texcollect
Crotchety Old Fart
Firstly let me say that I am 6ft 6 tall and (usually) the wrong side of 250 lbs !!
I am also new to this game with only about 4000 miles/12 months experience.
The Speed triple.
It was a fun bike, although a little tight for my size. As an FZ6 rider I am used to the "yamaha clunk" from 1st to 2nd. The speed triple's gearbox is like butter. No clunks. We were warned about how good Triumph brakes were before we hitn the road, but to be honest I think the FZ's are better. Someone at Triumph is a comedian and had set the shift light on the triple to 4000 rpm needless to say I ignored it. It was a little buzzy, but nothing that a pair of Grip Puppies wouldn't cure. The test route was about 60% freeway and 40% divided road. Needless to say there weren't many challengine corners, but I felt comfortable on the bike. One thing that surprised me is that with the FZ6 screen I get a lot of wind hitting my chest so I was expecting more wind issues with no screen, but I was wrong. There was no turbulence at all. Plus 1 for naked bikes.
The Sprint GT
Right from when I swung my leg over the GT it felt just right. Even with a riding position more towards the sports end of the sprt touring scall it felt good. I pulled out onto the feeder road and gave it some gas and it took off. The smile on my face just widened as I pulled onto the highway. The brakes were a little disappointing after the triple's but on the whole they felt good. I am not used to an analog speedo and as such found the GTs a little difficult to read, but not something I couldn't live with. One thing however that I couldn't live with was the heat By the time we reached about half way round the route the boys (if you know what I mean) were way too toasty for comfort and the heat level just continued to rise as we made our way back to the dealer. Now I know that it was "feels like" 100 degrees here today, but it was just too hot. The gearchange wasn't as smooth as the triple's but better than the FZ's. The screen, although non adjustable was great at keeping the wind off me. In my humble (and inexperienced) opinion I feel that the FJR that I rode at Yamaha's demo day last year is a better bike (and it has a gear position indicator and shaft drive )
It was a fun day and I'd like to thank my wonderful wife for giving me the extra time to stick around until the GT was free. Thanks also to Eximport and Triumph for letting me use and abuse their motorbikes.
I am also new to this game with only about 4000 miles/12 months experience.
The Speed triple.
It was a fun bike, although a little tight for my size. As an FZ6 rider I am used to the "yamaha clunk" from 1st to 2nd. The speed triple's gearbox is like butter. No clunks. We were warned about how good Triumph brakes were before we hitn the road, but to be honest I think the FZ's are better. Someone at Triumph is a comedian and had set the shift light on the triple to 4000 rpm needless to say I ignored it. It was a little buzzy, but nothing that a pair of Grip Puppies wouldn't cure. The test route was about 60% freeway and 40% divided road. Needless to say there weren't many challengine corners, but I felt comfortable on the bike. One thing that surprised me is that with the FZ6 screen I get a lot of wind hitting my chest so I was expecting more wind issues with no screen, but I was wrong. There was no turbulence at all. Plus 1 for naked bikes.
The Sprint GT
Right from when I swung my leg over the GT it felt just right. Even with a riding position more towards the sports end of the sprt touring scall it felt good. I pulled out onto the feeder road and gave it some gas and it took off. The smile on my face just widened as I pulled onto the highway. The brakes were a little disappointing after the triple's but on the whole they felt good. I am not used to an analog speedo and as such found the GTs a little difficult to read, but not something I couldn't live with. One thing however that I couldn't live with was the heat By the time we reached about half way round the route the boys (if you know what I mean) were way too toasty for comfort and the heat level just continued to rise as we made our way back to the dealer. Now I know that it was "feels like" 100 degrees here today, but it was just too hot. The gearchange wasn't as smooth as the triple's but better than the FZ's. The screen, although non adjustable was great at keeping the wind off me. In my humble (and inexperienced) opinion I feel that the FJR that I rode at Yamaha's demo day last year is a better bike (and it has a gear position indicator and shaft drive )
It was a fun day and I'd like to thank my wonderful wife for giving me the extra time to stick around until the GT was free. Thanks also to Eximport and Triumph for letting me use and abuse their motorbikes.
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