>
...just how high is the demand?
Triumph are not noted for discussing production numbers of individual models in any detail, but I think the number of people in this board who pre-ordered late in the program and are having to wait until nearly Spring to see theirs gives us a pretty good indication that the demand may have been higher than they expected.
Not that the expected numbers were all that high, at least over in the States. The oft heard number of 400 for the U.S. dealers (this is apart from the reservation program) is pretty low, compared to some of their other model introductions.
>
It would be nice for this to give Triumph a much deserved boost in sales, brand recognition and street credibility.
The Rocket III did the most of any model in the Hinckley era to promote brand recognition. The Daytona 675 was a huge boost in credibility. And to a lesser extent the '05 Speed Triple and '07 Tiger helped in all those areas recently too. I suspect, however, that Triumph expected only that the Street would be useful in keeping the buzz alive, not that it would really do that much for overall sales. Certainly, having so few of them in showrooms... and most of those not arriving until halfway through the model year... is less than ideal for boosting sales.
Ergo, I don't believe sales numbers were the primary goal. If I had to guess why the Street was introduced in such a hesitant way, I'd say it was probably because they had to spend so much effort getting the Twin models ready for Euro 3 emission requirements that they didn't have resources to devote to gee-whiz all-new models this time around. In addition, it's been clear for a while that we're on one of the regular downward slopes of the motorcycle demand curve, so there's less incentive to be adventurous right now.
The R&D and tooling for the Twins had to be done, because they are a very profitable line, but EFI is just not glamorous any more. The Rocket III Touring is wonderful and may be a decent seller, but it had been anticipated for so long that it's not perceived as anything really new. There is at least one new engine in development, but it won't be ready until next year. That didn't leave much in the way of glamour for '08. They needed
something to keep the buzz alive this year, whether it turned out to be a big selling model or not. The Street is certainly generating great press for them,
and it's a wonderful enough machine that it'll probably be very popular too.
Street Triple Production Numbers
The only thing I would want to make sure Triumph do if they build a Tiger Cub is lengthen the headstock so it could have insane motard steering lock. It would be the ideal bike for stoooopit fun!
Linear Mode
