.

I moved into my 2k6 S3 from a 900 monster, and the ONLY thing the Duc is better at IMO is the sweet sound of the pipes. (That 90 degree 2 cylinder sounds hot). As far as handling, power, grin factor, comfort, rideability at any speed, and reliability the Triumph comes out on top. Unless they made some changes to the Duc S2r this year, I think the Triumph actually looks better too. It took me a while to come around to that conclusion, but I think it does. I've noticed I get more looks on the Triumph than I ever did on the monster, which suprised me a bit too.

Glad to see you decided on the S3 bro. I have no doubts that you'll love it. :-D

[auraaura]

zmann,
I agree about the too firm susp., and I weigh 185! My other bike is a sv650s which is admittedly a softly sprung bike. I've set my susp. sag at roughly 35mm, and have preload and rebound set all the way soft, and it STILL rides rough compared to what I'm used to. However, the roads in Miss. are 3rd world rough. Took a trip to the N.C. & Tenn. mountains and upped the compression and still had a relatively smooth ride.
The front end feels "twitchy" to me, I'm definitely not used to a bike that steers this quickly, but I'm getting used to it.
I've read others comments about the front brakes being mushy, but they feel fine to me.
The FI seems fine to me, except for all the popping on decel.
below 4000 rpm (I like that sound though!).
No clunking or staple problems.
The seat could use some work, but overall the riding comfort is better than a full on sport bike.
Give the Speed Triple a little time it will defitinely grow on you!
Welcome!

[zooplancton]

haha! i'm freaking out right now as i'm picking my 2006 st3 tomorrow afternoon!!!
just got my (street) helmet today and won't sleep tonight no doubt.

will report back later with my test ride impressions.
weee.
-b

[zooplancton]

ok,

so i'm back (alive) and well palpitated from my first encounter with my new '06 speed triple. (blk/blk) (what to name her...)

first off to be honest i was a bit "spooked" to test drive the bike. with a respectful mix of fear and reality of going to street from dirt, (34 years dirt) being taken out by "x" bad driver, and hearing people mention one might want to step into a smaller bike if it's their first street bike, was a great gesture, and thanks for those words.

the bike is not for beginners so to speak, it's throttle is a bit rabid. the compression breaking in it's down throttle tells you to use a bit more clutch cruising mellow streets. it has a feel of off - or - on. (definite wheelie machine) and a solid flat-feeling power curve. i prefer deeper 4 stroke sounding bikes, but this has the soul i'm looking for in power and handling, and it does have a unique sound. (read not lame)

it's learning curve was very quick. i was scared it was going to be kind of stiff and old-school cafe feeling. it's not. it feels as good as i thought it would when i sat on it. like a quick steering dirt bike. you sit "on top" and not behind a gas tank, or laying down.
as well, it's probably feasible you can do a 'track stand' at a stop light with it. at a stop sign, you don't have to put your feet down at all. the bike's geometry enables you to balance for a gross amount of time. (sorry if this reaches "duh" status in the street world here, just blurting notes)

the bikes ergos were great. it wasn't some f**k fest trying to figure out how to use the turn sigs when you should be paying attention to traffic. no (manual) choke, started great and ran. no overly done warm up needed. the clutch was very friendly at first meeting too. no quick grab, no surprise, just super friendly. makes it easy to pull away on a bike you've never met before and not look like a "dolt".

the ride was great. it takes me back to why ride in the first place.
it lets you know that it demands a certain amount of respect down low, it also offers the handling to tease you to push 'er, and follows through fine and solid. great all round bike if you ask me.
-- i don't have the street chops that you all do. it's a new world to me, but riding is riding, and i know THIS bike was the right bike for me. can't wait to throw some pro-tapers on her. heh.(note: i didn't get a super motard bike because i wanted something to respect more. so i wouldn't ride to 'that' level.)

sorry for the banter. you brits make great bikes.
-b