Triumph Rat Motorcycle Forums banner

My experience with the Sprint on a looong trip

2K views 10 replies 7 participants last post by  elevens 
#1 · (Edited)
So I logged about 2500 miles on the Sprint in 6 days, each day averaged about 10 hours. The bike did VERY well. We had a group of 9, mostly ADVenture bikes - BMW & Triumph, a Guzzy, and a Gold Wing that literally ground off a foot peg (it actually fell off). There was one other Sport/Touring bike, a 2005 FJR1300. For next year's trip, I will change only 3 things:

1) IMO, the popular mod of lower gearing (18T equivalent) wasn't optimum and the engine speed on the freeway is a bit busy for a 12 hour day in the saddle. In the lower-speed curves of the Gap, Tail of the Dragon, Deal's Gap, Snake, Rattler, Devil's Triangle, Suches Loop, etc. there was WAY too many gear changes with the low gearing.

2) The bike could use a Power Bronze Touring windscreen for the trip. The Sprint was the only bike out of our group of 9 that exposed the rider's helmet to the full blast of wind.

3) I burned up both track-oriented Michelin Power tires in 2 10-hour days of hard street riding. Will be switching to Michelin Pilot Road 4. They're heavy but necessary on a long hard trip.

The stock seat with a leather cover was perfect IMO. The leather cover really helps it breath and improves comfort on hot days. It also grips my leather pants well.

The bike, at 28,000 total miles, ate 1/2 quart of oil on the 2500-mile trip.

So tires, windscreen, and stock gearing will put the bike right where it needs to be (for me) for next year's 2500 mile trip.

Oh, and that FJR1300? We did 2 drag races and one roll on and the Sprint pulled away every time :smile2:
 

Attachments

See less See more
3
#2 ·
I've tried the Power tyres on the Sprint and managed 10,000klm, the Pilot Roads get about 18,000klm.
The turn is nicer on the Powers and at my level, traction is plenty on the Pilot Roads.
The Powers are lasting better on the Daytona.
Re. screens, I tend to prefer wind on my chest. I don't think you'll find a screen that will wind-protect all the way up to helmet level on this Sprint. I have the same screen as yours and also a lower earlier tinted screen, which I prefer.
 

Attachments

#4 ·
Agree with you on the gearing. Stock seems fine for a long day on the road. Sometimes I'd even like a higher top gear (like the GT).

I've been OK with the stock seat too. Don't have the leather cover but stock has been good for many 700-800 mile days and even one day at 980 miles. Recently though, it didn't seem to be giving as much support. Felt like the original foam was getting 'tired' so sent it off to Sargent for a foam upgrade. Feels much better but haven't done more than 200 miles in a day since the upgrade so not had a chance to properly test it yet.

The bike, at 28,000 total miles, ate 1/2 quart of oil on the 2500-mile trip.
That is not good. I've done a number of long road trips covering between 5,000 and 5,800 miles over a 2 week period. I could not imagine carrying a quart of oil with me and have never needed to stop and buy any. 49K miles and it just doesn't use oil between changes.
 
  • Like
Reactions: DwayneH
#5 ·
Nice write up. I have a touring windscreen (I believe it's posted in the classifieds). I installed it one day just to see the difference and decided I like the stock windscreen much better since it brings a pretty clean blast of air right into my chest area. The touring screen took the wind blast to my helmet which was uncomfortable and put more pressure on my wrists without having the wind on my chest.
 
#6 · (Edited)
I'm mostly a beginner-intermediate sport rider who just likes a more comfortable bike than a traditional super sport. I've run Pilot Roads (3 and 4) for a while now on several different bikes and haven't ever wanted for grip, even when riding very aggressively. I don't try to knee drag on the street or anything but I still use most of the tire and I've never been able to make PRs whine in a turn from reaching the limits of their grip. I've been able to make a pretty worn down PR3 front whine under emergency braking but that's also the least grippy part of the tire, and that's only happened once or twice. The Pilot Road rear hasn't spun on me any more than a Pilot Power.

I know of literally 2 or 3 people (on other boards mostly) who can tell the difference and benefit from a full supersport tire and all of those people ride a true super sport. If you're of that skill level you're probably going to notice but the rest of us have been very happy with the PR4.

Edit: I also would rather have a taller top gear. I don't usually use 6th unless I'm going 75 mph+ but when I'm cruising at 90+ in the middle of nowhere out west it seems to rev kinda high.

On the freeway I can get about 200 miles in a tank before I start to get nervous. In the city it drops to 100 but most of my city trips are < 3 miles and only in 1st or occasionally 2nd. I have an 09 with the metal tank which I think has a very slightly different capacity. One thing to check is if your trip computer is set to imperial miles for your instant mpg calcs. When I switched mine to US miles my alleged 50+mpg dropped to the mid 30s..
 
#7 ·
Champ - 5000 miles on a quart of oil is OK in my book for all the flogging that old girl took in the mountains. One quart of oil in a pannier takes a significant amount of space!

SapperSprintGT: I had the same outcome with the Triumph touring screen. Sold it. Maybe a touring screen from PowerBronze would be better?

TurboLT: My Sprint had the original Pilot Roads then the 2's. I switched to the Powers for occasional track use, as well as their being advertised as lighter (a pound each IIRC). Not the best touring tire though! I can't tell the difference on the street either. I'll bet you could tell the difference on the track though.
 
#10 ·
I do not like Pilot Powers, I think because they warm up very slowly and I mostly rode short trips in cold weather on them, but I did get some miles out of the set I had on my first '04 RS.



That's 9500 miles.

Cheers,
-Kit
 
#11 ·
It was the Michelin Pilot Power Pure that burned up so fast. I don't think they sell them anymore after reading reports that some were coming apart, maybe due to the emphasis on low weight. At the time, they were advertised as a Track and Street tire, and the lightest tire on the market - 2 pounds lighter per set. That's very significant, equivalent to 6 pounds of reduced wheel weight, according to the Fat Man. I'm still using the front Power Pure, maybe that has a lot to do with why the Sprint feels so dang light.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top