Triumphrat

Aske · 08-07-2007

Not that I'm fixated on it, but I'll mention ... INSURANCE. You may well find that it has a loud voice in dictating what bike you can/can't afford to own and ride.

yakoo11 · 08-07-2007

I think that triumphs do really well in the insurance category and I think that naked bikes do even better.... my 01 tt600 is 325 usd a year for full and passenger coverage.

redl1nerpm · 08-07-2007

like these guys have mentioned for a first bike get some used. I'd say find a sport bike for 2500-3500. If you buy a sport bike in this price range you'll be able to ride it for a year or two and lose practically nothing to depreciation. You also won't feel as bad if you drop it. You may find sport bikes aren't your style (though this is highly doubtful), but more likely, you may find riding isn't your thing. I have a friend who rode for about 2 years and he loves riding, but just thinks its too dangerous and wants to wait until hes older to have a bike. He also laid it down and I think he let that worry him a bit too much.. But what do we do when we fall off the horse? We get back on the horse.

Will · 08-07-2007

The test ride reports are confirming my suspicion that Triumph knows what they are doing. People who will buy a ST3 are not the same kind of people who would buy a track weapon, and they are looking for other characteristics. If I were going to buy a street only bike, it probably wouldn't have adjustable suspension or anything else, since I don't use all that much of a bike's capabilities on the street anyway.

Xracer · 08-07-2007

Right on. My Blackbird doesn't have an adjustable fork, but it works better in daily use than the fully adjustable unit on the Hayabusa I had before it. The busa' fork might have been better on a track, but who knows - you'd be crazy to take either of them on a track! The best "rust belt" street suspension I've sampled is the decidedly low-rent stuff on my DR650....I never knew the true meaning of the word "plush" before, and the thing still corners better than most sportbikes. I think the ST3 will be fine for what I plan to do with it.

Jon.sb · 08-22-2007

On the insurance front.

I am 40 in October, riding 5-6 years since I got back into biking and was quoted less than £350 for the Speed Triple and around £260 for the new Z750 (for one year / full comp) by MCE. I have a clean license (wonder how I managed that)!

I thought that was a pretty good deal. I have yet to get back to them regards the street triple but I figure it can't be too much more than the Z750 can it?

Will let you know when I do........

andymott · 08-22-2007

I am waiting for delivery of a new Speed Triple (1 Sept), but tried a Street Triple a couple of weeks ago when I wasn't absolutely sure which bike I wanted.

I passed my test in Feb, and have ridden about 2400 miles since then on my first bike, a Suzuki Boulevard S50 (US import - Intruder VS800 over here). I found the Street Triple to be a fantastic bike in every way - light, fast and very easy to handle. Not once did I feel I couldn't control it, and it never tried to wheelie - even though I gave it a good thrashing (reached 130 indicated :o)

So, as far as I'm concerned this is a bike suitable for beginners, and one which will grow with them as they learn. I decided to get the Speed Triple because having chosen the Suzuki first and found it wasn't what I wanted after all I just knew I'd wish I got the bigger bike after 6 months.... Guess I like the speed! ;o)

As for insurance, my Suzuki cost £360 fully comp for the year with no experience at all, and the Speed Triple has added £250 to that (again no experience counted), so £600 for the year with no ncb or experience. I'm 37, which helps, but my car costs more (and only has 150bhp!)

For the person asking if they should get one as their first bike I'd say test one and get it if you like it (both my bikes have been new - you might drop it or you might not. Risk is your choice). It's easy to ride and stupendous fun...

Andy

Wildpig · 08-23-2007

MCN has done a comparison test with the Big and Ducati 'rivals'

Conclusion - "With the Street Triple - Triumph have not just moved the Goal Posts - they're now a good couple of miles away from the competition.

Bikes included were....

Suzuki GSXR600
Kawa Z750
Ducati S2R
Yamaha Fz6
Honda Hornet 600

http://www.motorcyclenews.com/MCN/Ne...iplegrouptest/

Diego · 08-24-2007

Thanks, Wildpig. Even allowing for some favoritism toward the "home team," and the fact that it's a highly condensed review on the Web page, that's still a pretty ringing endorsement.

A lot of wind noise in the first part of the video, but at the end the sound was very clear when he said the Street "makes these (others) seem like dinosaurs." Not too shabby for a presumed load of bargain bin parts, eh?

Jon.sb · 08-24-2007

Thanks....

I don't have the experience of the guys at MCN but that was exactly how I felt about the bike.

PS: Really glad I didn't fork out the £20 that the kwaki dealer wanted me to lay down to demo a Z750! ;-)
The 675 and 1050's were free to demo so I tried them first and was smitten.